Jane’s Addiction: The Great Escape Artist (Capitol)
Photo: Eliot Lee Hazel
NEW RELEASE
You have to feel a little sorry for Jane’s Addiction. They’re carrying the reputation — probably overstated in the first place — for being the edgiest, most barrier-pushing band around. So when they come out with a pretty good hard-rock album, it’s bound to seem like an anticlimax. That’s what happened with their last reunion effort, 2003’s Strays, and it’s likely to happen again with The Great Escape Artist. This album isn’t quite as retro as Strays was, mainly due to the strong influence of bassist Dave Sitek (from TV on the Radio), who also co-wrote nearly everything. Aside from the electronica infusion, the real surprise is how far the band has gone out of its way to make every song catchy, punchy (no sprawling epics), and airplayable — and, on “End to the Lies,” to echo Led Zeppelin more blatantly than ever before. It all hits a Classic Rock comfort zone, and when Perry Farrell insists, “I’ll never give up the underground,” you know he’s really asking the underground not to give up on him.
