Still Dark, Exciting And Fun
It's a sad fact of life that if you make albums early in your career that blow the mind of the music world, you are forever going to be striving to beat your best work. For Jane's Addiction, a band that for many made two albums in the late 80s and early 90s that was as near to perfection as any band can hope to come, they have spent the last 20 odd years trying to outclass themselves, sadly often falling short. With a revolving door of bass players joining Dave Navarro, Perry Farrell and Stephen Perkins during the last few decades, the bands line up has been somewhat tempestuous with all members taking time out to do their own thing leaving Jane's Addiction to earn revival tour status more often than not. Right now though the LA alt rockers are back properly once more, taking the time to head into the studio for their fourth album offering, "The Great Escape Artist", an album that again strives to reach the giddy heights of its predecessors and which, on the whole makes a pretty good attempt at doing just that.
Colossal, anthemic and with enough gritty, grunge fuelled riffs to please old and new fans alike, "The Great Escape Artist" is kicked off by 'Underground', a track that takes all that was brilliant about Jane's Addiction in the past and brings it slap bang into the present, it's the type of song that many have been willing the band to make for years and it ushers in the fourth album, things suddenly start to look promising. With tracks that tentatively dips one toe into the stadium striving anthem field whilst firmly keeping the rest of the body boldly in the alt rock arena, "The Great Escape Artist" manages to offer a blend of rock that at times veers into rock star realms yet still off loads rock heavy tracks such as 'End to the Lies' and 'Curiosity Kills' that possess that old sense of destruction to terrorise and excite in equal measure. Exciting, invigorating and with a dangerous undercurrent throughout, "The Great Escape Artist" may not quite match the dizzy heights of Jane's Addiction's early offerings, but it has a hell of a lot of fun trying to get there.
For a band conceived in the 80s, a band that out lived grunge, 80s metal, pop punk and even Nu Metal, Jane's Addiction are survivors if nothing else and for those who take "The Great Escape Artist" on face value rather than comparing it to the past, this is an album that will excite. Overlooking what came before may be hard, nigh on impossible, but in the end the reward will be worth it.