Jane's Addiction - Strays
List Price:
Our Price: $6.54
You Save: $5.40 (45%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.22 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Artist: Jane's AddictionEdition: Music CD
Format: Enhanced
Published: 2003
CD Release Date: 2003-07-22
Music Label: Capitol
Soundtracks:
- True Nature
- Strays
- Just Because
- The Price I Pay
- The Riches
- SuperHero
- Wrong Girl
- Everybody's Friend
- Suffer Some
- Hypersonic
- To Match The Sun
Free Music Notes for Strays
Free Music Review: Some people don't get this album - here's why
Hit: 5 Stars
This album is incredibly misunderstood, and as a long-term fan of the band I think I can tell you exactly why (see below, third paragraph). I am totally into whatever Perry Farrell does, almost without fail, but with this 'comeback' Jane's album, I was fully prepared to be disappointed. Stylistically, this album is no Ritual De Lo Habitual, but it's something different, and something, in some ways, better. That's right, I said it. As perfect as Ritual is, it's of its time, and Strays sounds like a 21st century band in the way that early Jane's never will.
As someone who considers myself a diehard, it came as a surprise to me that I came to play this album more than the old Jane's stuff. I put that down mostly to the very modern, high-end production of these songs (their previous, analogue studio albums sound quite flat in comparison). It's a very immediate album. It's true that Perry's lyrics don't capture the same opiate-driven vision of L.A. beatnikdom, but then, he's a pretty well-off - and different - guy these days, and what's more, I found that the energy of the music, the passion and the focus were all still there in spades.
Some will inevitably criticize the album for its lack of the 'epic jam' qualities of Ritual, which we all loved, but if you know the various projects Perry has produced, you'll know that he, and the band, have so many gears, phases and faces. If anything, this album condenses the Jane's sound into shorter, punchier songs, and it works.
Strays was initially co-written with Martyn LeNoble, ex-Porno For Pyros bassist, and the original sessions for the album (before LeNoble was sacked and replaced by Chris Chaney) are *FAR* truer to the spirit of old Jane's. The same songs are there, but crucially, the production is much more muted, there are extended breaks and just much more of a classic Jane's sound. When LeNoble was ousted, they had to re-record his parts with Chaney, and get rid of the material LeNoble wrote. In short, much of the reason this doesn't sound like Jane's Addiction to many fans is because they messed around in post-production a lot to make it sound like a clean slate, and eradicate Martyn LeNoble's influence. It's a shame, because the loose, jam-like feel dissapears. The production, by Bob Ezrin, is noticeably in the red - not unpleasantly so, but after you've heard the original sessions, it's hard not to hear the album the way it was meant. Even Perry's voice on the alternative versions sounds younger, and more like the voice of 'Classic Girl'.
All that aside, Chaney (who went on to form The Panic Channel with Navarro and Perkins for a short time) is fine in his role, although Eric Avery (original bassist who was on the comeback tour in '09) voiced many peoples' thoughts when he said Chaney just wasn't much of a rock star. Not that that affects the sound much; sonically, even though Strays (the commercially released version) represents a huge change in production values for the band, it still sounds like the same band, and more so. They clearly put a lot into this record, which may help explain why they split again shortly after.
Of the songs, the only one I didn't get initially was Superhero. I always skipped it because I felt it was a bit 'phoned in', and not up to the emotional depth of Perry's writing at its best. However, I like it fine now. It's superficial, but in the way that classic LA rock can do really well. You'll know it from 'Entourage'.
High points for me on Strays are definitely Hypersonic and To Match The Sun, which, back to back, are epic. Hypersonic is extremely awesome in headphones, and is one of the most aptly-named songs ever. To Match The Sun is classic Perry, condensed into a burst of sunshine that probably invokes old Jane's more than anything else on the record (it also curiously reminds me of the Chili Peppers' Venice Queen).
In short: a troubled production that still yielded a fine set of songs, better than almost any rock album I've heard in recent years. Not the Jane's you know, but full of riches. I for one am hoping that the Strays songs, absent from the recent NIN/JA tour set, now make it back into their live shows.
Strays Poster
Japanese edition of the L.A. rock icons' long awaited comeback album features 12 tracks including 1 bonus track, 'Suffer Some' (Live). Copy Controlled. Toshiba. 2003.Jane's Addiction helped put the word "alternative" on the middle-American map with a scarlet A, but their straight-up rock was always front and center. On Strays, the first Jane's Addiction studio album in 13 years, there's no mistaking Perry Farrell's trademark vocal sound (a nasal goose? a banshee in flight?) and Dave Navarro's ever-adaptable guitar style. But the band--only bassist Eric Avery is absent from their classic lineup, replaced by Chris Chaney--hasn't come to party like it's 1991. Sure, the balance of hedonism and earnestness, environmentalism and decadence, remains, but the quartet's approach is that of a unit ready to flex a few new muscles. Listeners will notice roof-raisers like "True Nature" and "Hypersonic" first, but some of the quieter tracks ("Price I Pay," with the classic Farrell rationalization "I always do the wrong thing, but I got a good reason," "To Match the Sun") are among the most effective Jane's mood pieces ever. Strays is certainly a much more apt return than 1997?s odds-and-sods compilation Kettle Whistle. --Rickey Wright
Alternative Rock Music CDs
Music Genres
Top Rated Albums
Perry Farrell's Satellite Party - Ultra PayloadRelease date: 2007-05-29; Music CD
Best price: $1.48
Price in other shops:
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By the WayRelease date: 2002-07-09; Music CD
Best price: $5.02
Price in other shops:
Porno for Pyros - Good Gods UrgeRelease date: 1996-05-28; Music CD
Best price: $5.38
Price in other shops:
Porno for Pyros - Porno for PyrosRelease date: 1993-04-27; Published: 1993; Music CD
Best price: $5.89
Price in other shops:
Jane's Addiction - Kettle WhistleRelease date: 1997-11-04; Music CD
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Jane's Addiction - Jane's AddictionRelease date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $10.67
Price in other shops:
Jane's Addiction - Up From the Catacombs: Best of Jane's AddictionJANE'S ADDICTION; Release date: 2006-09-19; Music CD
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo HabitualJANE'S ADDICTION; Release date: 1990-08-13; Music CD
Best price: $4.42
Price in other shops:
Jane's Addiction - Nothing's ShockingJANE'S ADDICTION; Release date: 1990-10-25; Published: 1996-02-16; Music CD
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape ArtistRelease date: 2011-10-18; Music CD
Best price: $6.16
Price in other shops: