Time may not heal all wounds, but it sure goes a long way in relieving the sting. For Jane’s Addiction, a band as famous for their volatile history as their eerie, hypnotic sound, it would take 17 years to coax them out of their respective corners to share a stage again. Although there have been various reincarnations of the group over the years, it seemed unlikely they’d ever reunite in their original lineup. Seventeen years is a whole lot of rancor.
But happen it did. The nudge that brought Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins together again was the first-ever NME Awards USA, held in April 2008, where the band performed “Stop!”, “Mountain Song”, “Ocean Size” and “Jane Says” after accepting the “Godlike Genius Award”. It would be the first performance of Jane’s Addiction with Avery on bass since 1991. As the lone holdout over the years, Avery cited personal and philosophical reasons for repeatedly refusing to reunite with his former bandmates. Jane’s followed up their NME Awards performance with an odd show here and there, and then went onto co-headline the recent NIN/JA 2009 amphitheater tour with Nine Inch Nails, all without imploding.
As one of the most influential of the wave of alternative bands to come out of the mid-eighties, Jane’s Addiction came together after vocalist Perry Farrell was introduced to Avery in 1985 while looking for a bass player for his then band, Psi Com. The two bonded over similar musical tastes and soon added drummer Stephen Perkins and guitarist Dave Navarro to their lineup. Named for Farrell’s drug-addicted roommate, Jane’s Addiction caused such a stir on the Los Angeles club scene, with their mesmeric blend of punk, goth rock, and heavy metal, that record labels were tripping over themselves for the chance to sign them.
For all their talent, however, the four band members could not coexist. Navarro and Perkins were still teenagers when they joined the band. In 1988, while recording their debut studio album, the funk-flavored Nothing’s Shocking, the group almost broke up over a royalty dispute. On the heels of this came the falling out between Farrell and Avery when Farrell thought Avery had drunkenly tried to pick up his girlfriend. So deep was the rift that when the band went into the studio in mid-1989 to record their second album, Ritual de lo Habitual, Farrell didn’t show up at the studio for weeks, leaving the group no choice but to record without him. The two ultimately came in at different times to record their parts, effectively avoiding one another in order to get the album made. Ritual de lo Habitual is considered by many to be a masterpiece of alternative rock.
The 13-month tour that followed the release of Ritual de lo Habitual further divided the band, leaving them unable to stand one another by tour’s end. In the summer of 1991, Farrell launched the inaugural Lollapalooza festival as Jane’s swan song. Lollapalooza was a traveling Woodstock back then, showcasing alternative rock bands like Nine Inch Nails, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Hole. By this time, the dissention in the band was such that Farrell and Navarro came to blows on the Lollapalooza stage after the two had begun violently bumping each other mid-song. The band left the stage only to return to play an encore, where the fight continued and ended with Navarro throwing his guitar into the crowd. Jane’s Addiction went down in flames with the wrap of the festival.
In the intervening years, the members of Jane’s Addiction pursued other projects. Farrell and Perkins had modest success with Porno for Pyros while Navarro and Avery went onto form the band Deconstruction before Navarro took up with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Jane’s Addiction reunited with a host of bassists filling in for Avery but, inevitably, disbanded for what Navarro says were the same reasons as always.
Although they’d written some new songs prior to the NIN/JA tour, Farrell says they are in no hurry to release a new record. But with Jane’s Addiction out on the road again, playing to rapturous fans everywhere, many are hopeful that despite the long shadow cast by their dysfunctional history, the truce they’ve called is a sign that time has, at last, graced them with the maturity to stick around awhile.
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Jane’s Addiction embark on a brief tour of Australia and Europe in early July and then head back to the States to headline the retooled Lollapalooza, now an annual weekend-long event held in Chicago’s Grant Park. This year’s dates are August 7th-9th. The festival will include acts like Kings of Leon, The Killers, and Tool. Jane’s Addiction will close the festival the night of August 9th.
The box-set, A Cabinet of Curiosities, was released in April 2009 and includes 3 discs of demos, rehearsals, remixes, covers, and live recordings of Jane's Addiction from 1986-1991. The compilation also includes a DVD featuring the movie Soul Kiss, the band’s music videos, and concert footage.
