from the LP Jane’s Addiction, Triple X Records, 1987Certain musicians come across deeply validating of one’s inner freak-flag, whether directly or intangibly, delivering songs which carry the heaviest freedom vibrations: Hendrix, Rage Against the Machine, The Pixies, The MC5, etc… High up on that list, for me anyways, is Jane’s Addiction; I stated in a previous post that listening to their music can almost be a spiritual experience for me sometimes, and I meant it---somewhere between the thud of their primordial rhythm section, the drive of Navarro’s guitar (cannot even believe solos he peels off here, the kid was still a teenager when this album was released for fuck’s sake), & the banshee-like wails which compose Perry’s inimitable vocal delivery, it just hypnotizes me in a deep way that few other bands manage to do. You can’t fuck with lyrics like these, “…way down low where the streets are littered, I find my fun with the freaks and the niggers...I love them whores they never judge you, what can you say when your a whore; they cast that pearl and it don't upset 'em, they take their chances if they get 'em…gimme some more, motherfucker, I need a little more, goddamn you…oh how I love them whores, oh how I love them whores…” Who else can get away with saying shit like that?! Not many bands have balls big enough to open with a live album---even though they had already been signed by Warner Bros, Perry wisely made sure to receive a contractual allowance to release this set, taped live at the Roxy in L.A., on an indie label, assuring them some underground cred outside of California before rolling out with a major label debut. Squares need not apply.
