jane’s addiction

REVIEW: Dudes – The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1987)

A collaboration with Jex Russell – check out his review of the vinyl by clicking here.

DUDES – The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1987 MCA)

Every collector is different.  My time is a valuable commodity, so when I buy movie soundtracks made up of mixed songs, I generally only play the songs by the bands I like, and I may never hear the rest of of the album.   So it came to be, I have never played the Dudes soundtrack, despite owning it almost 30 years.  I don’t know the premise of the movie either.  All I know is the old Keel music video for “Rock ‘N’ Roll Outlaw” featured some of the movie footage, starring Jon Cryer, Flea, and Mary Catherine Stewart.  It was clearly a comedy.  Back then, they didn’t tell you what movie or album a video was from, so I never knew the movie was called Dudes until I saw the CD physically.

I bought this disc at the Record Store in 1997 mostly for Keel, W.A.S.P. and Steve Vai.  One look at the cover and I said “This is that movie with the Keel song!  I recognize those two guys!”  And so it was.

The Keel video commences with a stern warning from a police officer: “You know, maybe this wouldn’t have happened if you looked like normal folks.”  He scolds a hilariously punky-looking Jon Cryer.  We know what kind of movie this is without seeing it.  (Lee Ving of Fear is also in the film.)

“Rock ‘N’ Roll Outlaw”, produced by Kevin Beamish, is the opening track.  It’s loaded with attitude and a cool riff, backed by electric slide guitar.  “All I need is a rock and roll band, and somewhere new to play!” howls Ron Keel, a distinct singer that never achieved the level of success he was due.  There’s a dual solo, with Marc Ferrari comedically using a pistol as a slide in the music video.  “Rock ‘N’ Roll Outlaw” is one of Keel’s top tunes, and it wasn’t on their album.  The drums are recorded a little clanky, but otherwise this tune is top-notch road rock.

I have never listened to the Vandals, as far as I know, in my life until this moment.  “Urban Struggle” begins with a mock Indian war beat, and a mutation of The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly theme.  It’s a joke song with cowboy-themed lyrics in a mock accent, and then going into a punk western style, and words about mechanical bulls.  Not a song I’ll be coming back to.

“Show No Mercy” by W.A.S.P. (produced by Mike Varney) is more my speed.  A non-album track, it hearkens back to early W.A.S.P.  The lineup pictured inside was the current W.A.S.P., including Johnny Rod and Steve Riley.  The actual track is from an earlier lineup with Tony Richards and Randy Piper.  As such, it sounds exactly like the first album, and having more tunes with that sound is never a bad thing.  It is a smoker, and Chris Holmes’ familiar guitar sound is welcome in my ears.  This song easily could have been on the album, if not used as a single.

Simon Steele & The Claw don’t seem to have released much music over the years.  Shame.  “Vengeance Is Mine” is a traditional metal gallop.  The vocals are decent, usually occupying a low John Bush-like growl, but occasionally releasing into a scream.  There’s an awkward key change midway through, but the pace remains relentless throughout.

Megadeth’s jokey cover of “These Boots Are Made For Walkin'” was on their first album as “These Boots”, but this version is slightly longer.  Produced by Paul Lani, it is a different recording from the album version by Dave Mustaine and Karat Faye.   It remains as entertaining as ever.  It may as well be an original if not for the lyrics.  You’d never think it was “These Boots” if it was purely instrumental.

A complete change of pace is the pop rocker “Time Forgot You” by Legal Weapon.  Apparently they were primarily a punk band, but this is a really cool mainstream 80s rock track that could have been a big hit on radio if circumstances allowed.  Singer Kat Arthurs is a breath of fresh air after the grit of Mustaine!  This is the hidden gem of the album, with a strong bassline and catchy, well-recorded stabs of shimmering rhythm guitar.

“Jesus Came Driving Along” by Swedish band The Leather Nun is like a gothic punk rock hybrid.  The vocals are recorded low in the mix and odd sounds are rampant, but it’s pretty cool.  It has a beat you can drive to, which might be the intent.

I was never a big Jane’s Addiction fan, but “Mountain Song” is a brilliant piece of swirly-whirly rock brilliance.  A big Jane’s fan told me at the time that he never heard this particular version of “Mountain Song” before, produced by the band themselves.  He considered it a rarity.  The riff to “Mountain Song” seems like it has been ripped off so many times over the years since.  There’s a Zeppelin-esque massiveness to it, but with a tribal beat, an 80s haze, and a howling Perry Farrell.  Utter musical magnificence.

Punk band The Little Kings have a very cool song here called “The Lost Highway”.  The exaggerated warbling mannerisms of the singer recall Elvis a bit, as the band chop out a greasy rockabilly sound behind him.  It’s hard hitting and unique.  It goes breakneck for a moment, and then back into a rockabilly groove.

A short instrumental from the movie score, “Dudes Showdown” has twangy guitar, and tense synth backing.  It certainly sets a scene.  It sounds like a setup for a climax.

The final song is almost a coda.  It’s Steve Vai’s rare rendition of “Amazing Grace”, which he has since released as part of his Secret Jewel Box collection.  At the time however, it was one of those scattered one-off rarities.  Vai goes surprisingly delicate here, with heavy, dreamy guitar effects and a very experimental arrangement of the traditional music.  Steve used to say, “Sorry, I can’t help myself!” and here’s an example.  He couldn’t help doing something completely different.

And that’s the album!  Not bad actually, with only the Vandals track being the one I’d skip today.

4/5 stars

 

GUEST REVIEW: Jane’s Addiction – Jane’s Addiction (1987)

Guest review by Holen MaGroin

JANE’S ADDICTION – Jane’s Addiction (1987 Triple X)

In 1987, the stage was set for a new exciting sound to challenge the successful glam metal scene. Some thought that metal had become gluttonous and bloated, filled with commercial aspirations that betrayed the genre’s roots. The alternative revolution started not with Nirvana’s Nevermind, but four years earlier when Jane’s Addiction chose to begin their recording career in an unorthodox way. They decided to make their debut LP a live album. Several of the songs on this live album would never be re-recorded for a studio LP, leaving these the only official versions of the songs. At the height of the glam metal craze, Jane’s Addiction was a much needed breath of fresh air in the rock world. Many different styles of rock were being played on the Sunset Strip, but up to this point only the more pop-oriented groups were receiving mainstream attention. This self-titled album at points is a heavier, more aggressive album than a lot of the stuff that was being passed off as “metal” at the time, without actually being metal. At other points, it displays an emphasis on songwriting depth over quick catchy gang chorus melodies. The ballads on this album are of an organic nature, and acoustic guitars play a dominant role in the proceedings.

Jane’s Addiction is an emotionally honest offering. It is a very passionate and energetic recording that shows the full dynamic of the band better than any of their later releases. While their first two studio albums are superior efforts overall, they don’t display the many different influences of the group’s sound as clearly as they do on this record. While they would distill those influences into something truly unique and original on Nothing’s Shocking and Ritual de lo Habitual, this eponymous album shows the influences spread out further into different songs, offering a unique glimpse into what makes the band’s later material tick. Compare the brash speedy opener “Trip Away” with the earnest bass driven ballad “I Would for You”. Or the dirty distorted Zeppelin style struts of “Pigs in Zen” with the acoustic roots rock of “My Time”. It’s a unique experience that doesn’t at all feel like a band trying to find their footing, but one that is about to achieve their full potential.

This concert at The Roxy Theatre captures them as raw as the band would ever be. The recording isn’t stellar, but the production fits the music quite well. The music is emotionally raw and open, so the recording should and does match. Some studio overdubs were utilized during post-production, but these don’t bother you in a way that they would on another live album. Despite being recorded live, Jane’s Addiction doesn’t feel like a conventional live record in the way it progresses. This recording was meant to be an introduction to the band, and it seems as though they thought that the best way to capture the pure power of their sound would be to record the basics in a live setting, while enhancing the recordings with additional guitars, drum parts, and things of that nature to create a hybrid. You get the power of a live recording, with the addition of multiple guitars to hold down the rhythm when Dave Navarro takes a solo. These overdubs aren’t deceitful, because the band doesn’t make any effort to conceal them. They are simply meant to augment to original recording, to give the songs the best possible presentation on the band’s first outing.

The songs themselves are superb. Jane’s Addiction had a well of talent from all four members. In the inspired tribal beats of Stephen Perkins, who is better described as a percussionist than as a drummer. In the urgent bass lines of Eric Avery, whose playing propels the songs along and keeps them from plodding. In the great feeling of Dave Navarro, who isn’t the flashiest player, but knows how to fill space and throws in some of his tastiest soloing to the aggressive punkish “Whores”, one of the heaviest tunes on here that blends the aforementioned punk influences with a metallic sheen and a good portion of spirited melodic vocal chants from Perry Farrell that call to mind a world music influence. Perry Farrell’s voice is more aggressive and gravelly on this recording compared to his screechy sound on later albums. He’s not a great singer, but he possesses a unique voice that sells the material with conviction. His lyrical abilities are also superlative, with many of them being very personal.

Nowhere is this more evident than on “Jane Says”, an early version of the song that would later become their biggest hit on Nothing’s Shocking. The song is just two chords, yet the words tell a tale that is so entrancing that it maintains attention throughout its entire run time. It’s a song about a real life woman that Perry Farrell knew named Jane, and her struggle with drugs and abusive relationships. The re-recorded version is superior, but it’s interesting to hear how the song got its start. It conveys a message that many living in modern society can relate with. The feelings of being so overwhelmed and disenfranchised with your current way of life that simple change is not enough to satisfy you. You feel as though you need to completely overhaul your life, and leave what you have behind to start a new beginning in a foreign land “…Jane Says I’m going away to Spain…”, but practical reasons keep you from fulfilling that daydream “…when I get my money saved…”. It’s truly an alt-rock classic, proving that you don’t need hundreds of layers of backing vocals to write a song that connects with people.

To offer their fans an even greater connection to the music, they use familiarity in two spirited covers. Lou Reed’s “Rock & Roll”, and Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil”, known here as simply “Sympathy”. These cover versions are done in the band’s style, and actually expand upon the originals thanks to Dave Navarro’s perfectly melodic playing in “Rock & Roll” and the unmistakable percussive backbone from Stephen Perkins in “Sympathy”. All the band’s strengths come together on“My Time”, one of the finest selections on the entire album. It’s a folksy rock song with acoustic guitar and harmonica parts, complimented by the perfect amount of percussive flair. This song is more melodic than many of the others on the album, and gives the listener a transcendent feeling. It’s one of those songs that is so beautiful and so moving that it makes the listener feel as though they’ve broken through some new musical barrier, and are floating in a state of emotional and sonic bliss. “My Time” is even more potent when listened to on headphones, and under the dark cover of the night.

As the night wears on, the record bookends “Trip Away” with “Chip Away”, containing some tribal beats and appropriate African influenced chanting from Perry Farrell. While Jane’s Addiction would garner endless acclaim for their first two studio efforts for Warner Brothers, this independent live debut on Triple X would go sadly overlooked. The band can be considered the alternative spiritual successor of Led Zeppelin. However, their music and style is clearly their own. They capture the transcendental sprawl, intensity, and intimacy of listening to a Led Zeppelin album in a way that copycats like Kingdom Come or Greta Van Fleet cannot.* Those two bands and others like them can ape Zeppelin riffs, vocal styles, and stage moves, but they don’t capture that unique and adventurous feeling that listening to one of their records always brings. Jane’s Addiction manages to capture that feeling three times over, with the first of those three times being on this absolutely enchanting live outing.

4.9/5 stars (only because the next two are even better)

1. “Trip Away”
2. “Whores”
3. “Pigs in Zen”
4. “1%”
5. “I Would for You”
6. “My Time”
7. “Jane Says”
8. “Rock n Roll” (Velvet Underground cover)
9. “Sympathy” (Rolling Stones cover)
10. “Chip Away”

* LeBrain agrees

Part 99: Cover Thief!

RECORD STORE TALES PART 99:  Cover Thief!

Because our cases were kept empty, thieves didn’t have a lot to steal.  Some stole empty cases thinking they were getting the disc, true.  Some, however, just wanted the cover.  That’s all.

They’d leave the case behind and just steal the booklet.  You could understand why, in some circumstances.  Usually it would be, say, the new Beyonce CD that loses its cover mysteriously.  I imagine today, perhaps Ms. Perry or Ms. Rihanna would go missing from their cases.  In rare cases, it might be, say, the cover to And Justice For All that goes missing, because it’s a badass picture.

The creepiest thing that ever happened was when the cover to Kathryn Ladano’s CD got stolen.  I think I know who stole it, too.  And I think it was the one known as Wiseman.  He was always telling me my sister is hot.  Why he would do this, I do not know.  The fact that I never punched him proves I’m a nice guy.

One day, the cover just went missing.  Poof.  Gone.  A Recital of Works for Bass Clarinet, cover only, disappeared into thin air.  You got the bare minimum of cover thieves rocking the classical section of the store, too.

With Wiseman giving me all the creepy talk about my sister, I think it was him.  Gaaah!

To Wiseman:  You only hurt the artist, you know!  Your creepy ways only means my sister couldn’t sell that CD anymore!  Jerk.