Jane's Addiction was different from the beginning and led the charge of the Alternative Rock movement that took hold of the music industry in the late eighties. To many music fans the band paved the way for the groups who would follow them based on their unique blending of punk, funk, metal, and even psychedelic rock that when under the creative eye of Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro seemed to work together incredibly well. The group was easily able to win over a wide scope of listeners with their approach to music and found that numbers such as "Mountain Song" appealed to the Metal heads while the likes of "Been Caught Stealing" worked well within the fans of the slightly funky edge. For a collection of the bands work this sixteen track "Best Of" works quite well but should it intrigue you, then I encourage you to dig deeper and snare copies of the full albums from their earliest years. As a fan of those early albums I felt one or two songs could have been added while others left off and debated whether this would have been served up better as a double CD anthology piece but in the end it does what it sets out to do and presents a good overview of the band for anyone who purchases it. Their music is still exciting even many years after their having broken up for good in 2004 (this was after their first parting in 1991 and a brief reunion). The albums featured on this release are Jane's Addiction, Nothing's Shocking, Ritual De L Habitual, Kettle Whistle, and Strays with each continuing to inspire the alternative musicians of today along with many others who choose to let the band morph their own sound. Clearly this was a band that defined a moment in the building of a genre and that is a testament to their lasting appeal even today. If this is to become your only purchase from the band for your music player of choice or CD library then it's a great place to start but I did find that this was a band that you cannot merely take choice selections from and present them for it doesn't give enough of the picture about their impact. The CD comes in a digipak with an extensive band history by Gil Kaufman that makes for interesting reading while the music plays.
Track Listing
1. Stop!
2. Ocean Size
3. Whores
4. Ted, Just Admit It…
5. Ain't No Right
6. Had A Dad
7. Superhero
8. Been Caught Stealing
9. Just Because
10. Three Days
11. I Would For You
12. Classic Girl
13. Summertime Rolls
14. Mountain Song
15. Pigs In Zen
16. Jane Says (Live)
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