Strays

Jane's Addiction - Strays

Strays
List Price: $11.94
Our Price: $6.72
You Save: $5.22 (44%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.48 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Listen soundtracks from this album


(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

CD Details

Artist: Jane's Addiction
Edition: Music CD
Format: Enhanced
Published: 2003
CD Release Date: 2003-07-22
Music Label: Capitol
Soundtracks:
  1. True Nature
  2. Strays
  3. Just Because
  4. The Price I Pay
  5. The Riches
  6. SuperHero
  7. Wrong Girl
  8. Everybody's Friend
  9. Suffer Some
  10. Hypersonic
  11. To Match The Sun

Music reviews of Strays

Music Review: Some people don't get this album - here's why
Rating: 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.
More Strays free music reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Description of Strays

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 CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Alternative Rock CDs
Maniacal Laughter ImageBouncing Souls - Maniacal Laughter
Release date: 1996-01-26; Music CD
Best price: $30.00
Parallel Lines ImageBlondie - Parallel Lines
Release date: 1994-07-29; Music CD
Best price: $149.98
L.A. Woman ImageDoors - L.A. Woman
Release date: 1993-04-09; Music CD
Best price: $99.99
Phallus Dei ImageAmon Duul - Phallus Dei
Release date: 1997-04-08; Music CD
Price in other shops: $18.98
Melrose ImageTangerine Dream - Melrose
Release date: 1990-10-02; Music CD
Best price: $74.98
Private Music of Tangerine Dream ImageTangerine Dream - Private Music of Tangerine Dream
Release date: 1992-11-10; Music CD
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops: $11.98
Ska Explosion [VHS] ImageSka Explosion [VHS]
Cleopatra; Release date: 1995-02-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops: $16.98
Little Earthquakes [VHS] ImageLittle Earthquakes [VHS]
Atlantic / Wea; Release date: 1992-11-10; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.50
Price in other shops: $16.98
Exile ImageExile
by Geoffrey Oryema
Music CD
Best price: $4.95
Louder Than Live [VHS] ImageSoundgarden - Louder Than Live [VHS]
A&M Video; Release date: 1991-07-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $192.68
Similar CDs
Ultra Payload ImagePerry Farrell's Satellite Party - Ultra Payload
Release date: 2007-05-29; Music CD
Best price: $1.93
Price in other shops: $18.97
Good Gods Urge ImagePorno for Pyros - Good Gods Urge
Release date: 1996-05-28; Music CD
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops: $8.96
Jane's Addiction: Live Voodoo [Blu-ray] ImageJane's Addiction: Live Voodoo [Blu-ray]
Release date: 2010-08-31; Blu-ray
Best price: $12.13
Price in other shops: $19.98
Porno for Pyros ImagePorno for Pyros - Porno for Pyros
Release date: 1993-04-27; Published: 1993; Music CD
Best price: $5.70
Price in other shops: $13.96
Kettle Whistle ImageJane's Addiction - Kettle Whistle
Release date: 1997-11-04; Music CD
Best price: $3.79
Price in other shops: $13.96
Jane's Addiction ImageJane's Addiction - Jane's Addiction
Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $11.66
Price in other shops: $15.98
Up From the Catacombs: Best of Jane's Addiction ImageJane's Addiction - Up From the Catacombs: Best of Jane's Addiction
JANE'S ADDICTION; Release date: 2006-09-19; Music CD
Best price: $5.35
Price in other shops: $18.98
Ritual De Lo Habitual ImageJane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual
JANE'S ADDICTION; Release date: 1990-08-13; Music CD
Best price: $3.90
Price in other shops: $13.96
Nothing's Shocking ImageJane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
JANE'S ADDICTION; Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops: $7.98
The Great Escape Artist ImageJane's Addiction - The Great Escape Artist
Release date: 2011-10-18; Music CD
Best price: $5.16
Price in other shops: $18.98
Books | DVD Video | VHS Video | Health and Personal Care | Digital Cameras and Photo | Kitchen and Housewares | Tools and Hardware | Sports Equipment | Dresses shirts shoes apparel pants
Copyright © 2004-2007 music-hills.com
Google
 
Web music-hills.com
Compare prices and find music notes for more than one million Music CD titles