Tuesday, April 15, 2008

No. 453: Ritual de lo Habitual


(original cover)

(clean cover)
Band: Jane's Addiction
Album: Ritual de lo Habitual
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: Jane's Addiction's second album was the record that broke the band into the mainstream. The band worked different genres -- again, this was the 1990s, when jester hats and huge pants were cool -- and did so masterfully.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: Jane's Addiction is a thinking man's Red Hot Chili Peppers, but that still doesn't make them the Beatles.
Best song: "Stop!" is great, "Classic Girl" is great and "Three Days" is fantastic.
Worst song: "Of Course" is too long and not great.
Is it awesome?: It's close.

Jane's Addiction is a strong, strong band and "Ritual de lo Habitual" is a strong, strong record. The album starts great with the band's best song, "Stop!" and ends on a great note with the beautiful ballad, "Classic Girl."

"Nothing's Shocking" is a nice record, but "Ritual" is far better. The disjointed rhythm of "Ain't No Right" is a great testament to that part of the band while "Stop!" is Dave Navarro's best work. "Three Days" is a strange but great true story of Perry Farrel's bizarre personal life.

The album is great, but I can see why people don't love it. It's not perfect, but it's tons of fun.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have a list in my head of all-time great rock songs most people have never heard, but should, and 3 Days is at the top. In context with the rest of the song, that may be the greatest guitar solo ever.

Yeah, I said it, ever!