Kettle Whistle
Jane’s Addiction
1997: Warner Bros. 9 46752-2
Added to my library in mid-August 2005—appropriately timed, as the J.A. sound always puts me in mind of a very hot Los Angeles night still trying to shake the day’s heat—after I unexpectedly heard it playing at my local pub (the marvelous McMenamin’s) the other night. I vaguely knew of this album’s existence but effectively had no idea of what it was like, so as I recognized some version of “Had a Dad” playing as I seated myself I was alert, fascinated, baffled, and hooked all at once. It made reading my book on Hungarian history much harder, believe me.
I can’t describe my reactions and responses to this in full at the moment, so I’ll just have to say that I was both surprised and delighted to hear just about everything on this CD. Two things I can mention immediately, however, because they’re the strongest reactions I had when I actually got the CD a couple of days later. First, that the liner-notes Introduction by Henry Rollins was a truly eyebrow-raising surprise…I am not a Rollins fan (his entire physical appearance says NOT YOU to me, to put it simply), but I do know who he is and was thus significantly impressed by his eloquent testimony about J.A.’s powerful impact. Second, that I *totally* did not see “Jane Says” coming when it started off (granted, that was while I was at McM’s and didn’t have a tracklist or even a confirmation that I was still listening to the same album), and from the sound of the audience’s reaction when the song revealed itself after the jazzily-laid-back and lovely introduction I wasn’t alone in that; the roar of screaming epiphany that resulted adds a fascinating intensity and depth to a song that was already intense and deep enough on its own.
Comments © 2005 Mark Ellis Walker, except as noted, and no claim is made to the images and quoted lyrics.