Jane's Addiction Album: “Nothing's Shocking”

It's hard to believe that this album came out in 1988 and still holds its own as one of the most rock-out albums of all time. Even when standbys such as Mother Love Bone, Fugazi and even Guns 'n Roses sound a little too stale and cliched these days, "Nothing's Shocking" still carries tremendous power in it's super-charged rock sound. Perry Farrell's shrieking, startling vocals never fail to make me take notice.

From the opening bludgeon of "Up the Beach" to the staccato aggressiveness of "Pigs in Zen", this album never lets up. Even the cheeky "Thank You Boys" is delivered with impish delight that could only come from the mind of the half-mad, feral Farrell. Compare Dave Navarro's chops with anything on your local flaccid rock station and you'll see what I mean.

It's high time to treasure this gem all over again.

So many people talk about how some album changed their lives, and quite a few of them list this as one of those albums. The reason for that? IT'S TRUE!!!!

NOTHING'S SHOCKING came out when I was in high school and was listening to a lot of heavy metal. To me, what was "alternative" was just new wave crap or weird stuff with no intensity. Little did I know. I heard a guy talking about a song off this album, so I asked a guy I knew who I knew listened to "weird" music and he let me borrow a copy of it. From the first few seconds, I fell in love and asked my friend for more music. He steered me in new directions and I have never looked back. Everyone NEEDS to hear this album to believe it.

The good news is that Jane Bainter, the Perry/Casey associate whose addiction led to the band's name, did get and stay clean, and apparently she also eventually got to Spain, too.

Nothing's Shocking is as much a piece of Art as a cutting edge Thinking Person's Metal album. This is even reflected in the utterly haunting cover photo of a Perry Farrell sculpture of a pair of naked Siamese Twins with their heads on fire, sitting on a wicker chair.

As many of you will know, the 'Twins' were made from a papier mache body cast of Perry's then girlfriend, the remarkable Casey Niccoli, which was then duplicated and fused. Whatever its origins, it is an unforgettable image and naturally caused major controversy on the album's release.

Musically, Nothing's Shocking includes some of Jane's best work, although apparently the band wrote most of the material for their first three albums when they first got together.

The stunningly beautiful 'Jane Says' went on to become one of the most played Rock ballads of all time, along with U2's 'One' and Led Zeppelin's 'Thank You' and 'Stairway To Heaven'.

Yet this album also contains such powerhouse numbers as Ocean Size, Mountain Song and Pigs In Zen (Pigs, not on the original vinyl - not my UK copy, anyway) which can just about blow the doors off any competition you could name.

If I recall correctly, Ted Just Admit It was recorded while serial killer Ted Bundy was still around, and was all the more chilling because of that fact.

Rather than babble further, I would just ask you to give this rare work of genius a listen, and savor the breathtaking combination of Perry Farrell's unique and hypnotic vocals, Dave N's brilliantly inventive guitar work and as classic a collection of songs as you will ever get on one album.

'Just Because' from the new album is a reminder of the awesome power that the band can still wield, but this album right here, is the one that put them on the map.

Everyone seems to dig Jane's Addiction--ever notice that? Indie-snobs, punk-rockers, arty types, metal-heads--they all seem to agree that Jane's Addiction were pretty cool. Why is that exactly? If one listens to the band's debut studio album "Nothing Shocking" (1988) one can get a sense of why that is.

"Nothing Shocking" is an interesting album in that it's hard to pigeonhole. People will probably use the all-generic term "alternative" to describe the album, but that label seems a little unsatisfactory. Maybe the album is arty and off-center, but it isn't like a Sonic Youth album in that it's really obscure or avant-garde. In fact, the album is loaded with infectious hooks and terrific solos, and the album rocks, and rocks hard. Therefore, a guitar aficionado who is a fan of Van Halen or Hendrix, or just of guitar rock in general, is going to dig "Nothing Shocking" as much as the Sonic Youth/Velvet Underground crowd.

Additionally, "Nothing Shocking" has attracted many fans and praise no doubt because of the album's unique flavor. "Nothing Shocking" can sometimes be very gentle and soothing, and then, just like that, it's aggressive and even ferocious. Elements of jazz, new-age and funk are interspersed throughout. It's a very unpredictable album and one never knows exactly what will come next. The sound of the album is spacey, yet full; it's abstract, yet at the same time it's an album that many listeners can connect with. The structures of the songs are also non-traditional in that many of them don't follow a verse-chorus-verse pattern and the listener often doesn't know where a song in going; yet everything works.

Charismatic singer Perry Ferrell has a wholly unique voice that's really hard to describe. It's higher than that of most singers, and not really "full," yet carries everything on the album just fine. Ferrell's lyrics are not easily comprehensible, yet they don't sound pretentious either. He's not speaking in gibberish, he has something to say, yet it takes some thought to try to figure it out.

Guitarist Dave Navaro's solos are awesome and the dude obviously is a terrific player--yet he shows restraint, making sure that the killer solos avoid grandiosity and are just one element in the band's sound. Drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery provide and exciting and unpredictable rhythm section.

"Up the Beach," a three minute instrumental sets the perfect tone for the album--spacey, eerie and psychedelic. It's peaceful yet with an undercurrent of disharmony. "Ocean Size" is one of the album's more straight-forward rockers. It is one long, hard-hitting song, with gentle acoustic strumming sprinkled here and there. "Had a Dad" starts out hitting hard, but then a colorful, lush chorus kicks in, throwing the listener for a loop. "Ted, Just Admit it" is one of the album's more off-beat songs. It starts out unhurried, with a jazzy bass-line leading the listener through over noodling guitars, and then, almost without knowing what has hit you, the song suddenly becomes chaotic and there is a feeling of entropy. The lyrics are rather abstract and low-key, until around the middle when Ferrell repeats "sex is violent" over and over again, like a mantra. The drum solo and hectic soloing add to the feeling of disorder. The funk-laden "Standing in the Shower thinking" has a touch of Red Hot Chili Peppers to it and moves the album along nicely. The subdued, sleepy hypnotic "Summertime Rolls," much like the opening "Up the Beach" is tranquil, yet with a feeling of unease. The hard-rocking "Mountain Song" has a Led Zeppelin-like riff and vibe but with psychedelic underpinnings. The album takes a 140 degree turn for the jazzy/funky "Idiots Rule." The saxophone, trumpet and trombone blend in perfectly and add a really quirky but cool touch to the album. Jane's Addiction's most well-known song, the acoustic melancholy "Jane Says," tells the story of a woman with a heroin addiction. While the song is a modern/alternative rock staple, it never seems to get old. The jazzy minute long off-beat "Thank you Boys" is kind of strange and comes out of nowhere, but its inclusion works. Another abstract song, the closing "Pigs in Zen" makes for a good conclusion.

Released in 1988, "Nothing Shocking" sounds as fresh today as it did nearly twenty years ago and is one of the least dated albums I can think of. And while it has sold two million copies, and received much praise, it still manages to hold the allure of cult status. No matter what kind of music you are into, "Nothing Shocking" is an essential purchase. Hopefully a new generation of fans that are currently being force-fed Nickeback will discover the album.

This is one of the few albums I can say 'saved my life'. Any fellow audiophiles out there probably have a handful they can agree with me on, and this is one that sits in that bunch for me. It's an outrageously ballsy album that came completely out of left field in the 80's. To this day, it still pumps me up and gives me an adrenaline rush. Although I'd love to see the disc get a nice remastering to pick up the volume in the mix (a la 'Downward Spiral' for example), Perry and the boys never topped this disc as far as I am concerned. It's ambitious, obnoxious, controversial (on the cover alone, not to mention some of the lyrics), and amazing. This is one of of the all-time greatest heroin-fueled albums in rock history. Two thumbs way up.