janesaddiction.org

THE SEATTLE TIMES
December 7, 1990
JANE'S ADDICTION ROCKS HERE SUNDAY
Author: PATRICK MACDONALD

Perry Farrell gets all the attention, but the best things going for Jane's Addiction are guitarist Dave Navarro and drummer Stephen Perkins.

That was apparent the last time the band played here, when it did two shows at the Moore in 1989, and even more so on the new album, "Ritual De Lo Habitual," which is shaping up as the most commercially successful alternative rock album of the year.

Jane's Addiction headlines a strong alternative-rock triple bill Sunday at the Arena. The Pixies, whose mysterious music has a menacing dark edge, and Primus, a thrash-funk band said to be the top club draw in San Francisco, share the bill.

The breakthrough track is calculated to make merchants nervous.

"Been Caught Stealing" is a celebration of shoplifting in which Farrell sings "I enjoy stealing/It's just as simple as that . . . When I want something/I don't want to pay for it."

The video of the song shows supermarket shoppers pilfering in ingenious ways, and concludes with them dancing down the aisles in celebration.

The song and video seem to be another attempt to shock, which is Farrell's stock in trade. The cover he created for the album was banned by some chains because of its depiction, in sculpture form, of the singer and two women naked together, with their privates showing. To satisfy the offended chains, a second "generic" package was offered - it's plain white with just the album title and the First Amendment printed on it.

At one of last year's shows here, Farrell threatened to shoot President Bush, which got him in trouble with the Secret Service.

That's the kind of juvenile stuff Farrell is always doing, but it pays off. The "Ritual" album is a chart success and the next one probably will be a smash.

The Pixies also deal in shock, but in a much subtler, more artful way. Many of lead singer Black Francis' songs are full of violent imagery, although on the latest album, "Bossanova," the main subject matter appears to be extraterrestrials. Aliens crop up on several cuts, appearing more strange than dangerous.

The album is a bit of a surprise because it's so mainstream.

Instead of screaming, which Francis used to do with relish on almost every song, there is real singing. Instead of blood and guts and mutilation, there are actual love songs. And the musicianship, especially from guitarist Joey Santiago, is impressive.

Are the Pixies selling out? Not likely. They're just getting better, and more mature.

Primus' new album, "Frizzle Fry," is an unremarkable blend of metal and R&B at warp speed (and badly recorded, too) but the band has been getting good press in the Bay Area for its lively show, featuring cartoonish lead singer-bassist Les Claypool.

THE SEATTLE TIMES
December 10, 1990
JANE'S ADDICTION FALLS SHORT; MAYBE IT'S SIMPLY COMPLACENCY
Author: PHIL WEST

Playing concerts in sports complexes doesn't mean you have to conform to the stereotypical, shameless crowd-pleasing known as "arena rock." But it usually happens.

Jane's Addiction, who played the Seattle Center Arena last night, demonstrated their now-typical prowess in a live setting. The reputation established through their live shows gained them a major-label record contract and popularity through the college radio market, but now that they're finally popular enough to sell out arenas as they did last night, arena-rock complacency is rearing its ugly head.

The warning signs? Letting the crowd linger before making a pompous entry, resplendent with curtains and fog machines. Letting the crowd linger for annoyingly long periods before performing an encore.

On-stage mincing. Saying the obvious, such as "Are you having fun?," to get applause.

The fingers must be pointed at Perry Farrell, the group's lead singer. Jane's Addiction latest album, "Ritual de lo Habitual," has shifted the band's focus from heavy topics, like prostitution, drug abuse and Ted Bundy, to other topics, namely Farrell.

Last night, entering in a cloak and felt hat which made him appear to have just sprung from a Dickens novel, his first action was to hoist a wine bottle to the exuberant, sheep-like bleating of the audience.

Early in the set, he spoke to the crowd in between songs, saying things like "All you need are good friends," "Don't vote Republican" and "Recycling is the wave of the future," all to cheers. The clothing he revealed later in the set wouldn't have been worn in public by a more discriminating transvestite.

But Farrell mercifully stopped preaching after the first 20 minutes, and let his voice - his singing voice - do the rest. His histrionic, whiny siren is the perfect anchor for the band's music, a howling mix of punk and funk with slight heavy-metal indulgences, and the musicians in the group, chiefly drummer Stephen Perkins, can create a wall of noise big enough to fill an arena.

They've aimed for a big sound every album, yet their live shows carry Jane's Addiction's frequent cresendos and fury to levels they can't replicate in the studio. And once Farrell focused his energy on singing, not even his corset served as a distraction.

While Farrell wears his eccentricity on his dress sleeve, the opening band, the Pixies, are more subtle. Upon seeing the band, especially flannel-shirted, overweight singer/guitarist Black Francis, one concertgoer incredulously asked, "Is that them?"

The Pixies, who headlined two shows at the Moore Theater last year, did a sneer of a set, both incredibly bombastic and incredibly short. The set was incendiary, filled with Francis' ugly shrieks and screams, but they clocked in at less than a half hour, only touching on material from all four of their albums.

BENEFIT FOR THE NORTHWEST ENVIRONMENT IS ALL HEART
By Gene Stout P-I Pop Critic
Friday, December 7, 1990
Section: What's Happening, Page: 5

Maybe it was factory emissions in Europe. Or deforestation in South America. Or smog and congestion in Southern California.

Something got Ann and Nancy Wilson, leaders of Seattle's globe-trotting supergroup, Heart, thinking about their relatively pristine hometown.

"We've been all over the world, to all these romantic cities, and we keep coming back here. It is truly the best place in the world," says Ann Wilson.

Hoping to help prevent the environmental degradation they have seen in other parts of the world, the Wilsons have long dreamed of doing a benefit concert for the Northwest environment. Now, after more than three years of talking about it, they finally will have their chance.

Heart will wrap up the final leg of its U.S. tour with Cheap Trick with a Northwest environmental benefit concert, "Puget Sound Live," tomorrow night at the Seattle Center Coliseum. The sold-out show is expected to raise $150,000 to $200,000 for local organizations working to save the environment (up to 200 additional tickets could be released by Ticketmaster tomorrow).

"We've been trying to do this for a while, but we couldn't raise an eyebrow a few years ago," Nancy Wilson said at an Oct. 24 news conference announcing the concert. "We want to give something back to the region that has given so much to us."

Added sister Ann, "We don't want to be known as a band that blows through town and blows out."

"Our Heart is in the right place," reads a poster promoting the concert.

Beneficiaries of Puget Sound Live include the Seattle Aquarium, which is seeking funding for its new tide pool exhibit; the Washington Environmental Council, made up of environmental activists and more than 90 citizens groups; and the Nature Conservancy, which is purchasing bald eagle roosting areas along the Skagit River.

A fourth beneficiary, the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition, made up of environmental, business, recreation and sportsmen's groups, is working to secure more than $400 million in state funding to acquire and protect wildlife habitat and receation areas.

Local sponsors include John L. Scott Real Estate, Puget Sound Bank, QFC food stores, Fratelli's Ice Cream, KING-TV and the Washington Environmental Council.

Washington Environmental Council executive director Ted Pankowski, married to a third Wilson sister, Lynn, says he was surprised at the level of cooperation among the participating businesses and corporations.

"It's quite interesting that it takes the artist in society to bring these interests together," he said.

"What they all realize is that they can have a far greater impact by working together," said Janet Wainwright, a spokesman for Puget Sound Live, whose organizers hope to do annual benefit shows.

Noting that "people are really influenced by their idols," Ann Wilson said she hopes to raise awareness of environmental issues among fans. The group will circulate a special fan letter urging concertgoers to get involved in environmental causes.

"This is the first generation that knows that its children aren't going to have it as good as they did," Ann Wilson said.

While the Wilsons are eager to raise money for the environment, they know their fans also want to be entertained. "They're going to rock their butts off," promises Ann Wilson.

The concert will feature songs from Heart's new album, "Brigade." It's the third hit album the five-member group has produced since an early '80s slump that raised doubts about the band's future. (Three former members who left the group in the early '80s, Roger Fisher, Steve Fossen and Michael Derosier, are now enjoying success as members of Alias; a single, "More Than Words Can Say," is at the top of the charts.)

"Brigade" is a highly commercial and occasionally bland selection of ballads and hard-rock tunes, featuring Ann Wilson's aggressive vocals and the band's sure-fire arrangements and state-of-the-art instrumentation. The latest hit single from the new album is "Stranded."

Heart's next record will be a live album from the tour. The Wilsons also have talked about doing solo albums, but decided on a compromise. They plan to begin work sometime next year on a "dual solo album," featuring songs by each of them.

"We got to thinking about it and neither one of us really wanted to go off on our own," Ann Wilson said.

Nancy's husband, former Rolling Stone magazine writer-turned-film director Cameron Crowe, is also busy. Crowe will begin work on a new film in Seattle in March. He plans to use musicians from successful local bands, such as Soundgarden, on the soundtrack and maybe even in acting roles. The title is "Singles."

Opening act Cheap Trick, which isn't donating its performance fees to the environmental cause, is back on the charts with its 11th album, "Busted."

After a lengthy slump in the mid-'80s, the veteran hard-rock group made a comeback in 1988 with the hit single "The Flame." The song had been written by an outside songwriter, leading critics to suggest that the group's chief songwriter, guitarist Rick Nielsen, had lost his touch. The new record, however, features more tunes by Nielsen, including the single "Can't Stop Falling Into Love."

The touring lineup features all four original members, including Nielsen, vocalist Robin Zander, bassist Tom Petersson and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Blond-haired Zander is among Ann Wilson's favorite singers. "He's one of the hippest singers in America," she says.

Perry Farrell, leader of L.A.'s Jane's Addiction, hasn't revealed much about his enigmatic lyrics.

But he doesn't mind exposing the flesh. The cover art on the group's 1988 album, "Nothing's Shocking," featured two nude sculptures, attached at the waist and hair ablaze, of Farrell's girlfriend, Casey.

Eight of the country's biggest record distribution chains refused to carry the album, though several later relented. A similar flap has resulted from the group's follow-up album, "Ritual de lo Habitual," which again features nudes, Farrell, Casey and a late friend, Xiola.

Because of renewed resistance from distributors, Farrell commissioned a plain-white-wrapper version of the album with a message about freedom of speech. Attempting to explain the covers, Farrell told the Associated Press he likes nudity: "It's just something that I enjoy looking at, basically. I don't think it's very controversial."

Lyrically, Farrell and his band go well beyond titillation. Songs deal with the nature of human sexuality, drug addiction, even societal collapse.

A believer in artistic integrity, Farrell speaks his mind with jarring detail. In "No One's Leaving," he writes of the pain of interracial relationships: "My sister and her boyfriend slept in the park. She had to leave home 'cause he was dark. Now they parade around in New York with a baby ... He's gorgeous! Ain't noboby leaving! No one's leaving."

Jane's Addiction was one of the more exciting new bands to emerge from Los Angeles in the late '80s. Led by Farrell, and featuring guitarist David Navarro, bassist Eric A. and drummer Stephen Perkins, the group performs Sunday night at 8 at the Seattle Center Arena. Opening acts are Primus and Pixie.