Janes Addiction - Up Fromthe Catacombs

Sun 5th Nov, 2006 in Music Reviews

It’s that funny time of year when all the best of compilations starting flooding the shelves to chase Christmas dollar and to breathe a bit of life in to the back catalogue. One band that needs the respirator is Jane’s Addiction who failed short of brilliance and at the end of the day weren’t as big or clever as they thought or could have been.

Their Big Day Out performances in 2003 was a testament to that as they were so full of their own self importance that most of us were asleep in the stands. Their career spans four albums and it is easy to count on one hand how many good songs they were able to conjure up in that time.

Given that their first album Jane’s Addiction was rubbish and Strays defied description (and was almost an argument for them to get back on the drugs) you would have to say this is a pretty poor return. A quarter of this compilation comes from Nothing Shocking and Ritual de lo Habitual and if you own those savour them because you won’t get much joy here. Mountain Song, Been Caught Stealing and Stop are classic singles and as good as it gets for Jane’s Addiction.

There are a couple of others that could feature in the mix such as Classic Girl and Superhero but both do little to change the world. For those after a taste this one will do the job but those looking for more, delve in the back catalogue.