Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape Artist

It is difficult to listen to an album and not compare it to records of the past, especially coming from a band that has a consistent history of turning music on its side. The Great Escape Artist should be listened to as if it could stand alone, separate from the rest.  If this album was from a new band making its way, it would be a concrete base for future success.  Coming from Jane’s Addiction, however, it is a body of work shared with the community.

Farrell’s voice still screeches with conviction and is as familiar as yesterday. But Navarro’s typically omnipresent, blazing guitar is all but absent as you listen to each track. There are no tracks over 6 minutes that take you on an adventure, such as Three Days from the hit album Ritual de la Habitual but the substance that is produced is enjoyable.

Early on, the band that Jane’s Addiction fans grew to love released albums containing tracks that sounded raw and pure, but polished by a producer for commercial consumption. The Great Escape Artist sounds more like a producer driven album with signature Jane’s stylization injected sporadically in a feeble attempt to maintain the band’s sonic identity.

But to play devil’s advocate, it could be considered by some to be noble that the band is changing and producing a sound that is somewhat a departure from their norm. It has been, after all, 7 years since the band’s last studio album and while other bands today who gained popularity in the 80s and 90s, still release, without guilt, a rehashing of the songs that made them popular. Ferrell and Navarro at least attempt to cultivate a newer sound in keeping with contemporary, ‘Modern Rock.’