The Great Escape Artist
| Jane's Addiction
The Great Escape Artist
The Great Escape Artist is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, released October 18, 2011 on Capitol Records. The album was the band's first since its 2003 release Strays and features multi-instrumentalist Dave Sitek contributing bass guitar alongside Chris Chaney. The album's release was preceded by singles "End to the Lies," which was released as a free download on April 7, 2011, and "Irresistible Force (Met the Immovable Object)," which was released August 3, 2011. Regarding the album's title, vocalist Perry Farrell said "I love being able to escape my past, even though my past was great. I just love the future even more."-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
On the 20th anniversary of their initial dissolution, the alt-rock OGs release an album produced by Muse-man Rich Costey and featuring TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek and Guns N' Roses' Duff McKagan, among others.
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Hollywood Reporter
While the interplay remains incendiary, the textures freshly incandescent, there isn’t much in the way of memorable choruses or hooks. Still, for a group to sound this vital after a two-decade-plus run.
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COS
The Great Escape Artist sounds more and more like an appropriate title for this record. Jane’s Addiction will probably never entirely escape the shadow of their seminal early albums (a Houdini-like feat, indeed), but by pushing so far in a new direction, in a way, they’ve escaped just enough. They’ve made it okay to get older, move on, and grow.
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Av Club
Great Escape’s biggest misstep is one of rock’s most clichéd: hiring a hot, hip young talent from whom to siphon youthful energy.
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Rolling Stone
The ambience fits Farrell’s obsession with L.A. dark-siders lost in an uncaring world, and on "Broken People," he sticks up for them like a black-fingernailed defense lawyer – "Help them out?/No, you can't help them out." But buried in this sleepy disc you wonder if they'll ever hear it.
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Loudwire
With 'The Great Escape Artist,' Jane's Addiction seem to have a focus on the present. Lead track 'Underground' kicks things off with an invigorating energy that announces the band's renewed intentions, yet it's still a song that could certainly hold its own next to the bulk of 'Nothing's Shocking.' In fact, 'Underground' sounds like the monster 'Shocking' jam 'Mountain Song' recast as an angular, post-punk anthem, with swirling electronic flourishes and studio trickery thrown in for good measure.
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UCR
The hooks on 'The Great Escape Artist' aren't as immediate, or most likely, as permanently memorable as Jane Addiction's best work, but they're damn good, especially on the absolutely genius 'Broken People,' and it's great to see the band exploring new territory while retaining their own idiosyncratic nature.
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Metacritic
The alternative rock group returns with its first album since 2003's Strays, with Dave Sitek joining the three original members on the Rich Costey-produced release.
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Pop Matters
The Great Escape Artist finds Navarro deploying unremarkable chord progressions, squalling single-note lines that feel like placeholders for better licks he has yet to come up with, and textural sonics that not so much as add atmosphere as blend completely into the background. Despite his guitar god status, Navarro was never the best riff-writer in Jane’s Addiction -- founding bassist Eric Avery was, being responsible for Jane’s Addiction standards including “Mountain Song”, “Jane Says”, and “Summertime Rolls”.
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NME
‘The Great Escape Artist’ features regular band members Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Stephen Perkins and TV On The Radio man Dave Sitek, who has played bass on the record.
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Metacritic
The alternative rock group returns with its first album since 2003's Strays, with Dave Sitek joining the three original members on the Rich Costey-produced release. Rating:
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Pop Matters
The Great Escape Artist finds Navarro deploying unremarkable chord progressions, squalling single-note lines that feel like placeholders for better licks he has yet to come up with, and textural sonics that not so much as add atmosphere as blend completely into the background. Despite his guitar god status, Navarro was never the best riff-writer in Jane’s Addiction -- founding bassist Eric Avery was, being responsible for Jane’s Addiction standards including “Mountain Song”, “Jane Says”, and “Summertime Rolls”.
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NME
‘The Great Escape Artist’ features regular band members Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Stephen Perkins and TV On The Radio man Dave Sitek, who has played bass on the record.
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BBC
The Great Escape Artist was painstakingly assembled over the course of a year, and even its quirks feel frictionless and smooth next to the savage mania of yore. Farrell’s lyrics are split between the hey-kids-we-still-know-how-to-rock sentiment of songs like opener Underground and more contemplative fare like Splash a Little Water on It, where he seems to look back at his hedonistic days with some distance.
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Blabbermouth
Spun through a kaleidoscope of tightly wound riffs, hypnotic harmonies, booming beats, and an unmistakable howl, the record announces the beginning of the next chapter for the alternative rock torchbearers.
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All Music
The Great Escape Artist appears to favor spaciness even when guitars are grinding out metallic grease. Frankly, the shift toward the ethereal is a welcome relief after the clean lines and bright L.A. sun of Strays, an album that emphasized rock over art.
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Antiquiet
Perhaps there’s some magic in the fact that The Great Escape Artist was recorded through the same console that helped give birth to Nothing’s Shocking and Ritual De Lo Habitual. Maybe Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro and Stephen Perkins needed some new creative blood in Jane’s proverbial veins, a kick-to-the-system motivator to double down and do that voodoo that they do so well once more.
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American Songwriter
Jane’s Addiction’s fourth proper studio album, The Great Escape Artist, is a bold, brazen attempt to reclaim its early nineties mainstream radio success and to once again sell a huge amount of records. But let’s get one thing straight right from the start; the fact that it is overtly commercial does not necessarily make it a bad album.
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Amazon Ca
Janes Addiction is back and I'm pleasantly satisfied with the new album "The Great Escape Artist". A Sonic Satisfaction for the ears, like Jane usually delivers.
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Amazon UK
Listening back to their early stuff, The Great Escape Artist sounds exactly like where Jane's Addiction should be after twenty years.
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State Press
“The Great Escape Artist” isn’t a bad record but it’s nothing exceptional. The abstract primal energy that made Jane’s Addiction so impressive is missing but it seems recreating that sound wasn’t exactly part of the plan. Everything from the album’s title to the group of outside collaborators is an obvious sign that the band’s intentions were to move things in a different direction.
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San Diego Reader
This year, aided by another art-rock notable, TV on the Radio's David Sitek, Jane's dropped The Great Escape Artist. On the first song, "Underground," Perry Ferrell belts out, "I'm a hustler, hustler, I'll never give up the underground," and as the statement lands over a wall of over-produced guitar riffage, it lacks a certain sincerity. Had he shouted this with ratty dreadlocks slithering serpentine across the stage in 1986, it would have been believable, but this current band conjures Entourage, reality TV, and a perfectly preserved shirtless Dave Navarro.
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Exclaim
The Great Escape Artist features a fairly emaciated, sexed-up cover star. The puppet on display stands smiling in a messy room with its arms wrapped around it as if tied up in an invisible straight jacket.
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Stereogum
Late ’80s/early ’90s alt-rock tribe-uniters Jane’s Addiction are gearing up to release The Great Escape Artist, their first new album in eight years. TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek played bass on the album and also helped to write it.
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Slant
The Great Escape Artist, is of questionable canonicity to fans of the classic lineup; the Jane’s Addiction that anyone is likely to really care about is responsible for exactly 20 songs released over two years. That’s not unheard of, but usually the only way to obtain such a skewed ratio of available material to enduring cache is by dying young or going off the grid, which amounts to the same thing, almost never by enjoying a lengthy public retirement punctuated by stabs at productivity. Rating:
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Independent
They may talk it up as a brave new step forward, but their first album in over eight years can't really be viewed as other than a retrograde move for Jane's Addiction.
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Tampa Bay Times
The sound is no longer shocking, it's just booooorrring. Perry Farrell's vocals are still interesting to listen to, and the progressions of the songs still works well. The repetitiveness is akin to water torture, though.
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The Wrap
“Escape Artist” is hardly a complete write-off. The set gets off to a promising start with its best and most thunderous track, “Underground,” where Navarro sounds like he’s been listening to the Edge and Jimmy Page (maybe influenced by a screening of “It Might Get Loud”?). “I’ll never give up the underground,” Farrell keeps repeating, sounding like a man who doth protest too much… though his equally emphatic “I’m a hustler!” admonitions suggest a certain degree of self-knowledge.
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Wwbw
Spun through a kaleidoscope of tightly wound riffs, hypnotic harmonies, booming beats, and an unmistakable howl, the record announces the beginning of the next chapter for the alternative rock torchbearers.
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Arena
With the moody "Underground," the spacey and ominous "Irresistible Force (Met the Immovable Object)" and the trippy, tense "Curiosity Kills," the sonic chemistry between the members, namely that rising and falling interplay between vocally eccentric frontman Perry Farrell and broody-sexy guitarist Dave Navarro, is rock solid, as in tact and as palpable as ever.
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Music Radar
Drummer Stephen Perkins and the rest of Jane's Addiction "find the noise" on The Great Escape Artist.
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Billboard
Played loud but not deafening on PMC equipment that included two six-foot-tall speakers, producer Rich Costey introduced the evening by saying the album got its "sea legs" with bassist Duff McKagan, who departed and was replaced by Dave Sitek. Three tracks written with McKagan -- "Broken People," Words Right Out of My Mouth," "Ultimate Reason" -- are on the album.
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Guitar World
Jane's Addiction have announced that their forthcoming new studio album, The Great Escape Artist, will be released on September 27. The album will be the group's first batch of new material since 2003's Strays.
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Clash
Farrell comes across like a man in the midst of an identity crisis, flitting between juvenile boasts and wrong-headed takes on domestic bliss in the space of a song on the ponderous ‘Splash A Little Water On It’. It’s probably telling that the only time he really sounds at home is when he’s looking back on a time before fame (“I laid my bed out / On my back seat” on ‘Twisted Tales’). But that’s only half the problem. ‘The Great Escape Artist’ is one-paced, bloodless, and frequently blighted by Dave Navarro’s ersatz Edge-isms. It’s only on closing stomper ‘Words Right Out Of My Mouth’ that they finally cut loose, but it’s too little, too late.
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929 Jack
As with a lot of things associated with Jane’s frontman Perry Farrell, this cover is a bit of a head-scratcher. A shirtless, cartoonish-looking man clad only in bikini underwear is shown in what appears to be a disheveled bedroom. His arms are wrapped around his upper body as if to resemble, well, the starting position of an escape artist.
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Seattle Pi
The seed for The Great Escape Artist was planted in 2010 just after Eric Avery 's departure. A number of musicians came in and out of the Jane's Addiction fold during the process of writing the record, with Duff McKagan sticking around for nine months and TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek joining the band on bass. Former Jane's bassist Chris Chaney also got his feet wet along the road.
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Music Mxdwn
Their newest album, The Great Escape Artist, has more in common with 2003’s passable but forgettable Strays than with those early masterpieces. Like Strays, the songs are relatively short and catchy, but also lacking in emotional impact. Song subjects include revenge, fist-shaking, and finding oneself—hackneyed topics compared to the depths explored in Farrell’s early days. The lyrics sound like a 52-year-old man trying to write what he thinks today’s youth would want to hear.
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The Art Desk
It's slightly patchy but definitely better than Strays (which wasn't bad). Sitek's influence is very refreshing, if not as far-reaching as it might have been, I had hoped for a little more from it.
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Wsj
In June, long after it was believed Jane's Addiction's new album "The Great Escape Artist" (Capitol) was done, producer Rich Costey still had the band's equipment set up and ready at a studio in Burbank, Calif.—as if the members might still drop by to tinker.
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Metal Revolution
The ten songs of album are very good display of this band’s qualities, when it comes to performance and songwriting. Songs flow with ease and they are catchy from the first spin, but arrangements and textures of soundscapes keep surprising you with each new spin of the record. Perry Farrell delivers some of the best melodies of his career. Melodies blend with Dave Navarro playing eminently and together they flow with big ease. However the ease should not be mistaken for simple or boring – on contrary.
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Noripcord
The album kicks in the door with Underground, a musical statement with some thick-ass guitar tone that seems to proclaim, “This is what we’re doing this time. You’ve got nine more tracks worth, so decide if you like it or not.” The old Jane exists still with those same Perry Farrell vocals, Dave Navarro shred-ups and darker tone, but has evidently been locked in a modern room with only gothic candles and Muse/Radiohead albums. They bring the same weird balls that were ushered in with their first couple records but with an added mix of electronic production (which is more relevant in the follow-up tracks).
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Alternative Addiction
There’s an interesting pace to everything on the album from track to track and even minute to minute and Sitek and Stephen Perkins mesh perfectly to create that pace. Those rhythms added to Perry Farrell being in fantastic form here vocally and lyrically and some INSANE Dave Navarro guitar lines push this album in several spots. This is the best work that Navarro’s done on any project in years.
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Archive Boston
With “The Great Escape Artist,’’ its first album in eight years, Jane’s Addiction rekindles some of the glitz and swagger it brought to the birth of modern rock more than 20 years ago. Singer Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, and drummer Stephen Perkins - the remaining original members - can still spin some evocative tunes from their patented blend of psychedelic consciousness, crunchy hard rock, and lithe rhythms.
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Louisville
After an eight year gap, they took a gamble and released The Great Escape Artist, their first record as reunited band. Bassist Chris Chaney now joins them after performing scattered one-off appearances with the band during their uncertain break, but this was the only shift. Ferrell, guitarist Dave Navarro and drummer Stephen Perkins have remained staples.
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Archive Boston
With “The Great Escape Artist,’’ its first album in eight years, Jane’s Addiction rekindles some of the glitz and swagger it brought to the birth of modern rock more than 20 years ago. Singer Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, and drummer Stephen Perkins - the remaining original members - can still spin some evocative tunes from their patented blend of psychedelic consciousness, crunchy hard rock, and lithe rhythms.
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Louisville
After an eight year gap, they took a gamble and released The Great Escape Artist, their first record as reunited band. Bassist Chris Chaney now joins them after performing scattered one-off appearances with the band during their uncertain break, but this was the only shift. Ferrell, guitarist Dave Navarro and drummer Stephen Perkins have remained staples.
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Rate Your Music
'Underground' 'End To The Lies' 'Curiosity Kills' 'Ill Hit You Back' and 'Broken People' are all standout tracks amongst this album as well as the rest of the bands career, but its 'Twisted Tales' that takes the cake here. Nice job, Perry, as we can all hear whose album this really was in the studio.
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No Treble
After nearly two years of writing and with the help of three bassists, Jane’s Addiction have released The Great Escape Artist. The new record is their fourth studio album and their first since their 2008 reunion. Overall the bass duties are split between Dave Sitek and Chris Chaney, both creative and talented players.
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Barnes and Noble
Jane's Addiction's fourth proper studio album, The Great Escape Artist, arrives nearly eight years after their 2003 comeback, Strays. Preceded by the moody first single "Irresistible Force," it features the work of founding members Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, and Stephin Perkins, along with TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek.
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Steve Hoffman
The lyrics are pretty viscious, especially of about Eric Avery. But the "problem" with that band is Perry Farrell's ego. Music might come out fine anyway.
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News Advance
"I’m a hustler/I’ll never give up the underground," sings Perry Farrell in his patented snarling croon at the start of "Underground," the opening track of "The Great Escape Artist," only the fourth studio album his band Jane’s Addiction have released in 23 years, and their first since 2003’s subpar "Strays."
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Gear Slutz
Lyrically and musically The Great Escape Artist just lacks the cutting edge Jane's is known for. While I cannot fault them for moving into a new direction, that direction just doesn't suit them.
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Sputnik
At the forefront of Jane’s Addiction’s newest concoction, titled ‘The Great Escape Artist’, it becomes incessantly pushed in the back of everyone’s mind that Farrell & co. are shrouding their sound with electronic cloud amidst the traditional hooks of early 90s prominence.
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The Times
The injection of new blood in the form of TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek as bassist and co-writer proves a masterstroke for the LA underground legends. Sitek fulfils the troublesome “fourth member” role with aplomb, underpinning the eternally youthful Perry Farrell’s vibrant vocals with silky electronic textures and serpentine basslines, while Dave Navarro’s sheet-metal guitars and Stephen Perkins’ thunderous tribal percussion ramp up the punk-funk, and Sufi trance masters the Master Musicians of Joujouka add an air of exoticism to the already heady brew.
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The National
But with the drummer Stephen Perkins, the trio soldiered on and hired TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek to complete the tracks; the end result is more of a wasted opportunity than a complete waste of time. You can see why McKagan headed for the exit, as most of the songs on The Great Escape Artist are underpinned by lush electronics.
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Sound Blab
The flow of the album seems to become a bit of a drag mid-way through upon first listen; every song has a quiet-to-loud intro build up, pretty much exactly the same give or take. 'I'll Hit You Back' and 'Twisted Tales' bring more of the same, with some tweaks here and there, and 80s gothy guitar twangs on the latter, and again 'Ultimate Reason' has a great bass ploughing through it but isn't hugely exciting. However, these three are 'growers' for sure.
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Themorton Report
The album, like the announcement of Strays, is highly anticipated. With just three studio albums released over 15 years, and with The Great Escape Artist furthering that span to a period of an unbelievable 23 years, it is amazing the power this band yields in the hearts of their still quite solid fan base.
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The Province
Perry Farrell bleats imploringly while guitarist Dave Navarro provides effective (and thick) riffs. The result, as on “End Of The Lies,” sounds unexpectedly like Ozzy with Black Sabbath. Well, nothing’s shocking any more so it should be no surprise that a once abrasive post-punk band should gravitate toward heavy metal. That said, The Great Escape Artist isn’t metal at all but has parallels. The band has slowed down a bit and fattened its sound and become more interesting for it.
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IGN
The electronic-leaning psychedelic rocker finds Farrell taking a care of a delicate friend who could not quite hang with the band's hard-partying ways, as Navarro lends a more melodic guitar shimmer to the drowsy tune.
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Indieofilo
Perhaps this album has attractive songs, maybe the have managed to acquire a point of maturity to work together on something new and leave behind the clash of egos Farrell / Navarro (I can hardly believe it) but unsure about anything, and that I've heard a bunch of times, "End to Lie" does not seem a bad song, but if this is all they can offer.
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Thrash Hits
A smart, multi-faceted LP — the efficiently communicative elements of The Great Escape Artist work collectively to give us something a bit denser than your garden-variety alternative rock album — especially one by a band still looking over their shoulders at their heyday.
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The National
But with the drummer Stephen Perkins, the trio soldiered on and hired TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek to complete the tracks; the end result is more of a wasted opportunity than a complete waste of time. You can see why McKagan headed for the exit, as most of the songs on The Great Escape Artist are underpinned by lush electronics.
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Sound Blab
The flow of the album seems to become a bit of a drag mid-way through upon first listen; every song has a quiet-to-loud intro build up, pretty much exactly the same give or take. 'I'll Hit You Back' and 'Twisted Tales' bring more of the same, with some tweaks here and there, and 80s gothy guitar twangs on the latter, and again 'Ultimate Reason' has a great bass ploughing through it but isn't hugely exciting. However, these three are 'growers' for sure.
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Themorton Report
The album, like the announcement of Strays, is highly anticipated. With just three studio albums released over 15 years, and with The Great Escape Artist furthering that span to a period of an unbelievable 23 years, it is amazing the power this band yields in the hearts of their still quite solid fan base.
-
The Province
Perry Farrell bleats imploringly while guitarist Dave Navarro provides effective (and thick) riffs. The result, as on “End Of The Lies,” sounds unexpectedly like Ozzy with Black Sabbath. Well, nothing’s shocking any more so it should be no surprise that a once abrasive post-punk band should gravitate toward heavy metal. That said, The Great Escape Artist isn’t metal at all but has parallels. The band has slowed down a bit and fattened its sound and become more interesting for it.
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IGN
The electronic-leaning psychedelic rocker finds Farrell taking a care of a delicate friend who could not quite hang with the band's hard-partying ways, as Navarro lends a more melodic guitar shimmer to the drowsy tune.
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Indieofilo
Perhaps this album has attractive songs, maybe the have managed to acquire a point of maturity to work together on something new and leave behind the clash of egos Farrell / Navarro (I can hardly believe it) but unsure about anything, and that I've heard a bunch of times, "End to Lie" does not seem a bad song, but if this is all they can offer.
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Thrash Hits
A smart, multi-faceted LP — the efficiently communicative elements of The Great Escape Artist work collectively to give us something a bit denser than your garden-variety alternative rock album — especially one by a band still looking over their shoulders at their heyday.
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Last Fm
Great album, better than 'Strays'.
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The Weal
The Great Escape Artist is Jane’s Addiction’s first album in eight years and follow-up to its mostly half-effort 2003 album, Strays. The average Jane’s Addiction fan may be a tad weary listening to The Great Escape Artist, but the album does hold a few gems.
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Pandora
Taking their sweet time to bounce back from the indifferent reception to their 2003 reunion Strays , Jane's Addiction reemerges eight years later with The Great Escape Artist, an album that draws a direct connection to the group’s murkier, dramatic moments. Part of this return to the mystic could be due to TV on the Radio ’s Dave Sitek manning bass for the majority of the album, but his artful spaciness is grounded by numerous songwriting collaborations with Guns N' Roses Duff McKagan , thereby offering a tidy encapsulation of Jane's Addiction ’s yin and yang: whenever they threaten to float too far off into space, they’re pulled back to earth by a heavy dose of Sunset Strip sleaze.
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Stereoboard
LA rockers Jane’s Addiction have revealed that their new album ‘The Great Escape Artist’ is to be released in August, which will coincide with the band’s performances at this year’s Reading and Leeds festivals. ‘The Great Escape Artist’ is the fourth album from Jane’s Addiction and their first in eight years, following 2003’s ‘Strays’. It also marks the group’s first release since their second reunion and the first to feature TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek as the band’s full-time bassist.
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Emp
Next to the Chilli Peppers and Faith No More, Jane's Addiction became one of the most important experimental US alternative bands in the late 80s. Thanks to „The Great Escape Artist“ the band around Perry Farell and Dave Navarro made a successful comeback in 2011.
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Drowned In Sound
The Great Escape Artist is highly reminiscent of Strays in that it steadfastly sticks to one particular vibe which wears thin by the album’s close. ‘Underground’ is an undeniably colossal opener but once we reach ‘Ultimate Reason’s, by now tired, bass-heavy antics and Farrell’s overextended plant metaphor and dubious gender stereotyping ("you’ve got to treat her like a flower man / women need time to recover") in ‘Splash a Little Water on It’, ear fatigue begins to set in and attention wanders. In particular, the album’s closing tracks are both odd choices as ‘Broken People’s melancholy potential is soon shot down by an over-cooked full-band presence, while ‘Words Right Out of My Mouth’ is a nod to the past, but it’s one that requires far too much effort to appear natural.
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Music Omh
Eric Avery’s return to the fold for the first time since the nineties should have been the final piece in the puzzle to reunite the classic Jane’s lineup, but it proved to be short lived, as was former Gun N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan’s shift. If you thought that was high profile, enter TV on the Radio‘s Dave Sitek, who contributed bass (and no doubt some knob twiddling) to this album but will not tour, which has earned a recall for Chris Cheney, who appeared on Strays.
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NPR
Farrell says the group worked on The Great Escape Artist for a year and that he didn't listen to the tracks once they were produced. "When you're in the studio, you're working so hard, around the clock," he says. "You need a break from it. It's kind of like a lover that you need a break from because you've been in the room with them for too long."
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Reuters
The Jane’s gang again manages to escape the ghetto of perpetual moodiness and murk with the closer, “Words Right Out of My Mouth,” which bookends the album with a turn-back-the-clock punk double-time climax. Sure, the song bears a silly spoken-word introduction that has Farrell talking to his therapist, setting up paranoid lyrics about “birds up in the trees!” that want to swoop down and eat his speech. But at least it ends the album with some adrenalin and (possibly intentional) humor.
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The Weal
The Great Escape Artist is Jane’s Addiction’s first album in eight years and follow-up to its mostly half-effort 2003 album, Strays. The average Jane’s Addiction fan may be a tad weary listening to The Great Escape Artist, but the album does hold a few gems.
-
Pandora
Taking their sweet time to bounce back from the indifferent reception to their 2003 reunion Strays , Jane's Addiction reemerges eight years later with The Great Escape Artist, an album that draws a direct connection to the group’s murkier, dramatic moments. Part of this return to the mystic could be due to TV on the Radio ’s Dave Sitek manning bass for the majority of the album, but his artful spaciness is grounded by numerous songwriting collaborations with Guns N' Roses Duff McKagan , thereby offering a tidy encapsulation of Jane's Addiction ’s yin and yang: whenever they threaten to float too far off into space, they’re pulled back to earth by a heavy dose of Sunset Strip sleaze.
-
Stereoboard
LA rockers Jane’s Addiction have revealed that their new album ‘The Great Escape Artist’ is to be released in August, which will coincide with the band’s performances at this year’s Reading and Leeds festivals. ‘The Great Escape Artist’ is the fourth album from Jane’s Addiction and their first in eight years, following 2003’s ‘Strays’. It also marks the group’s first release since their second reunion and the first to feature TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek as the band’s full-time bassist.
-
Emp
Next to the Chilli Peppers and Faith No More, Jane's Addiction became one of the most important experimental US alternative bands in the late 80s. Thanks to „The Great Escape Artist“ the band around Perry Farell and Dave Navarro made a successful comeback in 2011.
-
Drowned In Sound
The Great Escape Artist is highly reminiscent of Strays in that it steadfastly sticks to one particular vibe which wears thin by the album’s close. ‘Underground’ is an undeniably colossal opener but once we reach ‘Ultimate Reason’s, by now tired, bass-heavy antics and Farrell’s overextended plant metaphor and dubious gender stereotyping ("you’ve got to treat her like a flower man / women need time to recover") in ‘Splash a Little Water on It’, ear fatigue begins to set in and attention wanders. In particular, the album’s closing tracks are both odd choices as ‘Broken People’s melancholy potential is soon shot down by an over-cooked full-band presence, while ‘Words Right Out of My Mouth’ is a nod to the past, but it’s one that requires far too much effort to appear natural.
-
Music Omh
Eric Avery’s return to the fold for the first time since the nineties should have been the final piece in the puzzle to reunite the classic Jane’s lineup, but it proved to be short lived, as was former Gun N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan’s shift. If you thought that was high profile, enter TV on the Radio‘s Dave Sitek, who contributed bass (and no doubt some knob twiddling) to this album but will not tour, which has earned a recall for Chris Cheney, who appeared on Strays.
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NPR
Farrell says the group worked on The Great Escape Artist for a year and that he didn't listen to the tracks once they were produced. "When you're in the studio, you're working so hard, around the clock," he says. "You need a break from it. It's kind of like a lover that you need a break from because you've been in the room with them for too long."
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Reuters
The Jane’s gang again manages to escape the ghetto of perpetual moodiness and murk with the closer, “Words Right Out of My Mouth,” which bookends the album with a turn-back-the-clock punk double-time climax. Sure, the song bears a silly spoken-word introduction that has Farrell talking to his therapist, setting up paranoid lyrics about “birds up in the trees!” that want to swoop down and eat his speech. But at least it ends the album with some adrenalin and (possibly intentional) humor.
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Real Gone Rocks
The Great Escape Artist brings back a little more of their mellow experimentation, which alone makes it a bit more diverse than Strays, but it never quite takes such experiments far enough.
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Icon Vs Icon
The album also features "End To The Lies," a pre-single teaser track which the band made available to their fans as a free download this past April. For their first new studio album by eight years, Jane's Addiction joined forces with producer Rich Costey {Muse, Franz, Ferdinand, Interpol}, with TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek on the creative team.
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Louder Than War
You really get the feeling that they have nailed what they were hoping to achieve with textures and the Floyd-y, gothy, post-punk sound. I’ve waited 20 years for this album and finally I got it. The LA kings came back and got their crown.
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Listen Up Denver
The first new Jane’s Addiction studio album since 2003, The Great Escape Artist. While Avery was replaced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek during the recording of this album, the electronic textures, Navarro’s guitar-god solos, Perkins’ trance inducing percussion, and Farrell’s erotic shaman-like vocals combine to create an album that nears the perfection of Nothing’s Shocking. Tracks “Irresistible Force,” “Splash a Little Water On It,” and “Words Right Out of My Mouth,” show how Jane’s, like the Doors before them, refuse to be mere entertainers and continue to push the boundaries of their music. Unlike many of Jane’s contemporaries, whose music has been relegated to discount bins, Farrell and his bandmates continue to evolve and be relevant to today’s music listeners.
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Creative Loafing
Escape cruises through 10 songs in just under 40 minutes leaving listeners hoping that it won't take as long for another studio effort to materialize.
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Shockya
We could discuss each tune off of “The Great Escape Artist” in detail, but with the NYC mentality of constantly rushing, we will stick to listing our top picks in case your day follows a similar pace. Our honorable mentions go to “Curiosity Kills”, “I’ll Hit You Back” and “Twisted Tales”. The other tunes off the album, “End To The Lies”, “Irresistible Force”, “Words Right Out Of My Mouth”, and “Ultimate Reason” are well-rounded songs, lyrically and instrumentally, as well. Simply put, “The Great Escape Artist” was well worth the wait and continues the psychedelic rock journey the group started in the 90s.
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Bloody Disgusting
This album has fantastic production. Thick bass, lush guitar soundscapes, and loads of interesting vocal effects make it an album that requires multiple listens, even though I enjoyed the hell out of it on my first playthrough.
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Progarchives
The Great Escape Artist is not bad at all, in fact very good at the very least. Not as adventurous as early stuff but less of a straight rock album than Strays some eight years or so ago. It's got a very trippy vibe. Duff Mckagan who joined for a short while reckoned they were like Pink Floyd now! well they're not, He clearly has never listened to PF, but it does have a spacey feel with some great songs, all on the short side, as is the album - only 40 minutes. Nevertheless a welcome return from a great band.
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Listen Up Denver
The first new Jane’s Addiction studio album since 2003, The Great Escape Artist. While Avery was replaced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek during the recording of this album, the electronic textures, Navarro’s guitar-god solos, Perkins’ trance inducing percussion, and Farrell’s erotic shaman-like vocals combine to create an album that nears the perfection of Nothing’s Shocking. Tracks “Irresistible Force,” “Splash a Little Water On It,” and “Words Right Out of My Mouth,” show how Jane’s, like the Doors before them, refuse to be mere entertainers and continue to push the boundaries of their music. Unlike many of Jane’s contemporaries, whose music has been relegated to discount bins, Farrell and his bandmates continue to evolve and be relevant to today’s music listeners.
-
Creative Loafing
Escape cruises through 10 songs in just under 40 minutes leaving listeners hoping that it won't take as long for another studio effort to materialize.
-
Shockya
We could discuss each tune off of “The Great Escape Artist” in detail, but with the NYC mentality of constantly rushing, we will stick to listing our top picks in case your day follows a similar pace. Our honorable mentions go to “Curiosity Kills”, “I’ll Hit You Back” and “Twisted Tales”. The other tunes off the album, “End To The Lies”, “Irresistible Force”, “Words Right Out Of My Mouth”, and “Ultimate Reason” are well-rounded songs, lyrically and instrumentally, as well. Simply put, “The Great Escape Artist” was well worth the wait and continues the psychedelic rock journey the group started in the 90s.
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Bloody Disgusting
This album has fantastic production. Thick bass, lush guitar soundscapes, and loads of interesting vocal effects make it an album that requires multiple listens, even though I enjoyed the hell out of it on my first playthrough.
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Rabbits Black
The Great Escape Artist is a complete album that gets better with every listen. Original JA members Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, and Stephen Perkins with producer Rich Costey (Muse, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol) added TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek to write and play bass on the album. At 52 years old Perry is as vital as ever and accompanied by an inspired Dave Navarro to put together the next great chapter in the Jane’s Addiction legacy.
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Q105.7
However, my "Great Escape" and the grooviness of the album are shortlived, as after the first song, it basically repeats over 10 times. Each song has very similar sounds, tones, tempos and voice. They all have instrumentals and high-pitched choruses, and it's hard to tell where one song ends and the next begins, as they all sort of mesh together to form one big glob of matter that floats around slowly- much like in a lava lamp. There is some relief with the closing track "Words Right Out of my Mouth," sort of a prize for getting through the entire album. The beginning and end of the record are solid, but the stuff in between just gets lost in translation, much like the career of Jane's Addiction has gone.
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Westword
While Jane's Addiction's fourth full-length, The Great Escape Artist, the follow-up to 2003's Strays, was originally slated to hit stores September 27, the album was pushed back to October 18. The just-released album art -- a semi-naked guy wearing a thong -- harks back somewhat to Perry Farrell and Casey Niccoli's sculpture on the cover of 1990's Ritual de lo Habitual, only without the nudity. And it's the nudity that had record-store chains refusing to sell the first two albums.
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UDiscover
With David Andrew Sitek helping out on bass, programming and guitars and the Master Musicians of Joujouka (once employed in an earlier guise by Brian Jones of the Stones) adding percussion to the epic “End to the Lies” this is a comeback album of importance. Check out the brilliant “Irresistible Force (Met the Immovable Object)” with its haunting synths and electronic soundscapes and the Duff McKagan collaborations like the dark “Ultimate Reason”.
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Mercury News
But on the band’s fourth outing, after an eight-year hiatus during which original bassist Eric Avery rejoined and then left the band again, Jane’s added electronics to the mix, with the help of multi-instrumentalist Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio as co-writer and bassist. Now Jane’s sounds more like Garbage or Evanescence. Except for that cellophane yowl of singer Perry Farrell, the music is nearly unrecognizable — and even Mr. Lollapalooza’s voice is subdued and often slathered in treatments.
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Ultimate Guitar
It's a alternative rock album with electronic elements.
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Sunshine Daydream
The Great Escape is the 5th album and 4th full studio album. Released on October 18, 2011. This album comes with a digital download card .
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Grateful Web
The band--who’ve always outrageously combined electricity, sex and danger--return in support of their acclaimed album THE GREAT ESCAPE ARTIST (Capitol Records), which features the now-buzzing-at-radio track “Underground.”
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Progarchives
The Great Escape Artist is not bad at all, in fact very good at the very least. Not as adventurous as early stuff but less of a straight rock album than Strays some eight years or so ago. It's got a very trippy vibe. Duff Mckagan who joined for a short while reckoned they were like Pink Floyd now! well they're not, He clearly has never listened to PF, but it does have a spacey feel with some great songs, all on the short side, as is the album - only 40 minutes. Nevertheless a welcome return from a great band.
-
Q105.7
However, my "Great Escape" and the grooviness of the album are shortlived, as after the first song, it basically repeats over 10 times. Each song has very similar sounds, tones, tempos and voice. They all have instrumentals and high-pitched choruses, and it's hard to tell where one song ends and the next begins, as they all sort of mesh together to form one big glob of matter that floats around slowly- much like in a lava lamp. There is some relief with the closing track "Words Right Out of my Mouth," sort of a prize for getting through the entire album. The beginning and end of the record are solid, but the stuff in between just gets lost in translation, much like the career of Jane's Addiction has gone.
-
Westword
While Jane's Addiction's fourth full-length, The Great Escape Artist, the follow-up to 2003's Strays, was originally slated to hit stores September 27, the album was pushed back to October 18. The just-released album art -- a semi-naked guy wearing a thong -- harks back somewhat to Perry Farrell and Casey Niccoli's sculpture on the cover of 1990's Ritual de lo Habitual, only without the nudity. And it's the nudity that had record-store chains refusing to sell the first two albums.
-
UDiscover
With David Andrew Sitek helping out on bass, programming and guitars and the Master Musicians of Joujouka (once employed in an earlier guise by Brian Jones of the Stones) adding percussion to the epic “End to the Lies” this is a comeback album of importance. Check out the brilliant “Irresistible Force (Met the Immovable Object)” with its haunting synths and electronic soundscapes and the Duff McKagan collaborations like the dark “Ultimate Reason”.
-
Mercury News
But on the band’s fourth outing, after an eight-year hiatus during which original bassist Eric Avery rejoined and then left the band again, Jane’s added electronics to the mix, with the help of multi-instrumentalist Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio as co-writer and bassist. Now Jane’s sounds more like Garbage or Evanescence. Except for that cellophane yowl of singer Perry Farrell, the music is nearly unrecognizable — and even Mr. Lollapalooza’s voice is subdued and often slathered in treatments.
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Ultimate Guitar
It's a alternative rock album with electronic elements.
-
Sunshine Daydream
The Great Escape is the 5th album and 4th full studio album. Released on October 18, 2011. This album comes with a digital download card .
-
Grateful Web
The band--who’ve always outrageously combined electricity, sex and danger--return in support of their acclaimed album THE GREAT ESCAPE ARTIST (Capitol Records), which features the now-buzzing-at-radio track “Underground.”
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Amazon In
Spun through a kaleidoscope of tightly wound riffs, hypnotic harmonies, booming beats, and an unmistakable howl, the record announces the beginning of the next chapter for the alternative rock torchbearers. Writing began in 2010 and by early 2011 the band entered a Los Angeles studio with producer Rich Costey, who introduced Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro and Stephen Perkins to TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek with the hopes of getting him involved somehow. After a couple of lab sessions, the chemistry was obvious. Sitek stepped into the role of songwriter and bass player for the album with Navarro, and touring bassist Chris Chaney, also sharing four-string duties.
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Imdb
We could discuss each tune off of “The Great Escape Artist” in detail, but with the NYC mentality of constantly rushing, we will stick to listing our top picks in case your day follows a similar pace. Our honorable mentions go to “Curiosity Kills”, “I’ll Hit You Back” and “Twisted Tales”. The other tunes off the album, “End To The Lies”, “Irresistible Force”, “Words Right Out Of My Mouth”, and “Ultimate Reason” are well-rounded songs, lyrically and instrumentally, as well. Simply put, “The Great Escape Artist” was well worth the wait and continues the psychedelic rock journey the group started in the 90s.
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Music Brainz
The Great Escape Artist is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, released October 18, 2011 on Capitol Records. The album was the band's first since its 2003 release Strays and features multi-instrumentalist Dave Sitek contributing bass guitar alongside Chris Chaney.
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Digital Spy
The Great Escape Artist will be released on September 26 by Capitol Records. It will be the band's first album since 2003's Strays. Frontman Perry Farrell revealed that the LP will mix the group's classic sound with the styles of current acts such as Muse and Radiohead.
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Imdb
We could discuss each tune off of “The Great Escape Artist” in detail, but with the NYC mentality of constantly rushing, we will stick to listing our top picks in case your day follows a similar pace. Our honorable mentions go to “Curiosity Kills”, “I’ll Hit You Back” and “Twisted Tales”. The other tunes off the album, “End To The Lies”, “Irresistible Force”, “Words Right Out Of My Mouth”, and “Ultimate Reason” are well-rounded songs, lyrically and instrumentally, as well. Simply put, “The Great Escape Artist” was well worth the wait and continues the psychedelic rock journey the group started in the 90s.
-
Music Brainz
The Great Escape Artist is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, released October 18, 2011 on Capitol Records. The album was the band's first since its 2003 release Strays and features multi-instrumentalist Dave Sitek contributing bass guitar alongside Chris Chaney.
-
Digital Spy
The Great Escape Artist will be released on September 26 by Capitol Records. It will be the band's first album since 2003's Strays. Frontman Perry Farrell revealed that the LP will mix the group's classic sound with the styles of current acts such as Muse and Radiohead.
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Napster
The Great Escape Artist contains the most lavish and progressive compositions of the band's tumultuous career. This music is neo-Radiohead art rock, basically. The one thing it does lack -- and this reveals the importance of original bassist Eric Avery, replaced here by TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek -- is that violent funk-metal thump that made Jane's Addiction unique to begin with.
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UTR
In reality, The Great Escape seems to satiate the need for Farrell to be with his at-times estranged family, Navarro and drummer Stephen Perkins. It's a shaky union but it might just be until death do them part.
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Deep Discount
Great bands break rules, but legends write their own. Jane's Addiction back again with THE GREAT ESCAPE ARTIST, their first studio album in eight years have actually written the rule book for alternative music and culture through a combination of genre-defying classic songs.
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Express
OVER 25 years after forming, Jane’s Addiction sound more hungry, angry and bold than bands half their age, their blistering, seedy, off-kilter alternative rock freshly invigorated on their fourth album.
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Huff Post
With the new album and the tour, Farrell is clearly making up for the time lapse. If you catch him on the road, you’ll hear pitch-perfect versions of new and old songs from the groundbreaking alt-rock band matched with an almost giddy demeanor by the showman. With every strut, straddle, and ocean-sized smile, fans will learn quickly that Farrell is just as happy to see the fans as they are to see him and the band. Farrell discusses performing, the new album, and the next place he’s taking Lollapalooza (Israel?!?) in the interview below.
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UTR
In reality, The Great Escape seems to satiate the need for Farrell to be with his at-times estranged family, Navarro and drummer Stephen Perkins. It's a shaky union but it might just be until death do them part.
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Deep Discount
Great bands break rules, but legends write their own. Jane's Addiction back again with THE GREAT ESCAPE ARTIST, their first studio album in eight years have actually written the rule book for alternative music and culture through a combination of genre-defying classic songs.
-
Express
OVER 25 years after forming, Jane’s Addiction sound more hungry, angry and bold than bands half their age, their blistering, seedy, off-kilter alternative rock freshly invigorated on their fourth album.
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Song Facts
This is the lead single from The Great Escape Artist, the fourth album from American alternative rock band Jane's Addiction. The song was premiered on the Chilean radio station Radio Futuro on March 30, 2011 whilst the band were helping bring Lollapalooza to the South American country for the first time.
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Play Google
The Great Escape Artist, eventually filling in Avery's old spot for the recording with TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek. His dark but funky approach to bass playing and expansive approach to production is a good match for The Great Escape. While many of the ten tracks feature the heavy, proggish leanings of classic Jane's Addiction, they also come updated with the latest electronic bells and whistles. Farrell has cited Muse and Radiohead as influences, and those bands' bombastic but melodic flourishes are felt on slow-burner songs like "Curiosity Kills," which hinges on soaring "wooah-ohhs" and reverb-heavy guitar strums, or "Broken People," which is straight-up Anglophilic pop rock.
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Music Feeds
Jane’s Addiction‘s first album since 2003, The Great Escape Artist is due out on October 18th, but for the next week you can stream it on itunes for free. The album will be streaming in its entirety with optimized sound leading up to the day of release.
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Game Faqs
Two things: the good to bad album ratio for those bands is still pretty high, and those bands tend to recover gracefully from albums that aren't that good. Plus, the worst album by either of those bands is still leagues better than Strays.
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Rock Dirt
Jane’s Addiction are giving fans a sneak peak into the band’s massive photo shoot in support of their upcoming new album, ‘The Great Escape Artist’, which is out through Capitol Records on October 18th. To go along with the theme of the album, the band went to Houdini’s old Southern California estate to capture, “a little bit of that 1920s classic California Houdini vibe, mix it in with the rock’n’roll seventies reminiscent of ‘Hotel California’, and bring it all to 2011, which is who and where we are today,” according to lead singer, Perry Ferrell.
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Storming The Base
The chemistry was obvious. Sitek stepped into the role of songwriter and bass player for the album with Navarro, and touring bassist Chris Chaney, also sharing four-string duties. Sitek helped the band evolve their alchemy, expanding the sound even more.
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Spotlight Report
Overall, the album sounds completely different than the classics like “Jane Says”, but it is an excellent change, a new Janes that keeps their essence, with the band transferring energy to the listener, pushing their sound into new territory.
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Minneapolis Music Blog
The album also features “End To The Lies,” a pre-single teaser track which the band made available to their fans as a free download this past April. For their first new studio album by in eight years, JANE’S ADDICTION joined forces with producer Rich Costey (Muse, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol), with TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek on the creative team. Sitek, best known for his production work on TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Foals, is writing, programming, and playing bass on the album.
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Cleveland
Though frontman Perry Farrell has talked about the possibilities of a new album, Jane's Addiction hasn't released a proper studio effort since 2011's "The Great Escape Artist." The band's current lineup features Farrell, Dave Navarro and Stephen Perkins.
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Doubtful Sounds
The end result is a mixed one with a discernible difference between the Sitek and McKagan co-writes. The latter’s contributions comprise three tracks toward the back end of The Great Escape Artist and they are a real step up from at least four of the seven songs that precede them. The album kicks off with the call to arms cyber riffing of Underground that sounds like prime JA with the power of Stephen Perkins’ drumming nailing the music to the floor while Dave Navarro hits the stratosphere with his ever-inventive guitar playing. Perry Farrell sings about hustlers and re-connecting with the underground in his inimitable soaring wail that could really be no-one else. It sets the bar high (too high) for the rest of the album yet it is comforting to know the band can still nail widescreen rock as well as they used to. End to the Lies continues the sonic swirl and churning prog metal guitar chug with Farrell laying down some particular vitriolic lyrics that may or may not be directed at Eric Avery.
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Black Spin
One of the things... that makes the band so compelling is the fact that all three of us have different distinct and strong personalities...and when we get into a collective situation those distinct personalities can give birth to new and fresh ideas that none of us would have thought of without the others.” Those were Navarro’s words, and they ring true here. “The Great Escape Artist” is certainly unique, certainly fresh. Furthermore, not one of the three of them could have made it work without the other two. Each man’s effort dovetails nicely into the collective whole, making the album greater than the sum of its parts.
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Buffalo News
The album is produced by Dave Sitek of avant-alt-rock outfit TV On the Radio, but, as has always been the case, Jane's is driven by the vocal acrobatics and spiritual/sexual concerns of frontman Farrell, the creator of the Lollapalooza Festival, and the Jim Morrison of his own generation.
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