Jane’s Addiction is one of those bands from the nineties that does not get the credit it deserves. The chemistry of the classic line-up with Eric Avery was a lightning in a bottle moment.
Ritual De Lo Habitual has a tinge of psychedelia to it. The entire album is a journey. There are parts of songs that have long instrumentals, and some are the most soaring and uplifting sounds ever recorded. They are then followed by Dave Navarro’s mournful guitar solos followed by percussion that builds suspense.
The songs have a sense about life and death, and the transition between the two. As well as religion and subversive but engaging with belief while at the same time finding ecstasy in being alive, despite the pain that comes along with just living.
Jane’s Addiction during the “Ritual De Lo Habitual” era made music that was poignant and intense. Everything you were going through as a messed up teenager was represented, only better, in the lyrics.
The lyrics in most cases make no sense, but because Perry Farrell sang them, it made perfect sense. Crazy women, living as a messed up stoner/nobody, a borderline criminal. Without responsibility while trying to deal with a world and a society that you never asked to be a part of. It’s the ultimate teenage experience.
The album opens with “Stop!” The band takes on environmental destruction. Asking listeners to turn off both their smokestacks and radios. The song has one of the best guitar solos of all time. It is ranked at #20 on Guitar World’s 2015 list of greatest wah solos of all time.
“Three Days” is a three-part song that meditates on death and rebirth. The song was inspired by a friend of Perry Farrell, Xiola Blue. The story goes that she came to Los Angeles in 1986 for her father’s funeral. Viola spent three days with Farrell and Casey Niccoli, Farrell’s girlfriend at the time.
The Trio spent three days experimenting with drugs and sex. While some think the song is about Xiola’s death. While this is the last time Perry saw Xiola, the song was written well before she passed away.
The track has one of the best examples of how the album has great instrumental parts, mixed with Farrell’s lyrics. While at the same time the band was acting as a prophet for the future, with lines such as, “The family weakens by the lengths we travel. . .” The further we advance with technology, the more we retreat as people. What happens to morality.
While Ritual has the epic rock songs such as “Stop!” And “Three Days”, it also has fun favorites like “Been Caught Stealing”. The band has been honest about the song; they have said on numerous occasions that it’s about the rush of stealing. Just being naughty, while getting away with it. The song captures that feeling perfectly, the guitars, the drums, and how the song opens with Perry Farrell’s excited rescue pup barking, it is just perfect.
The album concludes with Classic Girl. A love song about Farrell’s one-time girlfriend Casey Niccoli. If there was a musical example of falling in love with an angel, this would be it. While it’s not the best-known Jane’s Addiction song, it does have a Saturday morning sunny vibe to it. It has the ability to bring you back to a time when things were simpler in life.
Jane’s Addiction’s “Ritual De Lo Habitual” encapsulates the band’s mastery in intertwining life’s intricacies with musical innovation. From the haunting melodies to the raw, unfiltered emotions, each track resonates with a poignant honesty that transcends temporal boundaries. As the album’s final chords fade into the ether, it leaves an enduring imprint on the soul, inviting listeners to delve deeper into its labyrinth of sound and meaning.
Must Listen To Tracks: Stop!, No One’s Leaving, Ain’t No Right, Been Caught Stealing, Three Days, Then She Did, Classic Girl
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