Nothing's Shocking

In a perfect world, the Red Hot Chili Peppers disbanded upon hearing this catastrophic slab of kinky trip-funk. I'm not sure that Jane's Addiction ever amounted to more than a dreadlocked amalgam of their titanic influences (Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Velvet Underground), but I do think that God granted Perry Farrell a slim window of genius before banishing him to an oblivion of balderdash-mouth. You know you were up waiting for Britny Fox or a Bulletboys video on the Adam Curry-hosted "Headbanger's Ball" when Jane's Addiction's "Mountain Song" blew your mind. As hallucinogenic as it was socially conscious, this album's chief irony was that its killer numbers were revisitations of songs from the band's debut ("Jane Says", "Pigs in Zen"). God bless the West Coast every now and then. --William Bowers