MEMORIES OF ADDICTION

Got a press release this morning about the forthcoming Jane's Addiction boxed set A Cabinet of Curiosities, which will contain rarities - demos, liveage, compilation tracks - from the band's original incarnation (roughly 1986-1991), plus a DVD with videos and live footage. Track listing is as follows:

A CABINET OF CURIOSITIES
Disc 1
1. "Jane Says" ‹ Radio Tokyo Demo *
2. "Pigs In Zen" ‹ Radio Tokyo Demo
3. "Mountain Song" ‹ Radio Tokyo Demo
4. "Had A Dad" ‹ Radio Tokyo Demo
5. "I Would For You" ‹ Radio Tokyo Demo
6. "Idiots Rule" ‹ Demo *
7. "Classic Girl" ‹ Demo *
8. "Up The Beach" ‹ Demo *
9. "Suffer Some" ‹ Demo *
10. "Thank You Boys" ‹ Demo *
11. "Summertime Rolls" ‹ Demo *
12. "City" ‹ Demo *
13. "Ocean Size" ‹ Demo *
14. "Stop!" ‹ Demo *
15. "Standing In The Shower...Thinking" ‹ Demo *
16. "Ain't No Right" ‹ Demo *
17. "Three Days" ‹ Demo *

Disc 2
1. "Ted, Just Admit It..." ‹ Demo *
2. "Maceo" ‹ Demo *
3. "No One's Leaving" ‹ Demo *
4. "My Time" ‹ Rehearsal *
5. "Been Caught Stealing" ‹ 12" Remix Version
6. "Ripple"
7. "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" ‹ with Ice-T & Ernie-C
8. "L.A. Medley: L.A. Woman/Nausea/Lexicon Devil" ‹ Live 1989
9. "Kettle Whistle" ‹ Live 1987 *
10. "Whole Lotta Love" ‹ Live 1987 *
11. "1970" ‹ Live 1987 *
12. "Bobhaus" ‹ Live 1989*

Disc 3
1. Drum Intro ‹ Live 1990 *
2. "Up The Beach" ‹ Live 1990
3. "Whores" ‹ Live 1990 *
4. "1%" ‹ Live 1990 *
5. "No One's Leaving" ‹ Live 1990
6. "Ain't No Right" ‹ Live 1990
7. "Then She Did..." ‹ Live 1990 *
8. "Had A Dad" ‹ Live 1990 *
9. "Been Caught Stealing" ‹ Live 1990 *
10. "Three Days" ‹ Live 1990
11. "Mountain Song" ‹ Live 1990 *
12. "Stop!" ‹ Live 1990
13. "Summertime Rolls" ‹ Live 1990 *
14. "Ocean Size" ‹ Live 1990 *

Disc 4 (DVD)
Soul Kiss: The Fan's Video
1. "Mountain Song" ‹ Unedited Version
2. "City"
Music Videos
3. "Had A Dad"
4. "Ocean Size"
5. "Stop!"
6. "Been Caught Stealing"
7. "Classic Girl"
8. "Ain't No Right"
Live at the City Square, Milan, Italy (for MTV Italy) (10/11/90)
9. "Whores" *
10. "Then She Did..." *
11. "Three Days" *

[*previously unreleased]

Some of this stuff was on the "Been Caught Stealing" and "Classic Girl" CD singles, and those tracks plus more turned up on the Live & Rare disc the band put out back in '92 or so as an import; I haven't owned a copy of that in years. I'm pretty sure the demo version of "Mountain Song" is the same version that's on the soundtrack to the movie Dudes, which I also don't own. And I don't know where, if anywhere, that version of "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" ever appeared; I knew it existed but have never heard more than a few seconds of it.

The live stuff, particularly the full concert on Disc 3, is what really interests me, though. I saw Jane's Addiction live twice; once at the inaugural Lollapalooza in Stanhope, NJ, and once in L.A. just before Christmas 1990. They did a three-night stand at the Hollywood Palladium, with Primus and (on the second night at least; don't know about the others) the Pixies opening up. And it turns out that the show I saw, a week or so before leaving California for what's been to date the final time - I've never been back - is the very one that appears on Disc 3 of this box. So I'm kinda excited to see how it stacks up to my memories.

(Of course, none of this should be taken as any indication that I'm gonna see the band when they tour with Nine Inch Nails this year, even with only true original bassist Eric Avery back in the fold.)

THIS WEEK IN THE SCENE

LAMB OF GOD
Wrath
Epic
Lamb of God's third album, 2003's As the Palaces Burn*, was both a powerful antiwar statement and one of the 21st century's most crushing metal releases. The follow-up, 2004's Ashes of the Wake, was kind of a holding action, offering more of the same lyrical themes, crushing riffs and intricate rhythms. It wasn't bad, but it was a sequel. On 2006's Sacrament, they got all introspective 'n' shit, and the music suffered further. Even the first single, "Redneck," didn't have the power of earlier songs like "Ruin" and "Laid to Rest." Wrath, though, is a ferocious return to form. Songs like "Contractor" and "Fake Messiah" offer some of the band's fastest riffs, most punishing drumming and angriest lyrics (and vocal delivery) since Ashes of the Wake. American metal is on a hot streak, and Lamb of God is poised to be the new Pantera.

[*counting their self-titled release as Burn the Priest]

EVOLUTIONARY THEORY

Buckcherry And Papa Roach Have Survived Rock's Roller-coaster Ride

Early on, Buckcherry were marketed as a revival of Sunset Strip titty-bar metal, while Papa Roach crawled onto the charts from somewhere in the middle of the nü-metal pack. But each band has evolved from its origins, surviving record-label upheaval, breakups and reformations, and now they're touring together, demonstrating the resilience of American hard rock.

"I never felt like we were a Sunset Strip band," says Buckcherry guitarist Keith Nelson via phone. "We happened to be from L.A., and we were a rock band, but we were all too young to actually catch the wave from the Sunset Strip era."

The band's self-titled 1999 debut and 2001's Time Bomb mixed punk and hair-metal sounds into a distinctive, aggressive blend. Label problems and musical differences led the band to fracture in 2002, but Nelson and singer Josh Todd reformed Buckcherry in 2005, with a new rhythm section and a more traditional hard-rock sound, heavy on power ballads like "Sorry" and "Don't Go Away." The two albums they've released since reforming, 2006's 15 and last year's Black Butterfly, have been their most successful, commercially and artistically. These days, they're less Mötley Crüe (with whom they toured last year) and more Social Distortion.

"I'm glad that other elements of our influences are coming out over time, whether it's blues or punk or whatever it is," says Nelson. "I think it's just really taken time for it to evolve and come out. I'm super pleased with the way things are. I love the sound of this band; I love that we can put a song like 'Cream' on the album with a song like 'Rose' and it all makes sense."

Papa Roach has undergone a similar evolution. The band's debut CD, Infest, found them firmly within the nü-metal pantheon, offering rap-like vocals, funk-metal melodies and lyrics about suburban angst. But on 2002's lovehatetragedy and 2004's Getting Away With Murder, the band transformed into a more straightforward, punky hard-rock outfit. This has allowed it to play before a wide range of audiences, according to bassist Tobin Esperance.

"We've toured with everyone from Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden to Eminem and Ludacris and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Suicidal Tendencies," he says via phone with some pride. "We've done it all, and it's more fun that way."

Like Buckcherry, Papa Roach are vets of last year's Crüefest tour, and the two bands have more than that in common - they're also survivors of the ill-fated DreamWorks label. "It's funny, because I don't remember ever knowing those guys back in '99 or 2000 when DreamWorks was going on," says Esperance. "When we made our third record, Getting Away With Murder [for Geffen], that's when I met Keith [Nelson]. He was working in the studio where we were recording, guitar teching for us, and I was like, 'Hey, you were in Buckcherry.' He was like, 'Yeah, I'm jamming with the guys again, we're thinking about getting back together,' and we were all excited, like, 'Yeah, good luck. Hope everything works out for you.' It was really exciting to hear. And to see their success story, see them come out and really just take the world by storm with their comeback - it was really cool. And here we are playing before them, you know?"

"They should have called it 'Dream Doesn't Work,'" laughs Nelson. "That would have been more accurate. In a way, I'm really grateful to those people, because they signed the band, but the process of getting there was never fun, it was never enjoyable, and I think it played a major part in the demise of the original band. But things are better now, we're moving forward, and I'm not gonna name names or talk shit. That's history. Here we are, it's 2009, and things have never been better.

"All I can say is that it's a marathon, it's not a sprint," he continues. "Look around. A lot of bands we came up with aren't around anymore, and a lot of the bands that are around currently won't be around."

Esperance concurs.

"I don't want to say 'mature,' because we're in a rock 'n' roll band, but there's no stupid shit going on. I'm sure we've all paid our dues in the 'let's fuck shit up and do as many drugs and have as many chicks as we can' department, so we're all kind of having a good time in a more positive and healthier way. I think in the end we're all rock 'n' roll bands who just wanna get out in front of kids who enjoy music and have a good time. With the exception of Saving Abel, 'cause you gotta have the new band that's out there rippin' it for the crowd, we're all bands that have withstood the test of time, and we all strive for longevity."

[From the Cleveland Scene.]

THIS MONTH IN AP

VANNA
A New Hope
Epitaph

A New Hope is interesting for about 30 seconds. The first guitar riff heard on Vanna's sophomore full-length is unsteady, slightly distorted and painstakingly detuned. You can't quite tell what direction the band are heading; will they be ripping off Sonic Youth or the Foo Fighters? The anticipation is almost tantalizing. Then "Into Hell's Mouth We March" starts, and funtime's over. The remaining 41 minutes of A New Hope are achingly pro forma screamo/post-hardcore. Every riff and breakdown is a copy of a copy of a copy; there's absolutely nothing of note to say about the album itself, only that it exists. The only thing left to wonder about this gray lump of by-the-numbers bark 'n' croon is whether they meant the title "The Sun Sets Here" to refer to their genre, or just their careers.

SON OF A COLTRANE

[From the Riverfront Times.]

"I've always avoided situations that reeked of that nostalgic/exploitive, son-of-Coltrane thing," says saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. That's no easy task for the son of John, one of jazz's true legends — especially in a business that only seems able to sell new jazz by relating it to the past. But this mindset makes his seeming ambivalence about the Blue Note 7 project somewhat understandable.

The band — which also features trumpeter Nicholas Payton, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash, among others — recently released Mosaic. This CD reworks tunes from artists like Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Art Blakey in celebration of Blue Note Records' 70th anniversary. The tour expands the band's repertoire, but it remains an oldies show.

"When I got to New York, the bands I was playing in were all guys doing original music, and most of the tunes I'm playing on this tour are tunes I last played when I was in college," says Coltrane with a laugh. (One exception is Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge," which Coltrane previously recorded on his debut CD as a leader, 1998's Moving Pictures.) Still, he understands why jazz fans respond so rapturously to history-minded albums and performances: "There's nothing wrong with sitting down, paying for something and knowing exactly what to expect and getting it."

But in his solo career, Coltrane has deliberately turned his back on that sort of thing. Aside from working on his mother Alice Coltrane's 2004 comeback album, Translinear Light, and recording two of his father's lesser-known tunes on 2002's Mad 6, he's avoided making family connections — even musical ones — explicit. There is no Ravi Coltrane Plays John Coltrane album out there, and there likely never will be.

"If an audience only wants something they've heard before, that can be a drag for cats who are trying to extend a little bit and say, 'Look, I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel,'" he says. "'I'm not trying to get up here and completely freak you out, but I'm trying to do something that's relevant for me as a musician, and if it's something that's kind of unique and different for me, maybe it'll be unique and different for you, and that won't be such a bad thing.'"

But Mosaic — which reunited Coltrane with Payton, whom he played with in Elvin Jones' band in the early 1990s, as well as with former sessionmates Nash and Washington — is a strong album that will easily outlast the corporate self-celebration that spawned it. The saxophonist admits as much when he says, "Somebody might say, 'I have this idea and it's gonna involve this [person] and this [person] and this [person],' and I might say, I don't like your idea, but this person'll be involved. So sometimes, if there's a musical reason for doing those types of gigs, regardless of the names and all that stuff, then the value is there."