Jane's Addiction were a very cool band. Indeed, they were so cool that the likes of Guns 'n' Roses would have swapped every limb for just a gust of that wild talent. The man behind it all was Perry Farrell, the strange prophet of skeletal frame who cavorted over his records like some twisted messiah. For some reason, Jane's Addiction folded...it was a tragedy, and to hear Farrell's voice on anything else just isn't the same. Well, Porno For Pyros are pretty much the same...just lacking the religious controversy, the surreal circus and everything else that Jane's Addiction possessed. Opener 'Sadness' is a sweeping, dreamy triumph but there are too many times when the album exists as an almost lazy project, art for art's sake. Plenty of funky swirling, mystical rambling, and that almost staggering genius, but it's in splashes this time around, always a poor mimic of what had gone before. It could be said that Perry Farrell had lost his mojo. His words lacking the vigour and mesmerising sense as each track drifts by, particularly the irritating 'Pets', and scuzzy 'Bad Shit' with its tin-can chaos.
If Porno For Pyros were an unknown quantity, I'm sure this record would be considered a triumphant debut, but the history of it all, the presence of Farrel, and the looming shadow of Jane's Addiction is just too much for this record to deal with. Take your bongo's and hazy thoughts elsewhere, because Porno For Pyros are just a pipe dream.
5.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment