Ritual de lo habitual

This is great. It didn’t sound like anybody else. I like the rhythms mixed with the rock vibe. Not quite five stars level for me but one I won’t mind coming back to.

Not as good as their first album but dammit what is

The problem for me is the voice. I find it grating anyway, and all the reverb just seems to make it worse. Half the time I can’t work out whether he’s actually singing slightly flat or whether the production just makes him sound that way. There are bits where the vocal just sounds plain out of tune to me.

There’s plenty going on musically, and some great guitar work. Maybe lose the violin? But personally, I just can’t get past that voice.

1½

Cool

2/5. I guess it’s a little interesting that this album (and the groups 1988 debut) were early to the alternative rock scene that would go on to blow up in the 90’s, but beyond that fact and the fun single “been caught stealing”, this album just doesn’t offer much of interest in my opinion. It works in two halves with the first five songs being more standard rock cuts which are fine I guess. and the back half being longer, more conceptually focused tracks. But the longer tracks don’t really develop in any interesting ways and don’t have strong enough lyricism to carry them on a story front so they really drag. I am personally not addicted to Jane’s Addiction.

Day 53

We left sex and drugs in the hippie era, not sure if these guys got the memo

Fav track: Then She Did

From what I can tell, Jane's Addiction managed one great song, the classic & superb 'Jane Says.' Beyond that, I guess I don't hear what all the fuss is 'bout. Ritual De Lo Habitual continues to combine the heavy hardness of Led Zeppelin w/ the apparent fun-loving-&-goof-off sentiments of another overvalued LA act, the talent-waste of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. B/c I've always loved Zeppelin & have considered the Chili Peppers to be annoying, Jane's Addiction is somewhere in the middle for me in terms of how I feel 'bout them, tho I do lean towards the negative. 'Been Caught Stealing' is a good single, tho it impresses less upon further listens. 'Then She Said' is the best track on the album. I'm yet still underwhelmed in the generalities.

Listened before? No

Familiar with the artist? Not really, just know the name.

Thoughts:
- I didn't expect to like this as much as I did! I think I expected more generic rock.
- The only song I'd heard before is Been Caught Stealing, and I do like that one, but the songs after it are much more interesting to me.

Favorite track(s): Three Days

Better than Coldplay

A bit RHCP, a bit Van Halen, a bit POTUS - i really cant decide if i like this or not.

There are some classics on here, and I really enjoyed them. But the rest just felt so-so. I am not sure there was enough good to outweigh the meh to push it to 4 star territory.

Decent album. But Dave Navarro’s guitar playing can’t carry every track.

I haven't listened to Jane's Addiction back then (because I didn't know them) but I gotta say you can hear the inspiration for many other bands that I like

Also: I didn't even recognize a single song

I thought Been Caught Stealing was a lot of fun back when it was on the radio, with the dogs barking at the beginning and the whole manic energy of the song. The rest of the record was new to me, and I pretty much liked it all; it’s relentless, with its blend of punk/metal and Farrell’s weird vocals.

One of those bands I recognize the name but didn’t really know. Then I heard Been Caught Stealing and was like ohh ya I know this one song. The album’s fine otherwise though

I had never heard of the band before and just did a quick search beforehand to at least know what genre I was in for. Despite doing this, it both was and wasn't what I was expecting. All in all, I really liked it!

Much more psychedelic and groovy that it is sometimes given credit for. It is ambitious at points without sounding overly cheesy and there is a great instrumentation throughout.

9/10 [KEEP]

"Lynn, these are sex people".

Urgh. Perry Farrell is kind of disgusting. First 6 tracks of this are utterly tedious, just shite "funky" rock with godawful lyrics. Picks up significantly with Then She Did, which seems to have some degree of humanity to it. Of Course is kind of interesting, and there is a classic-ness to Classic Girl, natch.

Side 2 redeems Side 1 a bit, but overall this is an overrated and relatively meh listen.

I've been a fan of Jane's Addiction for a long time, ever since I first heard "Stop!" on the Guitar Hero II soundtrack. In fact, I saw them perform the entirety of Ritual de lo Habitual back in 2016 at Lollapalooza, the very festival that vocalist Perry Farrell founded. Needless to say, my fondness for this record has grown since then.

This is quite the multifaceted record, with the first half chock-full of hard-hitting funk rockers, while the other half consists of extended, spiritually influenced softer jams. Both halves share Perry's soaring vocals, Dave Navarro's bright, eclectic guitarwork, Stephen Perkins's varied drumming, Eric Avery's popping bass lines, and the spacious production that Perry employed alongside Dave Jerden. There is a fullness to the sound of this album that the band accomplished alongside occasional embellishments like the strings that come in on "Then She Did..." and Charlie Bisharat's emphatic violin intro to "Of Course". Probably the shining crown of Ritual de lo Habitual is the nearly 11-minute "Three Days", sprawling over multiple movements as Perry's changes up his vocal delivery alongside Stephen's complex drumming and the revving guitars. The track never feels overly long, as the pacing and switchups are well-executed.

As for the lyrical content, there are some surprisingly deep philosophical reflections made throughout the experience. After the Spanglish spoken-word introduction, "Stop!" becomes a full-on cry for the world to slow down its aggressive pace toward self-destruction. Following that, we have the acceptance of different cultures and ethnicities on "No One's Leaving", the precarious views of morality on "Ain't No Right", and Perry's ferocious call to not be judged by others over appearances on "Obvious". Later in the back half, we have the aforementioned softer jams that are loosely themed around Perry's ex-girlfriend Xiola Blue, who passed away from a heroin overdose. "Three Days" saw Perry reminisce on the crazy amount of sex and drugs he had with Xiola and his partner Casey Niccoli, before giving way to mourning for both Xiola and his mother on "Then She Did...". The contemplation over the loss of these women in Perry's life causes him to unleash his hatred toward the cruelty of mankind on "Of Course", before coming back down and focusing on the now with Casey, his "Classic Girl," as he is in awe of her beauty.

Really, the only track that doesn't have a deep lyrical theme is the single "Been Caught Stealing". It's still a fun romp of a track though, and I could see Perry's argument for the song being autobiographical, insofar as his cheap thrill for stealing at a young age.

Overall, it was awesome revisiting Ritual de lo Habitual for my album journey. It sucks that Jane's Addiction ended the way it did, with Perry's onstage altercation with Dave. But at least we still got a classic record out of them with this.

Very groovy and very 90s, but not in a bad way. I enjoyed this, it's a pretty good mix of alternative rock and metal with funk parts on it. I can't say that I liked all of the songs but I enjoyed most of them.