Day 0678 - Ritual de lo Habitual

Jane's Addiction "Ritual de lo Habitual" (1990) - got it

The last album before the tumultuous Jane's broke up (for the first time). 

It really is "an album of two halves".  The first 5 tracks are more or less stand-alone rock songs, including the brilliant "Been caught stealing".  The last 4 songs take you on a journey, musically and emotionally with songs written for Farrell's mother who committed suicide, and his girlfriend who overdosed.  The songs are drawn out alternative rock epics with synthesisers, piano and strings on "Then she did..." which almost touches on Zeppelin's 'Kashmir' or "Stairway' in its scope and power.   That is followed by the brilliantly left-field middle-eastern flavoured "Of course" with heavily featured violin, plodding, elephantine percussion and Farrell's voice hitting new heights of nasal-ness.... nasality?

Day 0655 - Pump

Aerosmith "Pump" (1989)

Aerosmith feel like they combine the riffs of Zeppelin and the backing/harmony vocals of the Beatles, but with a little slease and 80s production shine.   Going further on the Zeppelin thing, Aerosmith are such a quintessentially American band that it's almost like one of those things where someone puts English text through an online translator then translates it back into English.  You get Zeppelin taking American blues and doing their own thing with it, then Aerosmith bringing it back to America but funnelling it through their own unique filter.

The album is reflective of the band's late 80s/early 90s output with some stomping hook-filled rockers and some power ballads that could power half of Massachusetts.  Some interludes break things up interestingly ticking along and the odd, confronting "Janie's got a gun" keeps the listener from getting too complacent.

Aerosmith's creative and commercial slump was well and truly over.  For this album they decided to eschew outside help and assembled at a secluded studio to work on songs, coming up with 19 tracks that they divided into the 'A' and 'B' material.

Day 0634 - Nothing's Shocking

Jane's Addiction "Nothing's Shocking" (1988) - got it

Jane's have been compared to Led Zeppelin in the past, and I can kind of see it.  Unlike bands like Wolfmother or Greta Van Fleet who emulate Zeppelin like they're a covers band, Jane's channelled the same energy into an original sound.   Four members each with masterful control over their instrument.  Pounding drums, wailing high vocals, twiddly bass-lines and guitar that melds folky-acoustic, psychedelia, stadium rock and virtuoso soloing.

The songs have an energy and danger to them, dripping with sexuality and cynicism.  This is one of those albums that laid a lot of groundwork for the 90s alt-rock movement.  In fact it was bands like Jane's with their mix of stadium rock, psychedelic pop, funk, atmospheric rock etc. that led to the 'alt-rock' label to be coined... which must have frustrated them, as the whole point for them was trying to make music that avoided labels.

Jane's have always been a bit of a fraught outfit.  During the recording of this outfit, singer Perry Farrell suddenly demanded 50% of the royalties for writing the lyrics and a percentage for writing the music.   Eventually he got his way and the rest of the band walked away with 12.5% each.  Inner conflicts eventually led to the band breaking up, with intermittent reunions in the years to follow (almost always sans original bassist Eric Avery).

Day 0400 - The Only Ones

The Only Ones "The Only Ones" (1978)

A band who were getting started just before punk took off in the UK, but managed to hitch a ride on that wave, angling their power-pop, rock, and occasionally slightly psychedelic sound to be a near enough fit for the genre. The band broke up in the early 80s due to inner turmoil, drugs and all the usual stuff. They reunited in 2006 after one of their songs was used in a vodafone ad which brought them back into the public consciousness.

I hadn't heard of them (and didn't mind them particularly earthshaking), but their songs have been covered by REM and the Libertines, so it's not a stretch to think that they probably influenced those bands.

Day 0381 - One World

John Martyn "One World" (1977)

 
Martyn was by this time burnt out on the music industry.  A hippy folkster who'd lived several of these years in a druggy haze.  Martyn took some time out to chill out and clean up in Jamaica with producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry.

Martyn came back kicking, with this album that meshes his folk background with some modern instrumentation and interesting techniques (some songs were recorded outside at night with additional microphones set up at a distance to capture the ambience). "Big Muff" despite being the name of one of the more popular guitar fuzz pedals, is a beautifully atmospheric and melodic track.

Day 0360 - Rocks

Aerosmith "Rocks" (1976)

A quick follow-up to the successful 'Toys' album.  With lyrics about sex, drugs, rock and the music industry.

I would say that it has less obvious 'hits' than 'Toys' but I really enjoyed the riffage across it. "Lick and a promise" has an especially enjoyable, heavy groove.