There aren't many bands I can say this about, but I started listening to Jane's Addiction because of MTV. As it happens, one of the other bands MTV got me into was The Smashing Pumpkins, and between those two bands we're really covering some of the biggest alt-rock bands of the early 90's. The funny thing is that I imagine a lot of people can say that they also got into Jane's Addiction and Smashing Pumpkins because of MTV - there was a time (before my time) when alt-rock on MTV was all the rage and I reckon it had far more to do with their success than it would for any bands these days. Of course, when I say MTV, I mean music television in general, since MTV itself hasn't shown a music video in years.
My introduction to Jane's Addiction came in the form of the video for Jane Says, which was an awesome medley of exciting live footage and those steel drums. I was 16 and amazed. They just seemed so cool, even though in the year 2000 they definitely weren't. I'd read the name in magazines and heard things about them prior to this, and I was glad that I enjoyed their music so much. A few months later I picked up the cd of Ritual de lo Habitual for a fiver in HMV and Bournemouth and less than a year-and-a-half later I found this copy in FM Music (RIP) in Southampton.
The highlights on Ritual de lo Habitual were always Stop, Been Caught Stealing and Three Days. I always loved break in the middle of Stop (something I remember especially well from their show at Reading 2002 - I still have the Jane's Addiction t-shirt I bought that day, although it has faded badly over the years). It's an album that works particularly well on vinyl due to how different sides A and B are; the lengthy, more experiment songs appear after the break, but work well together. I remember reading something in Kerrang! about how not many bands would have the balls to put two 8+ minute songs on an album, let alone one right after the other, but I never really noticed it until then. Somehow Three Days and Then She Did... never seemed like long songs.
Format: 12"
Tracks: 9
Cost: £12 new
Bought: FM Music, Southampton
When: 17/01/03
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
