No. 1: Jane's Addiction

Jane’s Addiction has been around (on and off) since 1985. Their sound is heavy and energetic, but not necessarily as gloomy and dark as other bands starting to take off around that time. They definitely were lumped into the whole “grunge” scene but had a much livelier sound than the dreary Seattle scene. Perry Farrell, even to this day, is known as one of the best front men in rock because of his superfluous sound and stage presence. Lollapalooza itself wouldn’t exist without Farrell, who started the festival in 1991. Jane’s Addiction toured with it as their farewell tour; in fact, Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro would have outright fights onstage. The band broke up in 1991, but released two studio albums in that time: Nothing’s Shocking and Ritual de lo Habitual.

After a few side projects, Jane’s reunited in 1997 with Flea (of Red Hot Chili Peppers) on bass for a short tour. In 2001, the band released a new studio album, Strays, and headlined the resurrected Lollapalooza tour in 2003. They broke up again after that (and if the trend continues, will after this Lollapalooza too). Their most recent tour has been this summer of 2009 with Nine Inch Nails (who shared the stage with Jane’s Addiction at the very first Lollapalooza in 1991). This weekend, Jane’s Addiction claims the headlining slot at Perry’s festival again. Despite their age and all the drama, Jane’s is expected to rock Lollapalooza back to its roots. So for anyone not familiar with Jane’s Addiction, I suggest you forget about The Killers and see what started this 3-day orgy of rock in the first place.


Jane's on MySpace

The Official Site of Jane's Addiction