Jane's Addiction

GIFT GUIDE 2009

Box Sets

• AC/DC

  Backtracks

  BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ

• Alan Lomax in Haiti

  Alan Lomax in Haiti

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Fire In My Bones: Raw, Rare, and Other-Worldly African-American Gospel 1944-2007

  Fire in My Bones: Raw, Rare, and Other-Worldly African-American Gospel 1944-2007

  BY AUDRA SCHROEDER

• John Coltrane

  Side Steps

  BY JAY TRACHTENBERG

• Woody Guthrie

  My Dusty Road

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Dolly Parton

  Dolly

  BY MARGARET MOSER

• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

  The Live Anthology

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Where the Action Is!: Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968

  Where the Action Is!: Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

• The Doors

  Live in New York

  BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ

• Frank Sinatra

  New York

  BY GREG BEETS

• Rod Stewart

  The Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998

  BY MARGARET MOSER

• Woodstock 40 Years On: Back to Yasgur's Farm

  Woodstock 40 Years On: Back to Yasgur's Farm

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Gary Moore

  Essential Montreux

  BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ

• Jane's Addiction

  A Cabinet of Curiosities

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

• Boxing 2009

Jane's Addiction

The most convincing reason to purchase Jane's Addiction's A Cabinet of Curiosities, a 3-CD/1-DVD collection of rarities and live recordings, may be the cabinet itself. The latched wooden treasure chest contains an immaculate 64-page booklet and miniature worry dolls and tarot cards for each band member – androgynous provocateur Perry Farrell ("El Diablito"), guitarist Dave Navarro ("La Calavera"), and the powerhouse rhythm section of bassist Eric Avery ("El Alacran") and drummer Stephen Perkins ("La Aragna") – capturing the essence of Jane's brief but potent heathen magic. This set overlaps plenty with Addiction's first reunion cash-in, 1997's Kettle Whistle, but previously unreleased live cover scorchers of the Stooges ("1970") and Led Zeppelin (Navarro's shearing "Whole Lotta Love"), not to mention Deadicated's "Ripple" and the ubiquitous "L.A. Medley," demonstrate the group's witches' brew of influences. The demo versions that dominate throughout are surprisingly similar to the eventual studio counterparts, especially those on the band's major label debut, 1988's Nothing's Shocking, a testament to the totality of Jane's early vision. The exceptions are the almost industrial grind of "Pigs in Zen" and Farrell's vulnerability in the acoustic "Jane Says," both from 1986, and shambled folk kiss-off "City." Disc three's titanic 76-minute set at the Hollywood Palladium documents Jane's primordial hedonism at its peak, just after the release of the 1990 alternative touchstone Ritual de lo Habitual. While the accompanying DVD merely couples the band's cutting-edge video catalog with a brief, three-song set for MTV Italy from 1990 and the candid short film "Soul Kiss" from the previous year, this Cabinet still makes a nice piece of furniture.