JANE'S ADDICTION
Nothing's Shocking[Warner Bros - 1988]
Because of the band's glowing reputation in the music press as an art/funk/metal hybrid with a killer stage show that preceded my actual encounter with their music, I was intensely excited about the prospect of listening to their major label debut album. And then one summer night in 1988, while in bed listening to the local rock radio station, a song came on that somehow, unmistakably, led me to believe it was them, even though it didn’t adhere to the above adjectives. It was their unofficial theme song “Jane Says” and I was hooked. (Curiously, because I’ve never owned it on vinyl, it was a while before I discovered that one of my all-time favorite songs of theirs, “Pigs In Zen”, which closes out the album, was a CD/cassette bonus track. Boy, does that vinyl version now seems like it stops rather than ends with “Thank You, Boys” as its closer.) Ultimately, the record was a game changer, one whose power has not been diluted over the years and deservedly so.
Included in both Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Nothing’s Shocking is not just a landmark recording in the annals of alternative rock but a thrilling, majestic collection of songs that alternately fires you up and lulls like a sunset when its work is done.
Released August 23, 1988.
Highlights: “Ocean Size”, "Mountain Song”, “Jane Says”, "Pigs In Zen”.
