Jane's Addiction "The Great Escape Artist" album

- Release date : November 2011 -

The Great Escape Artist is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, released on October 18, 2011, on Capitol Records. The album is their first since their 2008 reunion, and features multi-instrumentalist Dave Sitek on bass guitar, alongside Chris Chaney who rejoined the band during recording. The album has been preceded by the singles "End to the Lies" (April 2011), and "Irresistible Force" (August 2011).

"The Great Escape Artist" album tracks and lyrics

• Underground lyrics
• End To The Lies lyrics
• Curiosity Kills lyrics
• Irresistible Force lyrics
• I'll Hit You Back lyrics
• Twisted Tales lyrics
• Ultimate Reason lyrics
• Splash A Little Water On It lyrics
• Broken People lyrics
• Words Right Out Of My Mouth lyrics

"The Great Escape Artist" album reviews

Taking their sweet time to bounce back from the indifferent reception to their 2003 reunion Strays, Jane's Addiction reemerges eight years later with The Great Escape Artist, an album that draws a direct connection to the group's murkier, dramatic moments. Part of this return to the mystic could be due to TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek manning bass for the majority of the album, but his artful spaciness is grounded by numerous songwriting collaborations with Guns N' Roses Duff McKagan, thereby offering a tidy encapsulation of Jane's Addiction's yin and yang: whenever they threaten to float too far off into space, they're pulled back to earth by a heavy dose of Sunset Strip sleaze. This tension had urgency in the '80s, now it’s delivered with finesse, enough so that the whole of The Great Escape Artist appears to favor spaciness even when guitars are grinding out metallic grease. Frankly, the shift toward the ethereal is a welcome relief after the clean lines and bright L.A. sun of Strays, an album that emphasized rock over art. Here, the preference is reversed and the group reaps some benefits, often touching upon the dark, boundless exotica of Nothing's Shocking yet managing to avoid desperation; instead of re-creating sounds, they've recaptured the vibe, which is enough to keep The Great Escape Artist absorbing even when it begins to drift.

*** by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music ***

Ostensibly Jane’s Addiction are one of the true titans of alternative rock, but ‘The Great Escape Artist’ is a pop-wolf in rock-sheep clothing, laden with the kind of killer songs that kept Duran Duran in cocaine and yachts in the 1980s.

*** by Jeremy Allen, NME Magazine ***