Billboard Listening Party: New Album/Tour Details

[leviticus]

http://www.billboard.com/news/inside-th ... 5212.story

Track Titles and whatnot.

[Tyler Durden]

No "Top Dog" or "Oh, Magic"?!

Interesting that what is essentially the third single will be released when the album comes out. Seems like a bizarre marketing strategy, but who knows; things are very different now that music retail is basically dead.

10 songs, at 40 minutes. Hmmm. Not sure we're getting any epics or musical explorations.

[leviticus]

Was typing fast as my boss was approaching. Sorry for the typo in "Bollboard" can that be fixed?

[Hokahey]

I can't copy and paste the article for some reason.

Interesting stuff...

New song titles.

No full blown tour until early next year.

40 minute album of 10 tracks. Clearly no "epic" tracks, but standard album length for them.

[Hokahey]

Was typing fast as my boss was approaching. Sorry for the typo in "Bollboard" can that be fixed?

Done

[Tyler Durden]

I can't copy and paste the article for some reason.

Two dozen people crammed into Eldorado, the Burbank, Calif., recording studio where Jane's Addiction spent most of 2011 to listen to their fourth studio effort, "The Great Escape Artist," on Thursday evening (Sept. 8).

Played loud but not deafening on PMC equipment that included two six-foot-tall speakers, producer Rich Costey introduced the evening by saying the album got its "sea legs" with bassist Duff McKagan, who departed and was replaced by Dave Sitek. Three tracks written with McKagan -- "Broken People," Words Right Out of My Mouth," "Ultimate Reason" -- are on the album.

Costey said Sitek provided a kick in the pants to the band and it shows up in terms of their sound gaining greater density throughout the 10-song, 40-minute album. "End to the Lies" and "Ultimate Reason" hew closest to the standard Jane's Addiction sound, but they venture into harder edged rock ("Words Right Out of My Mouth" and "Twisted Tales"), U2-inspired melody and chiming guitars ("Broken People") and a track driven by fat and echoey Dave Navarro guitar riffs that would make a great James Bond theme ("I'll Hit You Back").

While Eldorado is in a different location than when the first two Jane's Addiction albums were recorded, much of the equipment remains the same, including the mixing board. Very much a studio effort, while songs were being written in one room, recording was taking place in another, according to manager Peter Katsis of Prospect Park.

The listening session, with Katsis, Costey, about 10 journalists, a few representatives from Capitol/EMI and publicity firm MSO, was a bit of a top secret affair -- all cell phones were off during the playback and no one dared take any pictures.

Talk about the record, though, focused on the development of the first single "Irresistible Force" (Watch the video at right), which moved up two spaces to No. 23 this week on the Billboard Rock Songs chart. Katsis said a second single will come out around the time of the album's release, set for Oct. 18, but there is no decision yet on which song will foot the bill.

As for a full-blown tour, that won't happen until early next year at the earliest though a few dates in select markets and festival gigs are likely in 2011.

[Hokahey]

Thanks. My work IE is wonky and I can't download any other browsers.

[kv]

"End to the Lies" and "Ultimate Reason" hew closest to the standard Jane's Addiction sound

dooooooom

[bman]

Both P4P records were under 40 minutes!

[leviticus]

For what it's worth, I read today... and I can't seem to find where that it is 48 minutes.

[Tyler Durden]

Both P4P records were under 40 minutes!

I can think of absolute masterpieces that are head and shoulders above either Porno For Pyros album in quality, that are also far shorter than them.

The point is, Jane's Addiction traditionally has been relatively synonymous with long, "epic" songs, unlike Porno For Pyros.

[Hokahey]

Both P4P records were under 40 minutes!

I can think of absolute masterpieces that are head and shoulders above either Porno For Pyros album in quality, that are also far shorter than them.

The point is, Jane's Addiction traditionally has been relatively synonymous with long, "epic" songs, unlike Porno For Pyros.

Ritual and NS were both around 45 minutes if I'm not mistaken.

And Jane's was synomynous with long epic songs? I think those were always fan favorites, but I wouldn't say Jane's and "long songs" are synomonous.

[Jasper]

"End to the Lies" and "Ultimate Reason" hew closest to the standard Jane's Addiction sound

dooooooom

Doom, based on that? I think a lot of us have said that we don't want these guys trying to sound like old Jane's, because it will only make for an unflattering comparison. More worrisome is what follows:

"End to the Lies" and "Ultimate Reason" hew closest to the standard Jane's Addiction sound, but they venture into harder edged rock ("Words Right Out of My Mouth" and "Twisted Tales"

Which seems to imply that the harder-edged rock they venture into is further from Jane's 1.0 than ETTL, which means that it's probably cock rock.

U2-inspired melody and chiming guitars ("Broken People")

Is it possible that there is something on here even more U2-y than IF?

[bman]

Ted, Then She Did, Summertime and 3 days are the only epics.
Most Janes songs are 4 minutes or less.

[Tyler Durden]

Both P4P records were under 40 minutes!

I can think of absolute masterpieces that are head and shoulders above either Porno For Pyros album in quality, that are also far shorter than them.

The point is, Jane's Addiction traditionally has been relatively synonymous with long, "epic" songs, unlike Porno For Pyros.

Ritual and NS were both around 45 minutes if I'm not mistaken.

And Jane's was synomynous with long epic songs? I think those were always fan favorites, but I wouldn't say Jane's and "long songs" are synomonous.

I don't feel like getting into an argument over semantics. But the point is, one of the MAJOR criticisms (along with overly slick production) was the lack of long, "epic" songs.

[Tyler Durden]

Ted, Then She Did, Summertime and 3 days are the only epics.
Most Janes songs are 4 minutes or less.

Talk about splitting hairs. The same could be said for Led Zeppelin. Most of their songs are probably under 5 minutes...but they are also legendary for their LONG songs.

[Jasper]

Ted, Then She Did, Summertime and 3 days are the only epics.
Most Janes songs are 4 minutes or less.

Point being? Every real Jane's album has at least two epics. Is that what you're getting at? Don't forget that "Of Course" is just over seven minutes, longer than "Summertime Rolls," and pretty f'ing epic. "Obvious" is fairly lengthy as well, being only 23 seconds shorter than "Summertime Rolls."

Anyways, let's test your claim:

NS
"Up the Beach" – 3:00
"Ocean Size" – 4:20
"Had a Dad" – 3:44
"Ted, Just Admit It..." – 7:23
"Standing in the Shower... Thinking" – 3:03
"Summertime Rolls" – 6:18
"Mountain Song" – 4:03
"Idiots Rule" – 3:00
"Jane Says" – 4:52
"Thank You Boys" – 1:01
"Pig's in Zen" – 4:30

RDLH
"Stop!" – 4:14
"No One's Leaving" – 3:01
"Ain't No Right" – 3:34
"Obvious" – 5:55
"Been Caught Stealing" – 3:34
"Three Days" – 10:48
"Then She Did..." – 8:18
"Of Course" – 7:02
"Classic Girl" – 5:07

Out of 20 songs on the two JA 1.0 studio albums, eight are under four minutes (that's if we count "Thank You Boys") which hardly seems like "most." Looks like most are over four minutes.

[Tyler Durden]

The fact is, Strays didn't have any long "epics" and the band was criticized for that...because that is part of the band's history/identity.

It would be like if the Ramones had released an album of 9-10 songs, where all of the songs were over 5 minutes. People would definitely have taken issue with that, given the band is traditionally know for songs in the 2-3 minute range.

I'm not saying the album can't be good if there isn't an "epic" on it. It just strikes me as odd as to why there wouldn't be.

[bman]

I have no problem with song lenth...I have problems with shitty songs! I hope this album is good whether it has an epic song or not.

[Tyler Durden]

I have no problem with song lenth...I have problems with shitty songs! I hope this album is good whether it has an epic song or not.

You'll love it, shitty songs or not.

[Hokahey]

It would be interesting to hear a long Jane's song with minimal lyrics and singing. I bet it'd be their best new song.

[leviticus]

From a Reuters article a few months back:

Other tracks will include "Irresistible Force," described by Navarro as having "some magic captured on it," and the lengthy "Splash a Little Water," which he termed "kinda ambient and cinematic."

Not mentioned in the billboard article, but not all tracks were.

[Jasper]

Pulling off an epic show-stopper is a sign of a band like Jane's really functioning. We all know it's like writing an epic novel - it's something special. They've traditionally had these on their albums, with RDLH having three back-to-back epics. We all know that when a band can stretch out and make it interesting, they have a special power - a power that lets them take us to another world, while a three minute ditty simply cannot do the same. We know that when we hear the opening strains of one of these tunes during a live show, that shit just got real.

[cursed male]

http://www.billboard.com/news/inside-th ... 5212.story

Track Titles and whatnot.

Unfortunately there's nothing about the writers' nor anyone else's reaction to the new songs in the piece...

[Tyler Durden]

From a Reuters article a few months back:

Other tracks will include "Irresistible Force," described by Navarro as having "some magic captured on it," and the lengthy "Splash a Little Water," which he termed "kinda ambient and cinematic."

Not mentioned in the billboard article, but not all tracks were.

I suppose anything is possible in the respect that, we shouldn't put too much weight in what Billboard has to say regarding the album's length. What I mean is, 49 minutes = "40 minutes" to some music journalists.

And like bman said, it is about whether the songs are good or not, not their length. I want long songs...but I too prefer GOOD songs. I'm still not convinced that either will happen though.