What were people expecting?
1) The band has never had huge commercial success
2) They've been around for 25 years
3) Their last album was 8 years ago
4) The industry has changed (obviously)
The reason a band like Coldplay outsells Jane's Addiction is because Coldplay was big right out of the gate; they debut album (only 11 years ago) sold more than all Jane's Addiction albums combined. And they are a young band, so they are going to draw sales from young people that still actually buy music. And Jane's sound has never garnered mass appeal. Like Coldplay or not, they appeal to all kinds of people, be it the soccer mom, the people who listened to Depeche Mode and U2 in the late 80s, the present day hipster, etc.
I'm not trying to shit on Jane's here...but it doesn't surprise me whatsoever that the album isn't selling well. It would be like expecting a new album by The Cult to sell well; why would anyone expect a band like that to suddenly receive mass appeal and record sales? I wouldn't even buy a new album by The Cult and they were MY BAND in the 80s before I got into Jane's. And there are a ton of people like that with Jane's Addiction, who were way into them back in the day but lost interest or moved on to other bands.
Again, not knocking them...it just appears clear as day why TGEA is kind of DOA.