So, Dalton has bestowed 2 more fantastic albums on me, on top of the fantastic “Pink Floyd – Animals” album that he gave me already.

The first…

“Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking”

This album came to Dalton first and he told me about it, made me a tape of it, and changed my whole world. Jane’s Addiction seemed to come out of nowhere on the heels of my already exploding world of NIN and Nirvana. This blew my mind. It was one of those albums that you just could NOT play enough. Dalton of course was changed by it too and got everything else on Jane’s Addiction he could find.

I remember vividly playing hacky-sack in my garage with Dalton listening to “Jane’s Addiction – Jane’s Addiction” otherwise known as the XXX album on an old boombox. We were jamming and kicking and it was a good time and these 2 albums cemented Jane’s as a fixture in my life. They were rock gods to us.

I still have “Jane’s Addiction – Ritual De Lo Habitual” recorded on reel-to-reel.

I digress.

“Nothing’s Shocking” became a release valve for me. I would play this at an ear crushing decibel in the car, and loud in my headphones to block out the world for about 35 – 40  minutes at a time. It was no good at normal levels. Almost everyone I knew had never even heard of them, so Dalton and I shared them like a secret. Every song on this album is a perfect match for the song before it and after it. The perfectly crafted album.

OMG. “Pigs In Zen” – “Ocean Size” – “Idiot’s Rule” boomed in my head over and over.

I defy you to find me one person who doesn’t like the song “Jane Says”. You can’t help but sing it. It infects you. For sure the highlight of the album, even though it isn’t exactly representative of their larger body of work. As I was writing this I wondered if Wiki would tell me who the hell Jane was. It does.

I will let you go check it out. I was actually worried that knowing might ruin it for me. It didn’t, but I’ll let you make the choice to find out or not. LOL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Says

I also love the weird pictures. The boys look like they are from another country.

There is also a reference to Flea playing on the album for the song “Idiot’s Rule”. Horns. Not bass. Interesting. Above that is the Jane marries John photo. It is blurry like that on the sleeve.

There is also the creepy picture of Ted Bundy

This album was a direct punch to the head. A fresh sound and something that I have not heard done so well as this since. Astounding.

Dalton went on to see them many times and got a hold of several bootleg CD’s. I got some bootleg tapes during my trading days. Jane’s Addiction remains a favorite of mine and I will always dig this early stuff.

“Thank You Boys”

The other album he gave me is another oldie but goodie.

“Iron Maiden – Powerslave”

This album takes me back to the days of Milwaukee. One of my metal friends turned me on to “Iron Maiden – Piece Of Mind” and that one was under my skin in a big way when I saw this one, I had to buy it. I got the cassette and nearly wore it out. This was exactly the music I needed then. Blasting guitars but technical like Judas Priest, and vocals from Bruce that were phenomenal. This album was HOT and songs from both “Piece Of Mind” and “Powerslave” were on the radio. Not bad for such heavy metallers. This album was, like all their others full of the Eddie image.

and having never had the actual album I never noticed the little grim reaper on the back cover. There is something to be said for the bigger picture.

This is a cool record label as well. All the songs are listed on the side 1 label

with the side 2 label being just a picture.

Nice effect. This album is chock full of crunching rock tracks, but at the end, an almost 14 minute retelling of “Rime Of The Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I was familiar with the poem and so this song was, I thought, a very interesting take on a classic poem by a heavy metal band. Impressive in my opinion. I really liked it. I suspect it wasn’t what the average Iron Maiden fan was expecting, but I thought their attempt was a great success.

This album is a true gem.

Thank you for both Dalton!

I am truly at a “Losfer Words”.