Nothing's Shocking (Album)
From Jane's Addiction Wiki
Nothing's Shocking (Album) | |
| Release Date | August 23, 1988 |
| Record Company | Warner Brothers Records |
| ID Numbers | 25727-1 (12" Vinyl) 25727-2 (CD) 25727-4 (Cassette) 925815-1 (Rubber Vinyl Jacket) 925727-2 (U.K. CD) WX 216 (U.K. CD Vinyl) WX 216C (U.K. Cassette) WE 381 (France) WB-25727 (Promo Cassette) 25P2-2289 (Japanese CD) |
| Medium(s) | CD, iTunes, Cassette, 12" Vinyl |
| Time | 40:53 (Vinyl) 45:29 (CD, iTunes & Cassette) |
| Artwork | Cover CD Back Liner Pages 1 & 2 Liner Pages 3 & 4 Liner Pages 5 & 6 Liner Pages 7 & 8 Liner Pages 9 & 10 Back Cover Rubber Vinyl Jacket Promo Tape Cover Promo Tape Side A Promo Tape Side B |
Nothing's Shocking Jane's Addiction's first studio album. It was released on August 23, 1988.
Contents |
Cover Controversy
The cover of Nothing's Shocking, which depicts two nude Siamese twins, with their heads ablaze is a photograph of a sculpture created by Perry Farrell and Casey Niccoli. Casey's body was set in a paster cast for this sculpture. Footage of this process can be seen in the original Mountain Song music video and on the Soul Kiss video. Due to the cover, eight major record retailers refused to stock the album. This album was also once proclaimed as the Second Most Offensive Album Cover Ever.
Alternate Versions & Promos
There is a limited edition vinyl version of this album that comes in a rubber jacket. The exact number of this version produced is unknown.
There is a plain cassette promo version of this album. (side a, side b)
The Japanese CD version of this album has the pubic hair on the siamese twins airbrushed out. This is due to display of pubic hair being taboo in Japanese culture. The back of the CD has the track names and producer credit printed in silver instead of teal, and comes with a lyric sheet with the songs in Japanese.
Press Release
The following is the press release for this album. It is written in a very tongue-in-cheek tone, and information from it should not be taken literally nor factually:
Jane's Addiction: Nothing's Shocking
Bred & Spread from Los Angeles CA
The mighty Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction are
the formost experts on beauty. They are
the biggest braggarts, money grabbers.
Their mascot is a rooster. They can make
a song out of everything, They say they can blow you away because they know they can.
If the couldn't they swear they'd shut up-but they can.
They're not macho monkeys, nor are they fags.
They lick what every their girlfriends do.
They like their manager being called a jerk, asshole.
Now you want to know their names
but the get tired of telling
the same story
over and over
till they can't
tell it no more
and while your questions
are understandable
their tiresome
and they're tedious.... Perry Farrell was looking for a new bass player for his band PSI-
COM. he was studying to be a doctor and wouldn't let drugs
get in his way. By pooling their money together and borrowing the rest, they cut a record (PSI- COM) and
pressed it up. this led them right to their first taste of getting ripped off by the record industry. There was also severe tension within the band. One by one
the members had converted to Hare Krishnas. Within their music lay the squirming seeds of Jane's Addiction
mixed with the fanatical wailings of god worship. The band
split further and further apart. To retaliate against the
god fearing members, Perry started reading black magic
and claimed to worship the god Bapheme, or goat headed god.
He found enough flaws in the bass player to boot him out.
What he needed was a new band.
And a referee.
The house he shared with Jane had eight rooms,
and thirteen roommates. She thought her friend Eric Avery
would get along good with him and put the two in touch
with each other. The day they met, it was one hundred degrees,
inside carpet walls. Eric put down his head and locked in to something. He played the same groove over and over
for about forty-five minutes. It was the first song
Jane's Addiction every played together.
Their first show was out of town in Orange County. It was "old dog night".
All old dogs were let in free. They were booked with a top forty cover
band, who invited their I.B.M. friends from work to see them. "Jane's" got up and emptied the place. There was one guy with a beard who stayed. They
never learned the beard headed man's name, but they did discuss their
differences, leaving the band, the bartender, and the booker.
The next show was at the Roxy. They were to support some faggy
english band who they killed. They were great except for one thing,
they stunk. At the time, band commitments were somewhat shakey. Besides the
drummer with the three bands, the guitar player believed himself to be
a germinating seed planted here on earth by U.F.O's. he became an officer in an organization know as the "U.F.O.s" (pronounced OOF-OES).
Eventually he disappeared and now one knows where he went.
WHO'S BITTER?
You know we got signed to Warner Brothers
Do you want to here about the bidding wars?
We had em all kissing our feet.
Getting a record label to put out the bucks is
the best insurance a band has.
They news papers developed a money fixation
They couldn't get passed discussing the deal
"Jane's" forgave them, after all
they knew nothing else about the band
If you want to know a secret?
We could have signed for twice as much
AIN'T NO RIGHT
Their first manager was a music loving prostitute. The band
loved her dearly, she was really enthusiastic but she too left town and has not been heard of since. Some of their happiest
memories were shared with her. Some of their greatest shows were
financed by her. They rented out ballrooms, and put out shows in the
pure rock tradition. The fans were greeted at the box office by
manager #1, who insisted on going topless, honest. Inside, bands played
to their sweaty friends, and occasionally dealt with their inner most
feelings , watching a transsexual dance troupe.
There was one who sang the blues.
She was awful. Her friend saved the show, she danced with
flaming shish kabobs. She could excite any man alive. Manager #1
was out done. She found solace by the classic motorcycle display.
"I'm real" she assured the bikers who lit up the room with
pent up male aggression.
The president of Warners said upon listening to "Nothing's Shocking"
"You guys are gonna warp an entire generation".
After their shows, people attest to feeling as if they had
let a stranger touch them.
"I watched a man drown. I really did. I didn't get up to help him at all. Of course he as on television...."
WE WERE ASKED TO TELL YOU ALL ABOUT US
The first drummer had a business, smuggling canaries in to
the country from Tahiti. He would drug them and then swallow
them. He overdosed on the canaries, and died on a plane.
Stephen Perkins was the first drummer's twin brother. He took his place, never having played drums before.
He also started dating the dead brothers girlfriend,
who happened to be Eric's little sister.
Before he dated Jodi Foster.
WHEN DOES THE FUN EVER END?
DOES THIS HAVE ANY VALUE?
DOES PRO WRESTLING?
You must have heard, we are the ultimate crowd pleasers?
We want you to know everything about us, I mean
everything. Honestly do you think that if a journalist
found out something that was damaging to you, he would
spill it to the public? I don't
WE LOVE BEING EXPLOITED
A matter of equal use wouldn't you say ?
A bottle and a drinker
Watching each other empty out
Compare Jane's Addiction to a life insurance agency.
There's really quite a difference, isn't there?
Dave Navarro needs love. Who's a better guitarist? No one.
We broke up one night, playing in New York. He drank too
much cause life's so fucked. When he sits down on the stage
to play guitar, his world truly becomes his own. We were
something that night. " The Mighty Jane's Addiction"
as we say.
WE'VE GOT TONS OF MATERIAL !
We put out record out, self titled. It was to be the second time we were ripped off by the music industry. I
could go on, but we're not bitter anymore.
THE SAGE OF JANE'S ADDICTION WILL CONTINUE UPON FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
Track Listing
CD & Cassette
- Up The Beach (3:01)
- Ocean Size (4:19)
- Had A Dad (3:45)
- Ted, Just Admit It... (7:22)
- Standing In The Shower... Thinking (3:05)
- Summertime Rolls (6:20)
- Mountain Song (4:03)
- Idiots Rule (3:01)
- Jane Says (4:53)
- Thank You Boys (1:04)
- Pigs In Zen (4:30)
Vinyl Editions
- Up The Beach (3:01)
- Ocean Size (4:19)
- Had A Dad (3:45)
- Ted, Just Admit It... (7:22)
- Standing In The Shower... Thinking (3:05)
- Summertime Rolls (6:20)
- Mountain Song (4:03)
- Idiots Rule (3:01)
- Jane Says (4:53)
- Thank You Boys (1:04)
Charting, Sales & Awards
Nothing's Shocking peaked at number 103 on Billboard Magazine's Billboard 200. The album was also nominated for the 1989 Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental Grammy, but lost to Jethro Tull's album Crest of a Knave. This was the same controversial year that Metallica's ...And Justice For All was nominated and favored to win.
Despite not being carried in eight major retailers, Nothing's Shocking was certified Gold, indicating sales of 500,000 copies, by the RIAA on June 7th, 1991. Less than seven years later, the album had sold more than one million copies and was certified platinum on January 20, 1998. [1]
In November of 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine released a list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time' Nothing's Shocking is listed as 309. Jane's Addiction's follow-up Ritual de lo Habitual also appeared at number 453. [2]
Singles & EPs
- The Shocking E.P.
- Mountain Song
- Had A Dad (promo)
- Jane Says (promo)
- Standing in the Shower... Thinking (promo)
