u/janes8591

Whores: An Oral Biography of Perry Farrell and Jane's Addiction
By Brendan Mullen (March 2026)

The second book in my Janes Addiction reading was completed weeks ago but I am now getting around to giving it a review. This was an amazing book that spends the majority of its pages on the first generation of Janes Addiction (until 1991). The last small portion discusses, in brief, things like 1997 Relapse tour, Deconstruction, Porno For Pyros etc...

This book appears to be the definitive read on the history of Janes Addiction until its publication in 2005. The format of the book is interesting as it does not have chapters and is just a collection of comments and quotes from various people who were involved with the band at various times. It is loosely organized into topics and events that flow somewhat evenly through the JA timeline.

The Good

Firstly, this book presents dozens and dozens of different peoples views into the band as they experienced them during various time periods. People who were behind the scenes promoting, producing, creating or hanging out with the band all have a voice and share what they experienced from their specific viewpoint and provides a soft narrative direction. These are ground floor quotes on the varied perspectives of experiencing JA during this time. The writing is in bite sized quotes and creates a light reading experience with some subjective depth on the varied experiences of the band. I found this to give a better understanding of the music scene in :A in the mid to late 80s with included all the hair metal bands on Sunset Strip, the recording industry and the general landscape of the "alternative" music scene at the time.

One of the best parts of the book is at the beginning of the book. There is a list of all people mentioned quoted in the book. This was great at certain points when you may have forgotten who a person was and their relationship to the band.

The Bad

My criticisms are minor and could be attributed to nitpicking. Here are a few areas where I feel the book could have been improved.

No table of contents. Even though the whole book is laid out in sections related to the quotes and is somewhat sequential, there are no chapter breaks in the book. If I wanted to go back a re-read a specific section I would have to thumb through the entire book hoping to find it.

The timeline does a bit of jumping every once and awhile and at times dates are very generalized. This caused a slight pause or confusion on reading. One example of this is when I just read that two people were fighting and then a few pages later they are doing something friendly.

The book spends a very light and cursory overview on everything past 1991. I am sure there was a lot more that could have been discussed about the various projects that were happening.

The Ugly

Nothing at all. Some may consider this shocking.

Summary

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to help understand the birth, volatility and genius of the band during the mid to late 80s in LA and the path they paved. So many insights and various fascinating stories about the band. Sometimes the quotes were contradictory but this just helps highlight what the band meant to various people at a specific time. The format was a bit different but works well. I am considering going back and reading again it just to pick up on anything I might have missed. All the personal anecdotes really helped fill in the gaps from my previous read; Shockingly Habitual.

Now I am on to "Jane's Addiction: in the Studio" by Jake Brown which I hope gives a different insight into the actual music and not the personalities, events and crisis' that people gravitate towards.

If anyone has read Jake Brown's book, let me know what you think. I would also be curious of your criticisms of this book since I found it exceptional for what I was looking for.

Today I have (soft) launched a basic website devoted to archiving non-commercial recordings of Jane's Addiction dedicated to the years between 1985 and 1991. More shows will be added in the future.

To prevent automated scraping of the files, there is currently a daily download limit in place, but you should still be able to grab multiple concerts a day without any issues.

E-mail at janes8591@proton.me if you can assist with adding audio or video you may have, especially lossless, low generation recordings.

https://www.janes8591.com

SHOCKINGLY HABITUAL: The Extraordinary Rock 'n' Roll Tale

By Micah R. Guidry (1st edition, Jan 2025)

I just finished this book and wanted to share my thoughts. I’ve recently taken a deep dive into books about Jane's Addiction, specifically focusing on their trajectory from the very beginning up until their first breakup after the inaugural Lollapalooza festival in 1991.

I started with this particular book because it is the most recent publication on the subject and appeared to be the only traditional biography available. However, I was mistaken. It reads much more like a screenplay with a dash of fan fiction thrown in for dramatic effect. While my comments are entirely subjective, I hope they help frame expectations for anyone else considering reading it.

The Good

The book covers a brief history of the era before the band formed, devoting a healthy portion of the pages to their early, formative years. It does an interesting job of illustrating the personality dynamics among the four original members, as well as a few other influential figures in the Jane's Addiction camp.

While the narrative leans heavily toward Perry Farrell, the author succeeds in capturing each member's distinct identity. This beautifully highlights the patchwork artistic makeup that made them so incredibly unique in the beginning. As a reader, you walk away with a solid, high-level understanding of each member's motives, contributions, and place in the band's rollercoaster history.

Because this is a very recent book, the infamous 2024 Boston debacle is covered. Honestly, I’d be surprised if there is much more left to be written about the band moving forward, as that incident seems to truly mark the end of Jane's Addiction as we know it. The lion's share of the book covers the era leading up to 1991; after that, the chronology gets a bit jumpy due to the band’s sporadic later history.

The Bad

The chapter progression and overall storytelling become quite disjointed post-1991, hyper-focusing on select events while completely ignoring others. Some of the included milestones left me wondering why they were deemed relevant to the bigger picture.

• Odd Omissions: The author discusses Dave Navarro's marriage to Carmen Electra but completely ignores his television career outside of the MTV show. Similarly, Perry Farrell’s marriage and two of his children are mentioned, but a third child from a different relationship is omitted entirely.

• Selective Focus: There is very little mention of what Eric Avery was doing during his years away from the group, yet there is extended coverage of Porno for Pyros, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and a little bit on Satellite Party.

The author clearly wasn't aiming for a definitive, detailed archive. Instead, he cherry-picks events to keep the narrative light, fast-moving, and engaging for a casual reader. Because of this, it's hard to tell where factual accuracy ends and artistic embellishment begins.

For instance, one scene describes Trent Reznor sitting down, drinking alcohol with Perry Farrell, during the 2009 NINJA tour—even though Reznor had been famously sober for years by that point. Additionally, the book's account of how bands were selected for Lollapalooza conflicts with the 2024 Lollapalooza documentary. Discrepancies like these frequently made me question whether accuracy was sacrificed for the sake of a more engaging storyline.

The Ugly

I really struggled to finish this book once it moved into the 2000s and began revolving entirely around Perry. It read like a made-for-TV movie—which made sense once I discovered the author actually has a background in that style of writing.

The dialogue can be goofy and occasionally laughable. Because of this, it often felt like I was reading a piece of fan fiction rather than a serious biography. I bought the book to understand the band as a whole, but near the end, it felt more like a highly sympathetic portrayal of Perry right up until the Boston 2024 incident.

Summary

If you are a fan of Jane's Addiction and just looking for some light reading—akin to fan fiction or a breezy Netflix special—then this book is for you. Imagine someone taking the Jane's Addiction comic book and turning it into a novel.

I genuinely appreciated how the author portrayed each unique personality, which gave me a greater appreciation for the eclectic mix that drove their success—even if I suspect many of the specific stories were embellished. However, if you are looking for deep, factual information and comprehensive history? Look elsewhere; you won't find it here. After reading the book I feel that the on the surface was scratched and I need to dig deeper elsewhere, I moved on and started "Whores" by Brendan Mullen which is quite a difference in style and presentation.

Anyone else read this book yet?