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Rating: After acrimoniously disbanding Jane's Addiction in 1991, Perry Farrell felt a bit like a god on earth.
He was the rock star symbol of the rock renaissance. With Lollapalooza, he had paved the way for the era of Nirvana, bringing post-punk culture into the mainstream music biz, capable of generating millions in revenue.
However, his confidence in his abilities played a bad trick on him in the debut of his new band, Porno for Pyros. The secret of Jane's Addiction had been the unique contribution of two excellent musicians and two geniuses in creating a sophisticated and inimitable mix. The 1993 self-titled debut of Porno for Pyros was instead a one-man band that produced a substantially bland work - despite the hype generated. A work focused on monetizing the legend of Jane: in the rougher moments, a trivialization of Dave Navarro's slashes, and in the more intimate moments, soporific music for an Alpitour holiday village.
However, Farrell had the humility to curb his ego trips and reinvent his style with the subsequent "Good God's Urge," released in 1996. The sound coordinates of the 10 tracks that compose it are enticing: an hallucinogenic journey where dizzying exotic suggestions are barely enlivened by hard reminiscences of the past, following the quintessential second side of "Ritual de lo habitual".
The inspiration among these grooves is decidedly high, also thanks to the contribution of other band members, along with various cameo appearances by legendary musicians such as Matt Hyde and Flea. Guitarist Peter Di Stefano wisely avoids imitating Navarro this time and focuses on delicate and evocative scores that emphasize Perry's shrill vocals while on bass, given Martyn LeNoble's departure during the work, the great Mike Watt often guests, providing a perfect funky push in the livelier moments, for example, the cadenced title track, or the spirited "Dogs rule the night".
The opener "Porpoise head" best synthesizes the new course of PFP: a dry psychedelic rock at the crossroads of eastern sounds, culminating in a nervous, dragging finale. "100 ways" instead offers the first bizarre sound escape, with sumptuous Polynesian percussion, almost jazz trumpet solos, and a violin intricately carving the Farrellian folk canvas. "Tahitian moon" is the only concession to the mainstream, with a perfect blend of rock urgency (Matt Hyde's slide guitar is excellent) and quirky Indonesian textures, while with dreamy ballads like "Kimberly Austin" (a sunnier "Jane says", with a splendid harmonica solo) and "Wishing well" Perry reminds us he is a phenomenal performer: in the latter, he flashes applause-worthy vocals on refined and visionary arabesques: almost Hawaiian Cure.
Despite the sword of Damocles of a glorious and burdensome past (not coincidentally, in "Freeway" Navarro's magical six-string resurfaces to forge a chillingly lysergic introduction...), "Good God's Urge" remains a pleasant and happy work, an example of mystically and well-assorted psychedelic pop, certainly not revivalist because it manages to confront the new sounds of the time (for example in the claustrophobic "Thick of it all", filtered by catchy samples) and to display a remarkable poetic vein: a minor masterpiece of the 90s without a doubt.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Porpoise Head (04:14)
Here I lay waiting
For the bubbles to settle
I'm going down low
Where your sleep meets your mental
Two tries at killing me
They couldn't do it
I ran down the road
With no shoes and no jacket
Here I go dive away
Watch me dive away
Hey porpoise head
Oh porpoise head
I know young boys
They all want to be bad
Don't think it's madder
To be a genius
Give me a lover
That won't give me troubles
Some sexy dreams
To chew on these bubbles
Here I go dive away
Watch me dive away
Hey porpoise head
Oh porpoise head
I set sail with a tickle in my tail
I smell the bleach on the thin white sheets...
Here I lay waiting
For the bubbles to settle
I'm going down low where
Your sleep meets your mental
Two bags in Lilly's hands
Kust for the morning
Into the bathroom
With cottons for swabbing
Here I go dive away
Watch me dive away
Hey porpoise head
Oh porpoise head
Hey porpoise head
Oh porpoise head
Oh porpoise head
(la deda, la dedee) Oh porpoise head
(la deda, la dedee) (la deda, la dedee) (la deda, la dedee) (la deda, la dedee) (la deda, la dedee) (la deda, la dedee)
02 100 Ways (03:42)
You didn't have to give your necklace, to me before I left
Now I lay awake and think, how very smart you were
I thought about you every day
I hear the rain comin' in from miles away
The air is as clean as your skin next to my face
Thought about you every day
100 ways
I thought about you and me a hundred ways
100 ways
And now I lay awake and dream you're right above my face
Look into my eyes the way you do, don't look away
Thought about you every day
Birds build their homes here right above my head
They make the same kind of sounds you do
When we're laying in my bed
100 ways
I thought about you and me a hundred ways
100 ways
And if I had my way, when I woke up, in the morning
I would read and write, before I ever drew the shades
I would kiss you, before you opened up your eyes
Birds build their homes right above my head
They make the same kind of sounds you do
When we're laying in my bed
100 ways
I thought about you and me a hundred ways
100 ways
03 Tahitian Moon (03:47)
My boat's capsized it's gonna sink to the bottom
I can see the lights on the shore getting farther away
I dont know if I'll make home tonight
But I know I can swim under the Tahitian moon
I came out here tonight to look for my friend
I dont know if I'll ever get to see him again
I dont know if I'll make home tonight
But I know I can swim under the Tahitian moon
One last time under the Tahitian moon
The sea is a very easy place to disappear
To drift away, to fall asleep, or make your peace (make your peace)
I came out here tonight to look for my friend
I dont know if I'll ever get to see him again
I dont know if I'll make home tonight
But I know I can swim under the Tahitian moon
I can swim under the Tahitian moon
I can swim under the Tahitian moon
I can swim under the Tahitian moon
I can swim...
04 Kimberly Austin (03:12)
I like to watch her sway
She's luck before I'm going away
I wonder what she thinks about herself
She is mine and no one else's
Kim
Kim
Kimberly Austin
She turns the knife around (she turns the knife around)
I watch her run it down her side (I watch her run it down her side)
Kisses my fingers when I go by (Kisses my fingers when I go by)
(See my mother in her eyes) See my mother in her eyes
Kim
Kim
Kimberly Austin
Kim
Kimberly Austin
Oh, Kim
(Kimberly Austin)
I like to watch her sway (I like to watch her sway)
She's luck before I'm going away (She's luck before I'm going away)
I like what she sees in herself
Gives me all of her confidence
Kim
Kim
Kimberly Austin
Kim
Kimberly Austin
(Kimberly Austin)
05 Thick of It All (04:43)
How you figure in the scheme of things to be?
You thought you were Jesus
But you find out you're the anti-Christ
You were born so you get another chance
A chance to die and to get off this planet
You're in the thick of it all
You're in the thick of it all
You struggle?
Hope you laugh!
You thought you'd never know
You feel?
And that's the only thing you can depend on
I'll try praying if it'll move my friends
The dead are living in your blood, with a little poison
You're in the thick of it all
You're in the thick of it all
You're in the thick of it all
You're in the thick of it all
I fell again, still I'm so excited
Anyway don't you love surprises!
You get to keep your heart and that I know
I give mine time and it comes back to me
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
Oh, we're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
We're in the thick of it all (thick of it all)
07 Wishing Well (03:39)
I can tell when I'm dead inside
I stop thinking of God
I'm living in hell
I stop wishing
Wishing
I stop wishing
Wishing you well
I had a friend
I knew him well
His voice was so blue
His eyes were so calm
He stopped wishing
Wishing
Now I'm wishing
He stopped wishing
I'm wishing him well
I'm wishing you well!
I'm wishing you well!
I'm wishing you well!
I'm wishing you well!
I'm wishing you well!
I'm wishing you well!
I'm wishing you well!
I'm wishing you well!
I had a dream last night
I can't heal people
I heal myself
Just by wishing
Wishing
Just by wishing
I'm wishing you well!
I'm wishing you well!
I'm wishing you well!
I'm wishing you well!
It take sirens sometimes
To make me glad
Hear sirens sometimes
I'm just glad
I'm not inside
09 Freeway (04:22)
Ain't been twelve a couple of hours
I'm on the freeway
Rain's so hard the sky's one color
The wettest coldest grey
Then she takes a look at me
I tell her it's O.K.
Driving around with her
She's taking trips on me
I'm taking trips on her
Left the sunset back in Venice
I was on the freeway
Say you love me or I'll kill us!
But you won't say it
Reach across the seat
And push the bucket back all the way
Driving around with her
She's taking trips on me
I'm taking trips on her
I fell in love with her
I just don't mention it
To fall in love this much
It's very dangerous
She makes me so jealous
I want to kill us both...
Left the sunset back in Venice
I was on the freeway
Say you love me or i'll kill us!
But you won't say it
Reach across the seat? Push the bucket back all the way
Driving around with her
She's taking trips on me
I'm taking trips on her
I fell in love with her
I just don't mention it
To fall in love this much
It's very dangerous
I want to kill us both...
She makes me so jealous!
She makes me so jealous!
It's very dangerous
It's very dangerous
It's very dangerous
It's very dangerous
It's very dangerous!
10 Bali Eyes (03:26)
Ate a mushroom turned into Bali
Didn't look it just jumped down my throat
I was starting to die until I
Took a trip to Bali
Their eyes are God
In a glass full of jelly
It's Bali in my eyes
My skin turned the color of the earth
I felt like a tree
People asked my name the next day
They remembered who I was
I took off my shoes
And my feet they took root
I've got Bali in my eyes
Their eyes are God
In a glass full of jelly
It's Bali in my eyes
When I opened up my eyes first thing
Early light in Bali
What a day it's gonna be I think
It looks good already
So hold me close before
All the doors start knocking!
Is Bali in my eyes
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