“Other bands flirted with the dark side. Listeners just knew these people were living it”: Jane’s Addiction represented a new form of prog when they stopped traffic with Nothing’s Shocking

Portrait of music group Jane's Addiction, Chicago, Illinois, November 27, 1988. Pictured are, from left, musicians Dave Navarro, Perry Farrell, Eric Avery, and Stephen Perkins. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images).

In 2015 Prog argued that Jane’s Addiction represented a new type of progressive rock when they delivered major-label debut Nothing’s Shocking.

Context is everything. When Jane’s Addiction released their first proper album in 1988, the rock world was dominated by a clutch of post-Guns N’ Roses/Mötley Crüe-styled groups, who’d been signed to capitalise on all things coiffured. The music industry was pouring pots of money over Poison, LA Guns, Faster Pussycat and the like.