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It really is like they've never been away; their glee and enthusiasm can be heard coursing through every bar.
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An ambitious, exuberant effort that moves through hard-rock cave stomps into swaggering funk and loopy folk, ''Strays'' sounds like the work of a committed band intent on hanging around longer than the current Lollapalooza life span.
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UncutNothing too shocking, then, but their old magic surges through: you won't be disappointed. [Sep 2003, p.112]
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Jane's Addiction have finally come up with music that can stand alongside their previous albums.
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Alternative PressBetter than anyone could have predicted. [Sep 2003, p.112]
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MojoThey sound great on it. [Aug 2003, p.90]
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One of the best rock albums of 2003.
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Perhaps a sign of the group's growth as artists, perhaps merely a hint of the changing times, Strays is an expertly crafted rock album, noticeably lacking much of Jane's earlier alternative sensibilities.
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Q MagazineThis is a band consolidating their talents rather than simply showcasing them. [Aug 2003, p.108]
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FilterWhat was once so fresh is now a little tired. [#6, p.80]
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It's good in its own right, but perhaps you're better off listening to it in isolation from the rest of their canon. It's not quite there, but it is definitely a good record.
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Bereft of the force of ideas, the swelling of potential, it largely settles for a pleasant, high-calorie buzz of guitar heroics and sonic familiarity.
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The songs rock -- and ferociously -- but that's pretty much all they do.
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This is carefully architected to pack arenas.
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Strays masterfully re-creates the surface of Jane's Addiction's sound, but in the process neglects to capture the band's vulnerability, its many idiosyncrasies, or even the all-important sense that Farrell has much left to say.
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The power of Jane's Addiction is undiminished by Strays (this is still a band creating music unlike any other artist), but the imagination, bravado, and songwriting smarts apparent from previous classics is sadly missing.
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New frontiers for rock aren't exactly broached, but then that was hardly the point.
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Strays lacks what what made the band great in the first place: believable songs and lyrics.
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BlenderToo much of Strays settles for the pedestrian. [Aug 2003, p.126]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 26 out of 29
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Mixed: 1 out of 29
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Negative: 2 out of 29
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Sep 20, 2011
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MikeSep 25, 2006This is the best album in years. Sadly without Eric, but still brilliant.
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jyo_tirmayadSep 2, 2006