Perry Farrell, credited with his unique sound and distinctive lyrics, was one of the main figures and founder behind the band Jane’s Addiction. Active in the music industry he has also featured in rock-focused bands such as Psi Com and Porno for Pyros, as well as being the driving force behind the well- known music festival, Lollapalooza.
Born as Peretz Bernstein in Queens, New York, on March 29th, 1959, and was raised in a Jewish family. Having a difficult upbringing, Peretz was surrounded by his older siblings and father most of his life. When he was just three years of age, his mother took her life. He spent most of his childhood in New York, and later on, his family eventually decided to move down to Florida, where he finished his high school education. With his love for music and surfing, he traveled across the country, where he found himself along the West Coast in California.
Living in L.A., Bernstein discovered the underground punk rock scene, which inspired him to participate. Eager to be engaged in the movement, he eventually came across a few individuals to form his first punk/rock band, Psi Com in 1983, in which during this time, Peretz changed his name to Perry Farrell, coming up with the idea by taking his brother’s first name, along with playing on the word “peripheral.”
Rev, released on November 9th, 1999 and produced by Dave Jerden, showcases a lot of the music Perry has made, including songs from his time with Jane’s Addiction and Porno for Pyros. Starting off, the first song featured is called “Rev,” which he wrote himself, but is performed with former bandmate, Stephen Perkins. The next track listed is titled “Whole Lotta Love,” which is originally by Led Zeppelin, but remixed by Perry, turning it into more of an electronic version. Arriving shortly after are 5 Jane’s Addiction songs from their albums, Nothing’s Shocking and Ritual de lo Habitual.
The portion of the album that comes after includes songs 8-14, which are from Porno For Pyros, consisting of Mike Watt, Stephen Perkins, and Peter DiStefano. The songs were taken from both albums they released, Porno for Pyros and God’s Good Urge. The feel and sound of all of the tracks are more mellow. In the middle is “Pets,” one of the more popular songs that they released, eventually becoming a No. 1 hit for the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks at the time, and it sums up the style of music they perform quite well. Playing through, an unreleased song, called “Hard Charger,” arrives, which was originally going to be a Jane’s Addiction song for the Ritual de lo Habitual album. It was recorded with Dave Navarro and Flea, along with Peter DiStefano and Stephen Perkins, and was ultimately going to be released on the God’s Good Urge album, but weirdly never made an appearance. Ending the album, the last two songs are covers. The first one being the Grateful Dead song “Ripple,” and the other being a song by Lou Reed, “Satellite of Love,” bringing a peaceful close to the record.
