Deconstruction

Few bands have been more obviously the sum of their parts than Jane’s Addiction. After headlining the first Lollapalooza festival in 1991, the LA quartet split in half: the vocalist and drummer went one way (Porno for Pyros), the guitarist and bassist went another (Deconstruction); each suffered painfully from the absence of the other. While Deconstruction can claim a few decent songs and Dave Navarro’s dazzling guitar work, the album is ruined by utterly toneless vocals — both Navarro and bassist Eric Avery are credited, but whomever is doing the singing makes former bandmate Perry Farrell sound like Pavarotti. The 70-minute album doesn’t work as a whole even instrumentally, although several tracks — especially “L.A. Song,” “Fire in the Hole” and the instrumental “Iris” — do feature fine specimens of Navarro’s jagged funk riffs and soaring celestial textures: close your eyes and you can imagine what Jane’s Addiction’s fourth album could have sounded like, or even what this album could have sounded like with even an average singer. All of which became moot when, shortly before Deconstruction’s release, Navarro announced his long-rumored jump to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.