Strays | ||||
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Studio album by Jane's Addiction | ||||
Released | July 22, 2003 | |||
Recorded | 2002–03 | |||
Studio | Henson Recording Studios | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 48:22 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Producer | ||||
Jane's Addiction chronology | ||||
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Singles from Strays | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ |
Kludge | (8/10) |
NME | (8/10) |
Pitchfork Media | (5.8/10) |
Playlouder | |
PopMatters | |
Rolling Stone | |
USA Today | |
Yahoo! Music | (favorable) |
Strays is the third studio album by American rock band Jane's Addiction, released on July 22, 2003 on Capitol Records. Released 13 years after Ritual de lo habitual (1990), the album marks the band's longest gap between full studio albums, although the group had recorded and released a handful of new songs 6 years earlier on the compilation album Kettle Whistle (1997). Strays is the first album to feature bassist Chris Chaney. Regarding the decision to record a new studio album after such a long hiatus, drummer Stephen Perkins stated that the band had already completed two reunion tours performing old material, and that Jane's was ready for "a new challenge."
Upon its first week of release, the album sold 110,500 copies in the United States and is currently certified Gold. The single, "Just Because", was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2004.
According to drummer Stephen Perkins "it all started around March or April 2002 with Bob Ezrin producing a Porno for Pyros track for the movie Dark Blue, an incredible song called "Streets of Fire" which was just epic. That segued into the Strays project."
The band entered Henson Recording Studio in 2002, with producers Bob Ezrin and Brian Virtue. Speaking of Ezrin, Farrell noted that: "he raise[d] the bar for all of us. It's like training for the Olympics - something you're aspiring towards in creating art. You're trying to make the most beautiful music, you try to break new ground creating sound that no one's ever heard before. When working with Bob; doing that becomes a very real possibility."
Bassist Martyn LeNoble, was fired half-way through the recording. LeNoble states that he: