While best known as the iconic frontman for Janes Addiction, as founder of the Lollapalooza festival, or for his work with Porno for Pyros, Perry Farrells creative output outside of his most celebrated projects has been ceaseless. Career retrospective The Glitz; The Glamour compiles a wealth of Farrells solo material and more obscure projects, including tracks from his pre-Janes Addiction band Psi Com, his mid-2000s group Satellite Party, proper solo albums, as well as remixes, collaborations, and unreleased tracks. The Psi Com tracks will be of particular interest to Janes Addiction fans who havent yet heard them. As Farrells first real band, Psi Com existed just before Janes Addiction formed, and offered a darker, more gothic landscape for Farrell to experiment with the vocal style that would come into full form with his next, most popular group. Psi Coms self-titled 1985 EP had only five tracks, and their raw, sometimes grating sounds drew heavily on a Bauhaus influence that would get buried deeper in Janes Addictions sound, but contribute to their sonic DNA all the same. With both Farrells 2001 solo album Song Yet to Be Sung and the sole Satellite Party album, 2007s Ultra Payloaded, theres a genre fluidity that finds tracks dabbling with sampled beats, electronics, and synth treatments as often as they break out into loud guitars and cathartic rock rhythms. 2019s Kind Heaven is more straightforward alt-rock, but retains the openness to experimentation that guides much of Farrells creative output. The Glitz; The Glamour illuminates how Farrells euphoric curiosity has been key to all of his music throughout a 35-year span. Remixes and collaborations with electronic music figures like UNKLE and Booka Shade push stylistic boundaries even further than the commercially released albums, as does the grab bag of covers, B-sides, and unreleased tracks that closes out the collection. Janes Addiction expanded the definition of rock music and reached millions with their groundbreaking first few albums in the late 80s and early 90s. By collecting his mercurial solo work in a neatly organized and mostly chronological package, The Glitz; The Glamour highlights how committed Farrell was to pushing boundaries even before Janes Addiction rose to fame, and how hes continued to look for new sounds, new expression, and new excitement ever since. ~ Fred Thomas

Rovi