The Cover Uncovered: Why Jane’s Addiction faced commercial rejection with ‘Ritual de lo Habitual’
Jane’s Addiction presented as an artistic nightmare for retailers right from their debut, Nothing’s Shocking. The album cover depicted two nude female conjoined twins poised on a rocking chair with hair ablaze. Setting the scene for the type of music and creativity they wanted to put out into the world, Nothing’s Shocking offended several record stores. However, with the band’s second effort, Ritual de lo Habitual, it was clear that nothing was going to stop their desire to push boundaries.
Nothing’s Shocking saw the band enlist help from Warner Bros to create a sculpture envisioned by lead vocalist Perry Farrell in a dream. However, after learning how to create sculptures, he fired the Warner Bros team and completed the artwork himself. “The idea came from a dream I had,” Farrell recalled. “There were these two women swinging back and forth. They were joined at the hip and shoulder, and their hair was on fire. I just went from there, and [my girlfriend] assisted me.”
As a result, nine leading record chains refused to carry the album, and it was instead issued with brown paper covering the art. Ignoring the corporate implications for more family-friendly projects, Jane’s Addiction released their follow-up album, Ritual de lo Habitual, adorned with even more provocative imagery. While Nothing’s Shocking seemed to garner shocking reactions on account of its nudity, Ritual de lo Habitual appeared as an upgrade on the band’s previous controversial depictions by including three nude figures central to a wider image soaked in suggestive symbolism.
To the fans, this wasn’t a surprise. Jane’s Addiction existed to challenge conservative ideology and shatter and provoke bigoted sensibilities. Delivering social commentary under the guise of commercial music was their bag — which is precisely what they did with Ritual de lo Habitual. Eager to shake up 1990s elitism, the Ritual de lo Habitual album cover played into their disruptive mission.
Created again by Farrell, the sculpture on the cover has been described as a visual representation of the song ‘Three Days’. In the song, Farrell sings about Xiola Blue, a friend who once visited the singer and his girlfriend for a long weekend of heroin and other antics. The event was commemorated in the song, the only track on the record where the whole band was in the studio at the same time.
Shortly after her return home, Blue tragically died of an overdose in her apartment. The cover art for Ritual de lo Habitual was originally intended as a tribute to Blue, featuring an artwork by Farrell depicting her in bed alongside him and his then-girlfriend Casey Niccoli. The three are surrounded by various items, like a slip of paper on the right bearing the word “positive”. Speculations arose regarding its meaning: some believed it signalled Niccoli’s pregnancy with Perry’s child.
However, it was later clarified that it was, in fact, Perry’s mother’s pregnancy test, taken when she was carrying him. Adjacent to the three figures lies a smaller sculpture featuring a toy doll painted in gold. The record label vehemently opposed the whole idea, prompting the release of a second version that featured plain white cover art, adorned only with the statement of the First Amendment – defending the right to free speech – printed on the sleeve.
Even then, the back of the cover maintained Jane’s Addiction’s signature prickly edges. Farrell included the caustic message: “Hitler’s syphilis-ridden dreams almost came true. How could it happen? By taking control of the media. An entire country was led by a lunatic. We must protect our First Amendment, before sick dreams become law. Nobody made fun of Hitler??!”
