Strays (Jane's Addiction Album) - Reception

Reception

The album received generally positive reviews, with a Metacritic score of 75, based on 19 reviews. Playlouder noted that "their glee and enthusiasm can be heard coursing through every bar," while NME claimed that Strays was "one of the best rock albums of 2003." and Alternative Press stated that the album was "better than anyone could have predicted." The Boston Globe said that, "The new Jane's sounds a lot like the old Jane's. It is hard rock, with none of the trippiness that defined singer Perry Farrell's post- Addiction band, 'Porno for Pyros,' or the electronic maundering that marred his lone solo album, 2001's 'Song Yet to Be Sung.'" IGN gave the album a 7.5 out of 10 and stated, "Basically the band has not ventured too far from the sounds they exhibited on 1990's Ritual De La Habitual , making Strays sound like the follow-up that could/should have happened 13 years ago. All of which makes me wonder what this album would have sounded like if they'd been making music together during the past decade. Yet despite these shortcomings, Strays is a valiant effort by a band that not only changed the face of Los Angeles rock, but still knows how to (rock, that is)."

While still giving the album a C+, Stylus Magazine notes that the album is "good in its own right, but perhaps you're better off listening to it in isolation from the rest of their canon" and Pitchfork Media claims that "Strays lacks what made the band great in the first place: believable songs and lyrics."

In 2009, Navarro stated that he "really liked . I had a great time working with Bob Ezrin, who produced it. That’s what makes doing stuff like this really amazing for me." In 2011, Perkins stated that the album was "an interesting point in our sound."