Jane's Addiction

When Jane's Addiction released their exceptional breakthrough 1990 album, 'Ritual De Lo Habitual, ' their record company, Warner Bros., gave the band the expected funding to film several promotional videos for MTV. Instead, singer Perry Farrell and then-girlfriend Casey Niccoli wrote and directed a low-budget video-movie, 'Gift.' Although it wasn't issued until a few years after the band's demise (in '93) and focuses primarily around Perry and Casey, the 80-minute vid is indeed amateurish (the acting, dialogue, etc.), but very interesting, as well. The storyline takes place during the recording of 'Ritual, ' as Farrell returns from a recording session to discover that his girlfriend is dead from a lethal dose of heroin, so most of the script is in 'flashback' mode. Not a video for the faint of heart (there's plenty of hard drug use via needles), the video has it's lighthearted moments as well. There are several humorous characters/scenes straight out of a David Lee Roth video - an insincere gynecologist, a drug counseling session with 20 or so patients that borders on the Twilight Zone (including a cameo by Farrell as a doctor), 2 coldhearted policemen, and a dense 'pizza delivery dude.' Also included are in-concert versions of "Stop!" and "Ain't No Right," as well as an intriguing clip for 'Ritual's' closing ballad, "Classic Girl," in which Farrell and Niccoli get married, and a tension-filled cover of Sly Stone's "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey," performed by Jane's Addiction and Ice T's Body Count. Although 'Gift' wasn't the ultimate Jane's Addiction documentary that many fans hoped it would be (the other members are seen only when performing songs), fans of the band should definitely check it out. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide