If nothing else, Jane's Addiction sure know how to stretch out the publicity surrounding their impending return. It seems like every few weeks for the past half year the band does something, releases something, announces something, denies something or collaborates on something. There are the secret shows, which always seem to take place at a joint too small for the LA crowds that want to see them, which makes news because there are always lines. Publicity whores? (Navarro? Never …). No, but efficient information machines. This time out: we're talking boxed sets.

This just in from Rhino:

JANE'S ADDICTION FINALLY UNLOCKS THE CABINET

3-CD/1-DVD Boxed Set, A Cabinet Of Curiosities, Offers

Extensive Collection of Never-Before-Heard Demos, Live Performances and

Rarities, Plus Unreleased and Hard-To-Find Videos

Limited Edition Set Available April 21 From Rhino

LOS ANGELES — Jane's Addiction aggressively melded avant-garde, funk,

metal, and punk sounds with raw sexual energy and became an incomparable

force. On April 21, Rhino celebrates the legacy of Jane's Addiction and

unearths A CABINET OF CURIOSITIES; a 3-CD/1-DVD Jane's Addiction boxed set

of demos, live performances and rarities that includes 30 unreleased

tracks. The set will be available from Rhino in stores and at

www.rhino.com in a striking, limited-edition wooden cabinet for a suggested

price of $74.98. A digital version will also be available at all digital

retail outlets. Audiophiles and vinyl geeks take note that on April 18, to

celebrate this year's Record Store Day, Rhino will release 180-gram vinyl

versions of the seminal Jane's albums Nothing's Shocking and Ritual De Lo

Habitual for a suggested price of $17.98 and $24.98 respectively.

The CABINET collection focuses solely on the band's original incarnation of

vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, bassist Eric Avery and

drummer Stephen Perkins. Last year, this founding foursome played together

for the first time in 17 years and has since raised eyebrows with a trio of

celebrated secret underground shows in tiny clubs around Los Angeles. Now,

with 43 tracks on CD, A CABINET OF CURIOSITIES offers a comprehensive look

at the band from demo recordings of key tracks from Nothing's Shocking

(1988) and Ritual de lo Habitual (1990) to live recordings of the band

roaring through its best songs onstage.

The set opens with five songs recorded in 1986 during a session at Radio

Tokyo studio in Venice, CA, including an unreleased version of “Jane Says.”

The remaining 12 songs on disc one are unreleased demos from 1987 that

feature futures Jane's classics including “Three Days,” “Ocean Size,”

“Classic Girl,” “Summertime Rolls,” and “Stop!”

The second disc contains more unreleased demos (“Ted, Just Admit It…”)

along with a recording of the band rehearsing “My Time” and a 12″ remix of

“Been Caught Stealing.” The disc also rounds up stray songs from various

compilations (Grateful Dead cover “Ripple,” “Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey”

with Ice-T & Ernie C) as well as rare and unreleased live cuts including

roaring covers of Led Zeppelin's “Whole Lotta Love” and The Stooges' “1970”

as well as the live staple dubbed “Bobhaus,” which features lyrics from Bob

Dylan's “Like A Rolling Stone” sung over the music of Bauhaus' “Burning

From The Inside.”

Jane's Addition made great albums, but it's the band's live shows that

cemented its legacy. All of the darkness, soul, aggression, and musical

zealousness came pouring out night after night as the foursome gelled into

a thunderous and dangerous machine. The third disc features a complete live

show from December 19, 1990. This performance was the second show from the

band's legendary three night run at the Hollywood Palladium and features a

number of fiery, unreleased performances including “Mountain Song,”

“Whores,” and “Ocean Size,” and “Been Caught Stealing.”

The DVD included with A CABINET OF CURIOSITIES begins with Soul Kiss,

previously available only on VHS, which features the video for “Mountain

Song” that was banned by MTV, a video for “City” and candid home movies of

the band. The DVD also brings together six additional music videos as well

as a trio of unreleased 1990 performances taped in Milan for MTV Italy.

The wooden curio cabinet that houses the limited edition set looks like a

shrine to the band made by an adoring fan. The box opens to reveal

recreations of early concert fliers, ticket stubs, a set list and other

memorabilia.

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