| Good God's Urge | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Porno for Pyros |
| Cover: | Porno_for_Pyros-Good_God's_Urge.jpg |
| Released: | May 28, 1996 |
| Studio: | Shangri-La, Malibu, California |
| Genre: | Alternative rock |
| Length: | 38:22 |
| Label: | Warner Bros. |
| Producer: | Perry Farrell Thomas Johnson Matt Hyde |
| Prev Title: | Porno for Pyros |
| Prev Year: | 1993 |
Good God's Urge is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Porno for Pyros.[1] It was released in 1996 on Warner Bros. It was the band's first album to feature bass guitarist Mike Watt, who assisted the band in finishing the album after Martyn LeNoble left before all his bass tracks had been completed.[2] There were three singles released from the album.
In addition to Watt, many guest musicians lent their musical talents to various songs. "Porpoise Head" featured Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins from Bauhaus, Love and Rockets and the Bubblemen. Good God's Urge also marked a reunion of ex-Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, who played guitar on the album track "Freeway." The song also featured Navarro's Red Hot Chili Peppers bandmate, Flea.
Farrell's then-girlfriend, Christine Cagle, appeared on the album cover.[3] Photographer John Eder described the photoshoot as "increasingly chaotic and weird", and said the cover was one of the last shots of the night.[4]
The album was devised over a two-year "surf trip" that saw the band visiting places like Tahiti, Indonesia, Samoa, Costa Rica, and Mexico, leading to a more acoustic and less hard rock sound. The trips doubled as occasions for the band to detox from their severe drug addictions, which informed the lyrics of songs like "Porpoise Head" and "Tahitian Moon". Recording took place at Shangri-La in Malibu, California.
LeNoble left the band before recording completed due to drug addiction and clashes with Farrell, who was growing increasingly paranoid from crack cocaine use. LeNoble was frustrated with the business structure of Porno for Pyros, set up as a company with Farrell as the sole owner, thus depriving the other band members of publishing rights. LeNoble was hospitalised after he left due to the severity of his drug addiction.
Porno for Pyros went on a hiatus shortly after the tour (featuring Watt on bass) promoting the album's release due to guitarist Peter DiStefano cancer diagnosis. They were set to reform in 2019 to perform at singer Farrell's birthday celebration, but those plans were scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Good God's Urge-era lineup of Farrell, DiStefano, Perkins, and Watt performed in 2020 as part of a Lollapalooza webcast, and in 2022 as part of the Welcome to Rockville festival.
Trouser Press wrote that "while he helpfully turns the attack down to an alluringly cool semi-acoustic breeze on parts of Good God’s Urge, Farrell can’t improve his obnoxious personality, which renders the album another love-it/hate- it proposition."[5] The New York Times wrote that "the music gets atmospheric, experimental and interesting."[6] CMJ New Music Monthly called the record "more pleasantly stoned than the first album."[7]
| US Billboard 200[8] | 20 |
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