Good God's Urge
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Good God's Urge
| type = Album
| artist = Porno for Pyros
| cover = Porno_for_Pyros-Good_God's_Urge.jpg
| alt =
| released = May 28, 1996
| recorded =
| venue =
| 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
| next_title =
| next_year =
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Good God's Urge
| type = studio
| single1 = Tahitian Moon
| single1date = May 1996
| single2 = 100 Ways
| single2date = 1996
| single3 = Dogs Rule the Night
| single3date = 1996
}}
}}
Good God's Urge is the second and final studio album by American alternative rock band Porno for Pyros.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/porno-for-pyros-mn0000355208/biography|title=Porno for Pyros | Biography & History|website=AllMusic}} 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/504687/porno-for-pyros-light-another-unforgettable-fire-with-good-gods-urge/|title=Porno For Pyros Light Another Unforgettable Fire With Good God's Urge|author=MTV News Staff|website=MTV News}}{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} 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.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
Farrell's then-girlfriend, Christine Cagle, appeared on the album cover.{{cite web|last=Gramlich |first=Chris |url=http://exclaim.ca/Features/Timeline/janes_addiction-what_long_strange_trip_its/Page/6 |title=Jane's Addiction - What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been (Page 6) • Timeline • |publisher=Exclaim.ca |date=2013-04-08 |access-date=2013-05-24}} Photographer John Eder described the photoshoot as "increasingly chaotic and weird", and said the cover was one of the last shots of the night.{{Cite book |last=Mullen |first=Brendan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RXE0biSWhGIC |title=Whores: An Oral Biography Of Perry Farrell And Jane's Addiction |date=2005-04-26 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-81347-4 |pages=425–441 |language=en}}
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.
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000183456|pure_url=yes}}|title=Good God's Urge - Porno for Pyros |author=Greg Prato |website=Allmusic |access-date=2012-02-18}}
|rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev2score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=6 |page=600}}
| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev3Score = C−{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,292813,00.html |title=Good God's Urge Review |author=Nisid Hajari |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=1996-05-31 |access-date=2013-02-23 |archive-date=2009-12-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091224000504/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,292813,00.html |url-status=dead }}
|rev4 = MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide
|rev4score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=886}}
| rev5 = NME
| rev5Score = 8/10{{Cite web|url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000083reviews.html|title=NME.COM - PORNO FOR PYROS - Good Gods Urge - 25/5/1996|website=NME |date=October 16, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001016011055/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000083reviews.html|archive-date=2000-10-16}}
| rev6 = Rolling Stone
| rev6Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pornoforpyros/albums/album/87879/review/5945031/good_gods_urge |title=Porno for Pyros: Good God's Urge : Music Reviews |author=Arion Berger |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=1996-06-13 |pages=80–82 |access-date=2013-02-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206003445/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pornoforpyros/albums/album/87879/review/5945031/good_gods_urge |archive-date=2007-12-06 |url-status=dead}}
| rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev7score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book|last=Cross|first=Charles R.|author-link=Charles R. Cross|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|chapter=Porno for Pyros|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/646 646]}}
| rev8 = Spin
}}
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."{{cite web |title=Porno for Pyros |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/porno-for-pyros/ |website=Trouser Press |access-date=22 December 2020}} The New York Times wrote that "the music gets atmospheric, experimental and interesting."{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/15/arts/pop-review-on-the-road-to-spiritual-glam-rock.html|title=POP REVIEW;On the Road to Spiritual Glam-Rock (Published 1996)|first=Neil|last=Strauss|date=July 15, 1996|via=NYTimes.com}} CMJ New Music Monthly called the record "more pleasantly stoned than the first album."{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HS0EAAAAMBAJ&q=Good+God%27s+Urge+porno+for+pyros&pg=PT41|title=Reviews|work=CMJ New Music Monthly|date=July 22, 1996|publisher=CMJ Network, Inc.|via=Google Books}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
|title1 = Porpoise Head
|length1 = 4:15
|title2 = 100 Ways
|length2 = 3:42
|title3 = Tahitian Moon
|length3 = 3:47
|title4 = Kimberly Austin
|length4 = 3:13
|title5 = Thick of it All
|length5 = 4:43
|title6 = Good God's://Urge!
|length6 = 3:52
|title7 = Wishing Well
|length7 = 3:40
|title8 = Dogs Rule the Night
|length8 = 3:22
|title9 = Freeway
|length9 = 4:23
|title10 = Bali Eyes
|length10 = 3:28
}}
{{Track listing
|headline = Japanese bonus track
|title11 = Dominator
|length11 = 2:43
}}
Personnel
=Band=
- Perry Farrell: Vocals, percussion, samples, harp, keyboards
- Peter DiStefano: Guitars, samples, backing vocals
- Martyn LeNoble: Bass (tracks 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10)
- Stephen Perkins: Drums, percussion, samples, backing vocals
=Additional musicians=
- Thomas Johnson: Samples and sounds, keyboards (track 2)
- David J: Bass (1)
- Mike Watt: Bass (2, 6)
- Flea: Bass (9)
- Daniel Ash: Guitar (1)
- Kevin Haskins: Samples (1)
- Dave Navarro: Guitar intro (9)
- Matt Hyde: Intro slide guitar (3), samples (8), slide guitar (10)
- Lili Haydn: Violin (2)
- Ralf Rickert: Trumpet (2)
- Leo Chelyapov: Clarinet (7)
- John Flannery: Space guitar intro and chorus (9), backing vocals and trash can (6)
- Josh "Bagel" Klassman: Backing vocals (9)
- Christine Cagle: Backing vocals (6, 9)
- Shawn London: Backing Vocals (6)
- Kimberly Juarez: Backing Vocals (2)
=Production=
- Dave Collins: mastering
- John Eder: photography
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ Chart performance for Good God's Urge ! Chart (1996) ! Peak |
| {{album chart|Australia|20|artist=Porno for Pyros|album=Good Gods Urge|rowheader=true|access-date=September 6, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|New Zealand|20|artist=Porno for Pyros|album=Good Gods Urge|rowheader=true|access-date=September 6, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|Norway|18|artist=Porno for Pyros|album=Good Gods Urge|rowheader=true|access-date=September 6, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|Sweden|57|artist=Porno for Pyros|album=Good Gods Urge|rowheader=true|access-date=September 6, 2022}} |
| {{album chart|UK2|40|date=19960602|rowheader=true|access-date=September 6, 2022}} |
| scope="row"|US Billboard 200{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/porno-for-pyros/chart-history/tcl/|title=Porno for Pyros|magazine=Billboard}}
|align="center"|20 |
|---|
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Porno for Pyros}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Porno for Pyros albums
Category:Warner Records albums