Yep, the couple next door was acting out a metaphor for just about every Perry Farrell project that's come down the pike. Every damn thing that's sprung out Farrell's heroin addled synapses has been half-utterly brilliant, and half-utterly full of crap. Sure there's been some great stuff, from both the uneven but in balance underappreciated Jane's Addiction to the overrated, crashed and burned, Porno for Pyros. There's been "Jane Says" and the offensive but great "Been Caught Stealing," the better than you remember it "Great Pets," but...what else? Nothing's Shocking, indeed. Farrell is like the kid who could do those trigonometry problems in high school, but couldn't resist pulling off an armpit fart in the middle of the whole thing. The result is that he gives you just enough to suck you in the next time, even though you're going to be disappointed. The result, at times, is like being the guest of honor at a crucifixion, without the reassurance that you're going to be back in three days.

SONG YET TO BE SUNG is Farrell's stab at electronica. Interestingly enough, he breaks no ground. There is really nothing on here that doesn't sound like a Jane's Addiction outtake filtered through a Roland VS 880-EX. As electronica, it's passable, but it's certainly inferior to what Bad Boy Bill, KUDU, or any three d.j.s you could name are doing.

SONG YET TO BE SUNG has a loose theme flowing through it, pertaining to a person, or event, named Jubilee (it could be either or both). The problem here is that virtually every track on here has a snippet or two which is really interesting but lasting from a few seconds to a minute or so. Farrell, however, has the unfortunate habit of veering away from it just as things begin happening, the way your dad used to avoid fatality wrecks on the freeway when you were a kid. It's almost like he's afraid of his own success. And let's be fair: the interesting parts of each track make it almost worth getting for that reason alone. They're haunting. Don't tell me you've never bought a CD for just one song. You could buy this one for the interesting parts of all 12 tracks, and come away reasonably happy. Maybe.

Farrell is currently touring danceclubs as "DJ Perretz," where he reportedly is mixing tracks from SONG YET TO BE SUNG into his presentation with other tracks. I can see SONG working in such a format. Similarly, he has a website (www.perry-farrell.com) that is actually pretty cool. It is supposed to work in tandem with the CD thought wouldn't for me; I'm not confident enough in my computer literacy to lay the blame on the product, as opposed to the operator. I'm one of these old-fashioned guys, however, who believes that the CD has to stand or fall on the music --- all of it, not just here and there --- and on that basis SONG YET TO BE SUNG, like Farrell's other projects, ultimately must be found wanting.