Ritual de lo habitual

Music

The album is roughly broken into two parts. Tracks 1–5 consist of unrelated hard rock style songs. The cassette tape of this album has about ten minutes of silence on side "A" (Because side B is 10 minutes longer than side A). Tracks 6–9, as a whole are in memoriam of singer Perry Farrell's deceased friend known as Xiola Blue, who died of a heroin overdose in 1987 at the age of 19 ("Then She Did" also chronicles Farrell's mother's suicide when he was 4 years old). "Three Days" and "Then She Did," in particular, have a progressive rock influence, while "Of Course" carries an Eastern-influence, with a prominent violin throughout.

The intro segment of "Ain't No Right" features Perry Farrell singing excerpts from "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads against a backdrop of a drum machine and a synthesized reggae bass, which Farrell eventually slurs into an angry rant. At this point, the intro ends and Ain't No Right begins.

"I can spot traces of other people on this album, us included," remarked Alice Cooper, "but that's all they are: traces. They were a really original band. This is their peak album, where they really went out on a limb. Sometimes I get so caught up in these songs, I can actually feel the band pushing themselves to their limits. Sometimes I can't believe how strong it is. I wonder if this will have the same effect on some kid as Chuck Berry had on me ..."

Packaging

Two versions of the disc packaging were created: one album featured cover artwork by singer Perry Farrell, related to the song "Three Days" and including male and female nudity; the other cover has been called the "clean cover", and features only black text on a white background, listing the band name, album name, and the text of the First Amendment (the "freedom of speech" amendment) of the U.S. Constitution. The back cover of the "clean cover" also contains the text:

"Hitler's syphilis-ridden dreams almost came true. How could it happen? By taking control of the media. An entire country was led by a lunatic ... We must protect our First Amendment, before sick dreams become law. Nobody made fun of Hitler??!"

The "clean cover" was created so the CD could be distributed in stores who refused to stock items with represented nudity.

Reception

"The gigantic swerve and swagger of Stop, the Chili Pepperish taunts of 'Ain't No Right', 'Of Course''s raga rocking and, above all, the epic 'Three Days', where guitarist David Navarro gets to pile the layers shoulder high, prove to be the stuff of true compulsion," wrote Peter Kane in Q. "Enigmatic, audacious and unpredictable to the last."

"It all makes you realise how few bands actually bother to try and be any good, to play stuff that's inspirational," enthused Andrew Perry in a retrospective review for Select. The same magazine later listed Ritual as the fifth best album of the '90s: "Nevermind would never have been possible without it. And, along the way, they ushered in the Led Zep revival."

In 2003, the album was ranked number 453 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Track listing

All tracks written by Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins.

Personnel