Considering the interpersonal tensions that led to Jane's Addiction's 1991 break-up, news that the legendary art-punk band was getting back together might have seemed unexpected. But for those who have followed the criss-crossing paths of the group's former members in recent months, nothing's shocking.

The "relapsed" Jane's, which begins a six-week U.S. tour October 30, reunites singer Perry Farrell with original drummer Stephen Perkins and guitarist Dave Navarro. (Flea, Navarro's current bandmate in the Chili Peppers, was enlisted to take original bassist Eric Avery's place.) The seed for the partial reunion was sown when Navarro and Flea guested on Porno for Pyros' 1996 record, "Good God's Urge," according to Navarro. A few months later, the duo reprised their roles as part of an expanded Pyros line-up that contributed to the soundtrack for "Howard Stern's Private Parts," but the real tip-off came when that same group performed a few Jane's songs at the film's premiere party and at several subsequent Porno concerts.

"Things just started to evolve and fall into place," Navarro says. "But it wasn't about trying to put Jane's back together. We just wanted to figure out a way we could all go on the road and play together again."

The old friends soon found themselves writing new songs and sorting through more than a hundred outtakes, demos, live performances and alternate versions of Jane's material from which the forthcoming album, "Kettle Whistle," was culled. "Steve [Perkins] is the archivist," Navarro says. "He has every tape of everything we ever did, including almost all our live shows. This just happens to be the selection we came up with, but we could have put out 50 albums just like this one, and they would all be cool for different reasons and have their own things to say."

One former member of the band who won't be saying much this time around is Avery, who's decided to pass on the relapse. He'll continue to work with his new band, Polar Bear.

"I was disappointed that Eric didn't want to do this," Navarro says, "but I completely understand and respect his decision. Eric and I are still friends and we talk regularly, but I love playing with Flea. There's no one I would rather have in the band if it wasn't Eric."

Despite the incomplete nature of the reunion, demand for the band remains high. Most of the Relapse Tour's 23 dates are already sold out and tickets for the two-night opening stand in New York were snapped up in less than five minutes. Retailer predict that sales of "Kettle Whistle" will be equally brisk.

"This [will be] one of the biggest alternative albums of the year," says David Seamons, Rock Buyer for a Tower Records store in New York. "There's a definite demand for a record like this because it fills a void created by the lack of Jane's Addiction product on the market."

Though Jane's "relapse" evolved more organically than the MTV-fueled reunion tours of the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, the band plans to use television to take its music to a wider audience. On Halloween, the group will perform for MTV's "Live at the Ten Spot" and on November 8, it will make its first network television appearance on "Saturday Night Live."

"There are some feelings that have come up during this project that I'd rather not face," Navarro says, "but that's part of the reason I'm doing this. It's an opportunity to redo some of the things from the past and do them correctly or do them better. I mean, how many times in your life do you get a chance to correct the past?"