Somehow Warrant's Jani Lane Ended Up on This Forgotten '90s Emo Album

A rarely discussed emo album from the '90s that features Warrant's Jani Lane is getting some much-needed attention nearly 30 years after its release.

Yes, the same Warrant that gave us "Cherry Pie."

How Jani Lane Ended Up on an Emo Album

It's safe to say the Venn diagram for glam metal and emo would remain two side-by-side circles that never connect. There's just not a lot they have in common, regardless of the wave of emo music in question.

But somehow Lane found himself on an emo album in 1998.

By this time, Warrant's popularity had mostly died down. "Cherry Pie" was a massive hit, but the band never quite reached the same level with any follow-up singles.

Warrant wrapped up the '90s, battling through various lineup changes, including a stint when Lane left the band to pursue a solo career. He later returned to Warrant but continued working on outside projects.

One of them was recording background vocals for San Francisco-based emo/alternative rock band Crumb.

Who Are Crumb?

Crumb was only around for a few years in the late '90s, but they made the most of their existence.

The band toured heavily with Jimmy Eat World in 1996 and 1998. They also landed a spot playing what was known as the Indie Stage at Lollapalooza in 1996.

Also during that time, Crumb released the standout album, Seconds>Minutes>Hours. The LP perfectly balances late-'90s emo with alternative rock sensibilities that were well established in the front half of the decade.

While the album isn't an exact carbon copy of Jimmy Eat World's sound at the time, there is enough there to explain why they seemed to land on the same concert lineups.

Crumb used a whole cast of characters during the recording of Seconds>Minutes>Hours, including Lane, whose backing vocals appear on three of the album's 11 tracks.

Crumb (featuring Jani Lane), 'Exhibit A'

Other Notable Names on Crumb's Album

Lane was far from the only recognizable name to land in the liner notes as a contributing musician for Seconds>Minutes>Hours.

Current Nine Inch Nails drummer Josh Freese is credited as having played drums on nine of the album's songs. Jimmy Eat World guitarist and vocalist Jim Adkins is in there for having played guitar on six of the songs.

Former members of Los Angeles indie rock band that dog., Rachel and Petra Haden provided backing vocals along with Lane.

The former Warrant singer died in 2011. He was 47.

Social Media Sparks Renewed Interest in Crumb

Crumb have maintained a fairly modest listen count on Spotify over the years. The audio streaming service lists the band as having just under 3,500 monthly listeners.

Only one song from Seconds>Minutes>Hours, "Tonight," has more than 8,000 listens all-time. Crumb's most popular song to date is "Celebrity Judges" from 1996's Romance is a Slow Dance, with just under 200,000 listens all-time.

Crumb, 'Celebrity Judge'

A few timely social media posts have popped up in recent weeks from fellow emo and alt-rock musicians who wanted to show their appreciation for Crumb,

Brett Detar and Joshua Fiedler of emo-pop act The Juliana Theory shared an Instagram video where the two heaped praise on Crumb. The video quickly surpassed 43,000 views.

"They made an amazingly catchy record in the late '90s that you've probably never heard before," Detar tells his followers.

He was introduced to Crumb's music after being handed a promo copy of Seconds>Minutes>Hours while at a music showcase for some of emo's biggest bands at the time. Crumb was not on the bill.

READ MORE: 11 Underrated Early 2000s Emo Albums Everyone Needs on Vinyl

"I popped that CD in my 1992 Subaru Impreza, and the sounds that came out of the speaker were fantastic," Detar said.

Moments later, Fielder pops up on the screen holding a copy of Seconds>Minutes>Hours, which he calls "the most underrated record of our scene.

"Crumb Seconds>Minutes>Hours is one of the best scene records of all-time."

After you check out Crumb, here are 11 more emo albums from the 1990s you need to hear.