New RHCP Single

Gassage

I wondered when I saw the thread title if this was the Random Hand Claps Project.

Placidcasual79

No Frusciante = no Chilli Peppers.

Octahedron

I own copies of their Greatest Hits album, Californication, By The Way, and Stadium Arcadium.

Because they're the only ones worth owning. 

I also own a copy of I'm With You. It was very meh but even its lead-off single ...Raindance Maggie was better than this clusterfuck of a snooze-fest. Even U2's "Songs of Innocence" was more captivating than this, and Coldplay's "Clocks" on repeat and I hate mellow Coldplay...!!  

Frusciante should just get his shit together and re-join the band.

Unfortunately because they're so well-known people will probably still buy this poop. 

ICBM

Octahedron said:

I own copies of their Greatest Hits album, Californication, By The Way, and Stadium Arcadium.

Because they're the only ones worth owning.

I've just been listening to Stadium Arcadium and I think it's a very underrated album - it possibly suffers from being a double, it's quite long and there are definitely a few duff tracks… but there's still probably more good than would have fitted on a single. Some of the high points are up there with anything they've ever done too.

The only thing that makes me think Frusciante left at the right point is that there are quite a few little recycled snippets of earlier songs, so perhaps he felt it was all getting a bit repetitive.

Deadman

How anyone can't rate One hot minute, BSSM and Mothers milk but likes the RHCP is beyond me.

ICBM

Deadman said:

How anyone can't rate One hot minute, BSSM and Mothers milk but likes the RHCP is beyond me.

I'm the opposite. I love the melodic stuff but not so much the funk stuff. I do like Mother's Milk, and BSSM a bit. I don't like OHM, it all seems quite superficial and the lyrics are even more crap than usual.

The spark is Frusciante's odd mixture of naivety and melodic genius which seems to go far better with Kiedis' lyrics, for me. I like Flea and Chad Smith's playing but it can't be that which makes the difference.

Deadman

It's because I've liked them since they were just a funk punk band. It's how they created their unique sound after all. I still love Californication and By the way but after that they became too mainstream, samey and lost their edge. Sadly I'd prefer if John stayed away now. He's too far gone and it shows in the stuff he pumped out over his last couple of solo albums. What they had is gone forever.

thecolourbox

The new song has just popped up on Spotify, i found it fairly bland and inoffensive which sounds negative, but  that actually means it was a million times better for me than usual RHCP! Can't normally stand their sound but to be fair, I'm not really their target audience as all their quirks and stylistic kinks are exactly what turn me off from music. The singers normally irritating voice seemed much less in your face than normal

EricTheWeary

I can take or leave RHCPs, actually I quite like the music they make I just made the mistake of listening to members being interviewed at various points and want to strangle them. The new track seems a nice sunny day kinda song. Damned by faint praise there maybe but it's OK to me.

Philly_Q

"Pleasant" is probably the best description, they've lost their edge and I agree that Frusciante returning (again) wouldn't save them now.  I confess I haven't given Josh Klinghoffer much of a chance, which is unfair of me, but I'd already lost interest before he joined.

BSSM will always be their peak for me.  I like One Hot Minute, it's not really a great album but it stands on its own as something a bit different.  Californication and By the Way are excellent, but much as I liked the latter I was already starting to worry that they'd become a bit formularised, and Stadium Arcadium confirmed it ( @ICBM may be right that it's underrated, I didn't listen to it much - too long, too many songs.  I feel the same about Mellon Collie and Use Your Illusion.)

Placidcasual79

EricTheWeary said:

I can take or leave RHCPs, actually I quite like the music they make I just made the mistake of listening to members being interviewed at various points and want to strangle them. The new track seems a nice sunny day kinda song. Damned by faint praise there maybe but it's OK to me

I am the same - can take em or leave em'. Interviews are a major turn off. Fruscainte elevates them to something special for me. He demonstrates an interesting point as well. The difference between a virtuoso and an artist. Technically there are probably 3 virtuoso's in that band - but Frusicante is the only one who makes you feel something when he plays - and that makes him an artist. Live in particular he is just spectacular. I would urge anyone to type 'John Frusciante (red hot chilli peppers) Don't forget me' into you tube. 

UnclePsychosis

I'm seeing them next month. Trying to get vaguely enthused about doing so but failing miserably. Meh.

Cirrus

I love One Hot Minute, because it's different, has some cool songs and the production is so much better than anything that came later. Listen to the punch in the rhythm section, you just don't get that with their later albums where everything is limited to the max, there's no real low end to speak of to maximise volume, and everything is distorted and crackling with a nasty upper midrange push.

Regardless of production though, By the Way is their masterpiece for me. Californication is great too, though I find it to be one of those where I need to be in the right mood. BSSM has some great tracks and a lot of stuff I have no interest in hearing again, and Stadium Arcadium was just too many songs, even if they were mostly solid I just couldn't stomach the whole thing.

Their last album felt strange to me, in principle I like what the guitarist is doing but it just *feels* like a strange coupling of different ideas, and some of his more interesting ideas seemed to be pushed into the background.

If they have any albums pre-BSSM, I don't want to know about them.

mudslide73

I went back to Stadium Arcadium a few months back. The title tune's solo is so good I had to listen to the whole thing 5 times. It sounds like Peter Green doing the Achilles Last Stand solo

The songwriting is better on the later Frusciante stuff imo.

ICBM

Cirrus said:

If they have any albums pre-BSSM, I don't want to know about them.

Try Mother's Milk if you can be bothered. It's slightly better than BSSM, to me.

mudslide73 said:

I went back to Stadium Arcadium a few months back. The title tune's solo is so good I had to listen to the whole thing 5 times. It sounds like Peter Green doing the Achilles Last Stand solo

That's definitely one of the highlights. But my favourite Frusciante bit on it is in the last chorus of Especially In Michigan (3'28" onwards). Magical.

english_bob

ICBM said:

Cirrus said:

If they have any albums pre-BSSM, I don't want to know about them.

Try Mother's Milk if you can be bothered. It's slightly better than BSSM, to me.

 

Even better, just get What Hits!?, which does a decent job of harvesting their patchy albums for the good patches.

Deadman

english_bob said:

ICBM said:

Cirrus said:

If they have any albums pre-BSSM, I don't want to know about them.

Try Mother's Milk if you can be bothered. It's slightly better than BSSM, to me.

 

Even better, just get What Hits!?, which does a decent job of harvesting their patchy albums for the good patches.

I despair

Octahedron

I just bought a double CD set on the cheap, which has The Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan in it together.

Keen to give it a listen. But I also bought a copy of Alice Cooper's "Trash" album at the same time that I'm more keen to give a spin haha. 

Deadman

There are some great songs on that old stuff. Skinny sweaty man, Fight like a brave, Behind the sun, Get up and jump and Police helicopter to name but a few.

Octahedron

Deadman said:

There are some great songs on that old stuff. Skinny sweaty man, Fight like a brave, Behind the sun, Get up and jump and Police helicopter to name but a few.

I just love the title "Skinny Sweaty Man" to be honest! Totally unappealing, probably worth listening to though :P