I've always heard the Chili Peppers from a distance and while I have several of their albums I've not really spent any real time getting to know about them in any depth but over the last weekend went on a bit of Chili Peppers trip, spurned on my enjoyment of my new Strat and an upcoming holiday to Los Angeles (I associate the RHCPs as being one the iconic sounds of LA) I have been listening to them a lot and wonder how come I've never really appreciated their songwriting before, some great rhythms and melodies. Good band, they should do well...
Interesting difference between John Frusciante and Josh klinghoffer's tone and playing.
I love The Adventures of Raindance Maggie
https://youtu.be/EpxPHMHQfJ0https://youtu.be/gJb8MKIk9Do
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Everything else up to that point? Solid gold.
My favourite albums are By The Way, Californication and Stadium Arcadium (in about that order) which I know is not fashionable...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Obviously frusciante is is a great guitar player but it’s the vocal melody/counterpoint stuff that makes “his” material so damn good.
Without being too hippy dippy about it, I think Frusciante is one of those rare people who just seems to be "channelling" something. He's strange, but really quite remarkable.
Having said that, I found Stadium Arcadium bloated and boring. But I can't listen to the Klinghoffer stuff at all.
Having said that, he can sing like an angel at times. Just not all the time.
I also love that he plays with little or no vibrato, except when he thinks it needs it... robotic over-use of vibrato has always been one of my pet hates when listening to guitarists - or worse still, holding it up as the definition of 'good technique' - so it's refreshing to hear someone who doesn't do that.
There's some good stuff on it, but I agree it's too long. The problem is that there's probably just too much good material for a single album.
Warm Tape is probably my favourite song, but Dosed is beautiful too.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Stuff like this, is pretty much timeless:
A more "we cannot be arsed with this" performance I can not imagine. Coupled to turning every single song into a five minute slap bass solo and I was even more bored than they were.
Recording wise, for me they've always been remarkably inconsistent. Their good stuff is magic but there's nowhere near enough of it. I could make one phenomenal cd out of their entire back catalogue prior to about 1999 and quite happily throw the rest away.
There is nobody else out there who sound like RHCP. I don't think it's even possible to truly replicate their sound. They're also one of the few bands whose sound has changed over time e.g. compare The Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan albums to say By the Way and Californication and I enjoy both ends of the spectrum.
Now, I don't mind the recent albums with Josh... but I also don't really listen to them that much because they're just not the same. I think the RHCP I loved was very much Frusciante.
I don't dislike them I just feel it isn't the same band.