The mammoth task of ranking the Red Hot Chili Peppers albums
is my mission this week. Love them or loathe them, the Chili’s discography is so
large that there is usually at least one song that someone likes. Whether it’s
the LA Funk Rock of their early albums, the darker, heavier sound of One
Hot Minute, or the plush melodic sound of their modern music, there is
something in there somewhere for everyone. I’m not including greatest hits or
live albums otherwise we’d be here forever, so here are the Red Hot Chili Peppers 10 studio albums,
ranked from worst to best.
10)
The Red Hot Chili Peppers
(1984)
The first offering by the Chili
Peppers was their first showcase of RHCP's raw LA funk to the music world. Like
the majority of bands who have yet to master their craft, it wasn’t their
strongest. The songs on the album don’t particularly string together, and Andy
Gill’s glossed over production doesn't capture the raw funk sound they were known
for on the local LA scene at the time, and is another example of a great live band unable to capture their sound
successfully onto record. Highlights include the two singles Get Up and Jump, a fast paced slap bass
comb over, and True Men Don’t Kill
Coyotes, a song with a deep groove and catchy chorus.
9) Mothers Milk
(1989)
John Frusciante’s first album was hijacked by producer Michael
Beinhorn, who moved Frusciante towards heavy guitar riffs of the ilk of
mainstream rock of the late 80’s, and overlooked his gifted melodic sound,
perhaps delaying the much better Blood Sex Sugar Magik. It lacks any sense of
funk that their previous album The Uplift
Mofo Party Plan achieved, and with thudding basic drums and guitars, excessive
distortion, and Kiedis locked in indecision about the direction he wants to
take his voice, the album is largely unsatisfactory throughout. Although a
landmark album as it was the Red Hot Chili Peppers early breakthrough to the
public consciousness, as well as Frusciante and Smiths first album, it is an
awkward marriage of Funk and 80’s Metal, and it could quite easily be
forgotten.
8) Freaky Styley
(1985)
Produced by Funk legend George Clinton, the Chili’s second
album managed to more successfully capture the gritty, raw, funky sound which they failed to do in their first album. It was guitarist Hillell Slovak’s first recorded album with
the Chili’s, and his signature groovy riffs brings Freaky Styley up a level from their first album. The songs have a
much wilder and rough tone than their debut, with a prevalent brass section
throughout the album. However, like their first album, Freaky Styley still lacks cohesion, and at times appears unfocused,
which is understandable considering that the album was recorded in a studio
containing a huge fog of drugs, so much so George Clinton’s drug dealer at the
time makes a cameo appearance in the last track Yertle the Turtle, a cover of
the Dr Seuss poem, reciting in the intro and near the end in a montone fashion
“Look at that turtle go, bro”. The lyrics, although at times humorous, often largely focused graphically on sex, and Kiedis still appears
uncomfortable with his singing voice. The album’s fun and funky, but not their best
by a long shot.
7) Stadium Arcadium
(2006)
Frusciante’s last album with RHCP was an ambitious double
album and was their first ever debut at the US Billboard number 1. With 28
tracks there is a mix of styles influenced by the different sounds of the Chili
Peppers throughout the years, and there are some right beauties such as Especially in Michigan, Hard to Concentrate and Strip My Mind, as well as Dani California, which played loud, with its
punching drums, is a great kick start to the summer. As with most double albums
however, the album lacks cohesion, particularly in the context of its
predecessor By The Way, and there is
a few tracks on the album which are certainly B-side material, as well as certain
tracks such as 21st Century which
start off promising but seem to lack an effective chorus and therefore seem
slightly messy. There are certainly highlights on the album, but as the
archetypal argument goes with double-albums, it could have been so much better
if they had whittled the album down and just focused on their best material.
6) I’m With You
(2011)
When John Frusciante quit the Red Hot Chili Peppers after
Stadium Arcadium, the band could have quite easily just packed it in. There was
not much else to achieve as a band and they weren’t getting any younger. To
loose a musician as talented as Frusciante, such an important dynamic of their
sound, should have been wounding. However, with the recruitment of their
touring guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, their first album post Frusciante is surprisingly
good. A more stripped down basic sound allowed the Chili Peppers freedom to
experiment with several different musical styles, which lead to a captivating and
varied album. Highlights of the album include the beautiful Police Station, pumpers Look Around and Monarchy of Roses, and hands down one of the best ever Chili
Peppers songs- Brendan’s Death Song: a
beautiful and haunting tribute to their friend Brendan Mullen.
5) One Hot Minute
(1995)
When RHCP fans and critics were made to wait 4 years after Blood Sugar Sex Magik, expectations were
sky high. With Frusciante having left, Dave Navarro was in on guitar, therefore
completely changing the tone of the RHCP sound. Fans looking for the Funk Rock of
their previous albums were to be left disappointed, as Navarro’s heavier and
darker sound is prevalent across the whole album, and therefore several critics thumbed it down
as a disappointing follow up. But in retrospect, I think One Hot Minute is
actually a pretty decent album. If you take it for what it is on its own, there
are many highlights, the crunching riffs of the opener Warped, Flea’s irresistible bass on Aeroplane and Falling Into
Grace, and the epic track Deep Kick,
a forgotten gem chronicling Kiedis’s and Flea’s past exploits, which should be
played very loud. Like Weezer’s Pinkerton,
I think One Hot Minute could one day be seen retrospectively as a decent album,
it’s just a bit different.
4) Californication
(1999)
The album which spearheaded the Red Hot Chili Peppers modern
softer sound, Californication was a triumph on several levels. A bruised and
battered John Frusciante re-joined on guitar, and despite not being back to his
technical best yet, his simplistic style worked well on the album, such as his
haunting riffs on Californication, and
Otherside, and was a perfect fit for
the band who were undergoing a spiritual regrowth. Kiedis’s vocals were by far
the best they had ever been so far, reaching a new found soulfulness and impressive
melodic range. There is still an element of Funk Rock in the album to satisfy
older Chili Pepper fans, but the album was generally an entire refreshment of
their sound which opened them up to a vast new fan base worldwide. With the
album containing the most hit singles of any of their other albums, with tracks
such as Scar Tissue, Around the World,
Parallel Universe, Otherside, Californication, and Road Trippin’, it boggles the mind that when record executives
first heard Californication, they disliked it.
3) The Uplift Mofo
Party Plan
(1987)
The Uplift Mofo Party
Plan was the Chili Peppers prototype of the Funk-Rock sound that they had
been striving to record successfully in their first 2 albums. Working with producer Michael
Beinhorn, who encouraged the band to diversify their sound and step out of
their comfort zone, the result was a fantastic culmination of swinging grooves,
crunching hard-core and funky riffs, and a general commentary of the gritty
lifestyles that many young people led in 1980s Los Angeles. Me & My Friends is still a staple of
RHCP’s live performances, Behind the Sun
is a fantastic melodic and tuneful song, and the album is Hillel Slovak’s
finest work, containing fast paced and at times aggressive guitar riffs, best
showcased in No Chump Love Sucker. If
you want a best example of the Red Hot
Chili Peppers pre-fame period, The
Uplift Mofo Party Plan is by far their strongest work, a cohesive
collection of 1980’s LA Rock.
2) By The Way
(2002)
With John Frusciante in the song-writing driving seat and
back on form, By The Way is a
beautifully melodic and emotional album. Track for track the album is superb,
taking you on a colourful and emotional journey. Frusciante’s textured guitar,
gentle harmonies and melodic drive was combined with Kiedis’s honest lyrics
which reflected on the feeling of falling in love, as well as beating
drug addiction. Kiedis’s vocals reach an emotional tenderness they had never
reached before, with beautifully crafted tracks such as Dosed, I Could Die For You, This Is The Place, and Don’t Forget Me. Although the album
clearly diverges from their earlier funk sound, songs like Can’t Stop, Throw Away Your Television, and
By The Way feature a heavier sound to
satisfy the old guard, whereas tracks such as On Mercury and Cabron diverge
from the Chili’s style completely with Latin influences in the latter. Venice Queen is the best ending to any
Chili Peppers album, an anthemic and pounding tribute to Kiedis’ drug therapist
and friend Gloria Scott. The lush and dulcet sound throughout By The Way showcased
Frusciante at his artistic best, and is by far the Chili’s most refined
collection of songs, an album which is unique and triumphant in tone and
emotional melodic drive.
Yeh of course it is- and why wouldn’t it be- Blood Sugar Sex Magik is the Chili
Peppers at their best, an album that is of such high quality, an album which
left a long lasting legacy, and an album that they’ve never quite been able to
reach the same standards of. Probably the best example of their unique Funk-Rock
sound, the album is still influential today and is credited with a being a big
part of the alternative rock explosion of the early 1990’s. It was their first album produced
with Rick Rubin, a man they’ve stuck with to this day, his ‘less is more’
approached worked wonders on the Chili Pepper’s sound, resulting in more melodically
driven tunes whilst still retaining their Funk and Punk Rock influences.
Frusciante was let loose and his blending of styles and genre’s is influential
throughout the album, combining Soul-Funk and Blues style guitar in at times a
harsh raw manner. The legacy left by the album as a landmark of 90’s
Alternative Rock is undisputed. A song such as the beat centric Give It Away had never been played on
mainstream radio before, Under the Bridge
is a classic rock song and a staple of 90’s Rock, and is a song which still
wrings its influence today, with its blend of lyrics based on loneliness and despair
juxtaposed with uplifting and soft guitar riffs. The album contains a number of
irresistibly funky tracks such as Funky
Monks, If You Have to Ask, and The Righteous & The Wicked,
and Mellowship Slinky in B Major which
were a completely unique and refreshing contrast to the tired hair metal of the
late 80s and early 90s. My Lovely Man,
a tribute to the RHCP’s late former guitarist Hillel Slovak, is a fantastic blend
of a heavy rock riff in the verse juxtaposed with an intricate chorus containing
Funky Bass and Drums. It’s the timelessness of Blood Sugar Sex Magik which makes it the important and relevant album
that it still is today-for many young people who get into rock music today it
is still a staple album to listen to due to the high quality but accessibility of
its songs and the undoubting influence of John Frusciante’s Blues-Funk driven
guitar. It will be the best album the Red
Hot Chili Peppers will ever make- and that’s by no means an insult.
No comments:
Post a Comment