RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
Music and Lyrics by Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith and Josh Klinghoffer
Produced by Rick Rubin
Released between August 14, 2012-July 23, 2013
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS:
Anthony Kiedis: Lead Vocals
Flea: Bass Guitar
Chad Smith: Drums
Josh Klinghoffer: Guitars, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
"There is no question-this is a beginning."
-Anthony Kiedis
"This is a new band. Same name. But, it's a new band."
-Chad Smith
"Finding songs that seem to want to join hands with others is a special task that require the right people...and the right songs! Some songs seem to have a lot more of an agenda than others. Some songs play well with others and some songs need more attention and a little extra care. Here are some songs that seemed to want to pair up and take a later train. Keep your eye on them, they're up to something..."
-Josh Klinghoffer
For a band as huge and as beloved as Red Hot Chili Peppers it is amazing how they continue to fly under my personal radar. Don't get me wrong, I have been a major fan of this band for over 25 years as their superior musicianship and explosive energy has never ceased to blow me away as they were a staple of my college radio, my brief stint clerking at the new defunct Discount Records on Madison's glorious State Street in 1991 and all of the years ever since. The first RHCP album I purchased was the now landmark "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" (released September 24, 1991) and while I have followed the band for every album release ever since and also despite their worldwide fame, critical acclaim and gargantuan album sales, they have somehow remained a bit of a dark-horse band for me. Perhaps it is due to their punk rock/heavy funk tinged with hip-hop roots and earlier material which suggested that Red Hot Chili Peppers was a ferociously raucous party band and not much else. That aspect combined with the still blazingly bright image of the band performing nearly nude with only tube socks covering their members, has certainly remained intact, making me wonder just how seriously the band has been received ever since. Yet, with each new release, beginning with "Californication" (released June 8, 1999) and especially with "By The Way" (released July 9, 2002) they have continued to surprise me with their musical growth, their growing sophistication with subtlety, nuance, melodicism and lyrical reflection without sacrificing one molecule of their superior musicianship and their unquestionable allegiance to the funk.
By the time the sprawling, magnificent double album "Stadium Arcadium" (released May 9, 2006), entered the world, Red Hot Chili Peppers had most effectively blown my mind. While Anthony Kiedis's growth as a lyricist had already been apparent, his growth as a singer was just breathtaking to my ears. Chad Smith's drumming had grown more elastic while bassist Flea ascended with an increasingly "McCartney-esque" approach to his instrument. But much of the band's artistic elevation can be placed at the feet of former guitarist John Frusciante, who, album by album, began to increase his presence with the overall shaping of the music. His "less is more" approach slowly began to develop into new areas of layered guitar soundscapes, Beach Boys inspired background harmony vocals and studio wizardry, essentially making him the architect of the band's overall shift in their approach. With "Stadium Arcadium," he was a flame-throwing force fully unleashed as every single track of the 28 song album (plus the 9 B-sides) showcased Frusciante, and his extended guitar solos, on a level to which we had never seen/heard him operate before. John Frusciante had raised his game and therefore so did the band as a whole and with that album, the four band members were in lockstep to a degree where they could effectively have staked their claim as the best band in the world.
And then, after a grueling two year tour supporting "Stadium Arcadium," John Frusicante decided to depart the band (amiably) for the second time, desiring to focus upon his own solo music, which has included a demanding, conceptual almost wrenching spiritual work entitled "The Empyrean" (released January 20, 2009). Looking for a new guitarist was surprisingly easy for the remainder of the Red Hot Chili Peppers as they turned their attention to guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, a friend and collaborator of Frusciante's as well as a touring guitarist for the "Stadium Arcadium" tour. Klinghoffer, essentially already a member of the RHCP family, officially joined the band, recorded their most recent album "I'm With You" (released August 29, 2011) and what a difference a guitarist makes...a difference I am still getting used to as Josh Klinghoffer has some mighty big shoes to fill. Even so, I am now just beginning to think if he actually has accomplished this feat, while also instilling a new mountain for the Red Hot Chili Peppers to climb in the process.
"I'm With You" is a very strong album that finds and represents the Red Hot Chili Peppers progressing as well as finding themselves within a state of transition. On the one hand, the album is fully representative of what we know and love about this band as all of the songs continue to chronicle their tales of love, sex, music, drugs and death as they all relate to urgent themes of spiritual searching, transcendence and deliverance with the endlessly inspiring landscape of California as a backdrop. Kiedis, Flea and Smith are all operating in peak musical form and as a rhythm guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer's transition into the band from John Frusciante is completely seamless. But as I said, Frusciante's departure has left a glaring hole within the band and he is a presence that is almost impossible to actually replace.
Dear readers and listeners, I do not think that I can fully impress upon you just how much the "Stadium Arcadium" album floored me. It was an album that truly hit my musical sweet spot, and I really believe that it hit the band's sweet spot as well, and so much of that credit does indeed go to the titanic work John Frusciante brought to the musical table. Everything he did throughout that album and the B-sides felt to be absolutely right on the money to my ears and emotions as his backing vocals surrounded the music gloriously and his jaw dropping guitar playing elevated the entire proceedings making the album the full culmination of that foursome's work together. The band sounded unstoppable and for John Frusciante, it often felt as if the ghosts of Jimi Hendrix and John Coltrane, plus the ongoing, living spirit of Lindsey Buckingham were somehow flowing through Frusciante's fingers, voice and soul, and that is something that just cannot be replaced. Wisely, Josh Klinghoffer understands that fact completely and bravely decided to carve his own path within the same musical territory and foundation that Frusciante created. But somehow, it's kind of like having the furious expansiveness and expressiveness Hendrix or Coltrane in your band and then replacing that with a figure with the textural qualities of a musician like Andy Summers or even Adrian Belew. Now don't get me wrong, Andy Summers and especially Adrian Belew are GREAT guitarists but their techniques are markedly different from someone like Hendrix. Josh Klinghoffer upon those first listens to "I'm With You" was indeed that jarring to me, and I would gather the band's as well, as the album also sounds like a band once unstoppable now having to find its way all over again.
What has been helping me tremendously with my and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' transition from Frusciante to Klinghoffer has been the nearly year long release of 17 additional songs from the "I'm With You" sessions. The tracks were released two at a time on both vinyl and digital formats and were displayed with cover art that was distributed equally in piecemeal, coming together in its entirety once all of the singles had been released (full image depicted above). Once completely collected, we have essentially been given a double album's worth of material and after listening though the entire set of singles, I come to a couple of realizations. The first is that the band, with longtime and legendary producer Rick Rubin, performed an outstanding job of sifting through a large amount of material and picked the best songs to represent the "I'm With You" album, the very album that will re-introduce them to an increasingly fickle listening audience, as well as retain the fellowship of their fan base. now that is not to suggest that the 17 song singles collection are nothing more than second tier material. On the contrary, the songs are ALL strong and sometimes very surprising pieces of work, that continue to display the band's sonic range in ways a re-introduction of an album may have been confounding. Additionally, the songs further display exactly what Josh Klinghoffer's influence is and how his textures and aesthetics may ultimately guide the band's future music, which Klinghoffer himself has expressed they hope to begin writing and recording by the end of 2013 or perhaps the very beginning of 2014.
The majority of the music found on the "I'm With You Singles Collection" could share musical headspace with the "By The Way" album as the songs are moody, reflective, introspective, mid tempo pieces that allow the music to breathe, shift and develop at their own seemingly relaxed pace. "Strange Man," "Magpies On Fire," "The Sunset Sleeps," "Catch My Death," "Brave From Afar," and the terrific "Never Is A Long Time" all float by on a bittersweet, melancholy breeze and here is where the difference in Josh Klinghoffer's musical style becomes readily apparent. While all of those songs do not display raging guitar solos, we are given the full effect of Klinghoffer's backing vocal wash. Where Frusciante's backing vocals where instantly grabbing and displayed with a more Brian Wilson styled vibe, Klinghoffer's almost androgynous sounding vocals are considerably more esoteric as they permeate rather than augment. Instead of lifting the songs upwards, the backing vocals, which are all treated with strange, distorted electronic textures and shadings, envelop the songs like a fog or like wind blowing through the trees or even better, like ghostly specters haunting the surroundings.
The louder, more intense songs showcase the band in different surroundings, like the almost industrial percussion heavy "Victorian Machinery," the swaggering blues and 50's doo-wop structured "Love Of Your Life," the odd timed funk of "This Is The Kitt," and the turbulently sweeping "Hanalei" (which begins kind of like The Police's "Secret Journey" and also places Klinghoffer's vocals front and center for a verse) are all excellent examples of how and why I had been so thrown off by Klinghoffer's guitar work. As I previously stated, his rhythm guitar playing has been seamless and therefore, the songs all begin in a similar vein to how we would all expect a Red Hot Chili Peppers song to sound like. But as the songs continue and reach the point where a guitar solo is bound to make its blistering arrival, that is when we are hit with the curve balls. John Frusciante's overall guitar work and solos throughout all of "Stadium Arcadium," and even guitarist Dave Navarro's work on the tricky "One Hot Minute" (released September 12, 1995) hit their targets like stinging bulls-eyes. But with Josh Klinghoffer, he absolutely never plays what you think that you should or could be hearing. This is very difficult for me to explain but how about this: when Frusciante played, everything hit right on target. When Klinghoffer plays, his guitar is purposefully filtered through a myriad of effects pedals and studio technology so that everything is awash in avant garde textures, so much so that what he plays in unexpected and all left angles.
The songs where the band and Klinghoffer locked in place upon first listen to my ears, were the tracks that I think are the most experimental and outre. There is the odd Country Western tinged with funk selection "Hometown Gypsy," for instance and "Pink As Floyd" fully lives up to its terrific title as it is a slow builder with heavy orchestration and feels like it was created in homage to the songs found on Side Three Pink Floyd's classic album "The Wall" (released November 30, 1979). "Open/Close," the final track of the Singles Collection finds the band in a propulsive groove sped along by Kiedis' hurried and mostly spoken word vocals detailing free flowing memories, tales from the past, pronouncements that we are all "dreamers within a dream," and even invoking the spirit of deceased best friend and original RHCP guitarist Hillel Slovak seems to find the roaring middleground and future leanings for the band's ever developing sound. The eight minute "In Love Dying," is a real standout as Flea and Chad Smith's percolating rhythm section plus Anthony Kiedis' behind the beat vocals creates a pattern that suggests eternal travel while Josh Klinghoffer's psychedelic guitar work seems to represent the soul itself in flight. By that song's mid-section where Kiedis' vocals drops out and is taken over by Klinghoffer's guitars, everything that had been so elusive to me about the band's new direction fell beautifully into place. It is a track that you could drive across town to while it plays upon repeat, taking you from station to station, from one astral plane to the next. If this is the future of the band, who knows where they will end up and those possibilities are very exciting indeed.
As I listened to the Singles Collection, I was led backwards to the "I'm With You" album once again and even then, I was led to watching You Tube clips from the "I'm With You" tour as I wanted to see Josh Klinghoffer in action. I was immediately struck with his dexterity and flowing fury as his guitar solos were fiery and dynamic. And then there was a striking clip in which Klinghoffer joined Chad Smith on drums no less to perform a stunning polyrhythmic duet which was then accompanied by Flea on trumpet. The daring, dazzling experimentation and musical excellence on display was thrilling to me as it just suggested the possibilities of where Red Hot Chili Peppers could actually go with future music. That there was still vitality and purpose with this band. That they have not decided to just coast upon their legend by having a new, copycat guitarist join their ranks but to instead invite a new (and now youngest band member) to shape shift the music just enough that it makes them re-think about how they respond to each other musically as well as us to them!
Sometimes you can find a band or an artist's truest sense of artistic intents and purposes within an album's deepest cuts, B-sides or even through unreleased material. For Red Hot Chili Peppers, it has taken the official release of these 17 songs to begin illuminating their musical experience. I urge you to leave all memories of those nearly nude tub sock wearing days long behind (if you have not already done so) and find your way to this collection of music.
THE "I'M WITH YOU SINGLES COLLECTION": FULL TRACKLIST
1. "Strange Man"/"Long Progression"
Released August 14, 2012
2. "Magpies On Fire"/"Victorian Machinery"
Released September 11, 2012
3. "Never Is A Long Time"/"Love Of Your Life"
Released October 2, 2012
4. "The Sunset Sleeps"/"Hometown Gypsy"
Released November 6, 2012
5. "Pink As Floyd"/"Your Eyes Girl"
Released January 4, 2013
6. "In Love Dying"
Released February 1, 2013
7. "Catch My Death"/"How It Ends"
8. "This Is The Kitt"/"Brave From Afar"
9. "Hanalei"/"Open/Close"
All Released July 23, 2013
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