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Unlike later efforts, Rubin actually did streamline all the Chili Pepper's flavorful funk-rock divisions into a most cohesive effort to date, even with light latter-half repetition.
This is one of the best pop albums produced in the 90's. If you want some hard-hitting songs, try "The Greeting Song" or "Give It Away". "Give It Away", "Under the Bridge", and "Breaking the Girl" are all enormously popular radio anthems by now, but every single song on this CD is great. This album has an energetic yet layered sound which draws you in. If you want some songs you can just sit back and listen to, try "Breaking The Girl" or "I Could Have Lied". This album is definately RED HOT CHILI-PEPPERS best.
On this album, there is a convergence of forces that is truly rare and extremely special. Up to this point they were musos that were really into funk and being silly, without depth to their songs.
I don't think there's a lacklustre second on the whole album. When I first heard this I was about 13 or 14, and just getting into guitar.
This album is pure joy, moment by moment, from start to finish. Of all the music that the Chili Peppers have done over the years, I think this album is the one that defined the band.
I can honestly say that if I hadn't heard this album my life would have been very different. The energy that the musicians manage to get onto this album is astounding.
After this point they seem confused and addled by their own success, and have tried to carry the flame that burned so bright on this album for another (nearly) two decades after it was a natural statement. Things like this don't happen very often.
Overall, RHCP is probably one of the single most influential bands in the history of music. Point and case, don't believe the "this band sucks" hype. For some reason, people have it in their heads that as soon as a band achieves big success, they stop being good.
However, RHCP are way much more than just another alternative rock band. The music is undeniably great. I've read some reviews stating that the band, (this album in particular) is just another has-been alternative rock band.
These people are idiots. Firstly, John Frusciante was ranked at number 16 on the Rolling Stone's top 100 guitarists of all time. People are really only ragging on this album in particular because it was the first album to REALLY achieve mainstream success.
It has an edgy tone to it yet certain songs like "Under the Bridge" and "I Could Have Lied" show the versatility of the band. They are phenomenal and hopefully will forever be recognized for the great artists they are.
However my two cents worth can be somewhat summed up by a quote from my girlfriend of the time who after hearing Give It Away said `Wow, it sounds like RHCP have finally written an almost normal song.' To expand, what the band had achieved here was to bridge the gap between their more nonsensical slacker/drug loser persona and the mainstream culture that demanded musical signatures that could be used as something to hold onto.The band achieved this with whimsical lyrics married to a rollicking rhythm section that after a few earlier albums had really hit it's communicative stride. Really delivering a smash hit for the band this album captured that California funk rock persona so perfectly it's hit singles are probably forever etched into the memory banks of everyone who was 13-25 years old at the time. After all the non single like Mellowship Slinky in B Major, Naked in the Rain, My Lovely Man, The Greeting Song.who on earth was listening to this stuff. Some of these songs have become radio staples and have entered into popular culture in a multi generational manner.Ultimately this album was so successful it's hard to review objectively and besides just how many uninitiated people are out there who haven't already heard it. What's not to love. Well nobody I know that's for sure.
It also allowed the more alternative/weird chorus section of Breaking the Girl to be centred in a coherent setting and therefore be even more striking. Playing it again after all these years is a fun but slightly confusing experience. This new found synergy and discipline allowed rockers such as Suck My Kiss to really cut through with identifiable riffs and melodies. Silly, juvenile, drug addled and overly self conscious (look ma, no brains).Who was listening to the singles like Suck My Kiss, Under the Bridge, Give It Away etc. Well darn near everybody. Not to mention the beautiful Under the Bridge which many probably consider to be the bands best 4:24 even after all these years.A band that had the surfies fired up, the teenage girls squealing and even the heavy rocker fans on board.
Oh year, all those non single songs.well I guess it all still equates to a score of four stars.
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