Freaky Styley - Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ second album, “Freaky Styley”, came in 1985, and had the alternative Rock group return following the breakthrough on their self-entitled debut the year before. It has them develop further into the Funk Rock sound as the then Parliament –Funkadelic leader George Clinton produced this one, and so pushed them towards a more authentic release here.

1. “Jungle Man”

This was the lead single to the album, ...
...since their first album, and it sees them come with an obviously refined sound which seemed to take on heavy influence from the later years of Parliament-Funkadelic’s music and their later move from Psychedelic Rock to what would now be called Funk Rock. It had Kiedis perform a rap about the RHCP’s bassist, Flea, who is described as a “Jungle Man”, for the way he goes about things in such a distinctive manner.

**Four Stars**

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The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ second album, “Freaky Styley”, came in 1985, and had the alternative Rock group return following the breakthrough on their self-entitled debut the year before. It has them develop further into the Funk Rock sound as the then Parliament –Funkadelic leader George Clinton produced this one, and so pushed them towards a more authentic release here.

1. “Jungle Man”

This was the lead single to the album, and so the first that people had heard of them since their first album, and it sees them come with an obviously refined sound which seemed to take on heavy influence from the later years of Parliament-Funkadelic’s music and their later move from Psychedelic Rock to what would now be called Funk Rock. It had Kiedis perform a rap about the RHCP’s bassist, Flea, who is described as a “Jungle Man”, for the way he goes about things in such a distinctive manner.

**Four Stars**

2. “Hollywood”

This one is a cover of a song by The Meters, and I felt that the band work with it very well as you have them getting right into the feel of what they original lyricist intended as Afrocentrism was such a large driving force upon their culture at the time, and despite obvious reasons for this not fitting with he Red Hot Chili Peppers, they really get down to it and don’t make a big deal out of what they are doing.

**Four Stars**

3. “American Ghost Dance”

This was one of the singles from the album, and it stands out for the way it is composed, and how this differs so greatly from the rest of them as you find that it is done in a rather reserved manner and a lower ace than what has become commonplace for their material. Despite this significant change in their approach to it, the funky bass in this means that they just can’t go wrong with it. As ever the lyrics are eccentric, and support all other things which you find within it.

**Four Stars**

4. “If You Want Me To Stay”

Here you find them covering some Sly & The Family Stone, and I felt that in this case, they made te absolute best out of the material, and had sure that only small details were altered in order to really capture where the thing was meant to go at first. As this one seesm to drop into Soul at times (whilst remaining a predominantly Funk0based recording), it sounded as if Kiedis was able to manage this, and not make it lose its meaning by simply saying the lyrics without what having in place what needs to be behind it to work.

**Four Stars**

5. “Nevermind”

After a rap at the start which definitely is influenced by the then-new Hip Hop music (rather than the original Funk rappers from as early as the fifties) seesm to show that they are getting into more progressive material and not stick with the Funk, which had come to the end of its days, but following this they are sure to come back to what we have heard in the first few tunes here. I wouldn’t say that this is a bad thing though as they straight kill it here as they get into a big hype and just groove with it.

**Four Stars**

6. “Freaky Styley”

The eponymous song here has them do a track which seesm to stand out for the fact it, despite not even being even four minutes, is a fairly lengthy one by their standards at this time, and sees them use this added length to do a track which builds up layers, rather than just giving it to you in the opening of it, and so after making the most of a good couple of minutes of introduction, they get into it. However I have to say that I didn’t really enjoy this as much as the rest as it is so different from the rest and the Funk side of it is neglected for a while.

**Three Stars**

7. “Blackeyed Blonde”

This is a speedy one from them, and the quick pace from them seesm to really fit in with the way that they play. Holding it al together you here that it is Flea of the bass who gives the te all its energy an the guitaring in general just builds you into such a big hype that you just can’t help but get down to it with them as they just put everything into it for this short, yet are able to concentrate such high energy levels into it.

**Four Stars**

8. “The Brothers Cup”

This is a big groove tune from them which really gets you moving along to the thing as they just do a laid-back one and have a break from all the lively work. I felt as though it came across very well due to the fact that it was so much of a contrast from the others you get here, but they are sure to excite you in the way that they do a massive breakdown to build the tension before they just drop everything on you.

**Four Stars**

9. “Battleship” (Lude)

10. “Lovin’ and Touchin’” (Lude)

11. “Catholic School Girls Rule”

This one is fairly straight-forward for the content which it puts forward, and the content of the lyrics. It finds them going more for the Rock, rather than Funk here, and I felt that this was a valued thing as this switch enabled them to advance something which they would later concentrate much of their work on. It’s not very long, but it is fairly strong after a couple of listens.

**Four Stars**

12. “Sex Rap”

This is a short, fast-tempo recording which basically has Kiedis put in as many sexual terms as he can in the near-two-minute-long recording that he has to work with. I believe that the speed of it all supported the content of the lyrics, and it made for a nice little break as they basically just go crazy again and just do exactly what they want to with no consideration on how people may react to it.

**Four Stars**

13. “Thirty Dirty Birds” (Lude)

14. “Yertle The Turtle”

The Dr. Sues poem of the same title is taken on by Tony Flow (Anthony Kiedis), and the way that he decides to rap out the lyrics in such a freaky, funky way gives it so much of a boost that you really can’t help but enjoy it, and the way that the rest of the band put their all in when they fit their music around this with the best Funk sounds of the time means that it is the best way to end the album.

**Five Stars**

This is a good album from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and definitely an improvement n their debut as the support of George Clinton seem to have given them a lot more of a direction in their music, and the way that they come with some of the most successful Funk techniques of this time ensures that they make it work for them. The length of the tracks being so short is a disadvantage, but with most tunes being strong, this can be ignored to a certain degree. 

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