Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers > Reviews

Advantages: top summer driving music
Disadvantages: not exactly normal RHCP style

The latest offering from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Californication", is a perfect example of what I call "summer rock". Imagine the scene, you're cruising along on a warm summer's day with the windows down, music playing in the background. Well that music would be this album! "Scar Tissue", "Californication" and "Around The World" are particular favourites of mine, to be honest I didn't think the Chili's had an album like this in them. It's even ... Read review

Advantages: Haunting, uplifting
Disadvantages: Repetitive

Until buying this album the only two red hot songs I had heard were otherside and scar tissue, so I wouldn't of classed myself a fan, however after listening to this compilation of smooth sounds coupled with bass, drums and guitar to create a unique sound which is the red hot chili peppers trademark I had to re evalute my whole stand on music in general, with this album converting me from my R&B roots. On this album the tracks which stand out are ... Read review

Advantages: Great tracks
Disadvantages: none

This was the album that converted me to a full scale Chilis fan and sent me back to previous work. All in all Blood Sugar Sex Magik remains their best work for funky rhythms, but this tops it for the mature reflection hidden behind the tightest grooves. 'Scar Tissue' is the ultimate in summertime chillin'-cruisin' and 'Otherside' could become a modern classic. The raw energy of the Peppers is carried over from One Hot Minute and it is refreshing to ... Read review

Advantages: nice guitar riffs
Disadvantages: the songs are a little to similar to each other

The red hot chili peppers are one of the biggest names in rock music and this album shows why. It is filled with sumptuous guitar riffs such as those in "scar tissue" and the brilliant "californication" and thought provoking lyrics. Previously i was not a huge fan of the bands work or rather had not heard much of it apart from the wonderfull, "under the bridge". I bought this album on the basis of one single "scar tissue" which i particularly liked. ... Read review

Advantages: some new sounds and something new as we havnt heard from them in a while
Disadvantages: a bit too simaler to thier other albums

...band's songwriting style has become. Californication doesn't necessarily mark a redefinition of the band's sound, but it is defiantly worth listening to for any log-term peppers fans! ... Read review

Advantages: Lots of songs
Disadvantages: Perhaps a little too much quietness

Californication is yet another marvellous creation by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, containing all the expected elements of one of their albums. There is variety throughout, with rock, indie, a bit of funk, and some slow, simple ballads. This in itself should make you want to listen, as there is guaranteed to be at least one song you'll like. The album itself is quite lengthy, with 15 songs, each, in my opinion, standing out from the rest in their ... Read review

Advantages: most of the songs
Disadvantages: road trippin

In 1998, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' future looked bleak. The band was recovering from the commercial disappointment of 1995's "One Hot Minute" which featured former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro; separate motorcycle accidents from drummer Chad Smith and singer Anthony Kiedis; the heroin relapse for Navarro and Kiedis; and the near-death heroin addiction of former guitarist John Frusciante. In early spring of '98, Navarro decided to leave ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent album
Disadvantages: None

...favourites are The Otherside and Californication purely for the subtle approach to song writing and understating that makes the music lift above being a mere song. Official Website: http://www.redhotchilipeppers.com Track Listing: 1. Around The World 2. Parallel Universe 3. Scar Tissue 4. Otherside 5. Get On Top 6. Californication 7. Easily 8. Porcelain 9. Emit Remmus 10. I Like Dirt 11. This Velvet Glove 12. Savior 13. ... Read review

Advantages: Mostly beautiful songs, quality at their respective instruments
Disadvantages: A few weak tracks

The thing that I find frustrating about the 'Red Hot Chili Peppers' is the fact that many of their albums are too inconsistant. That is not to say that this album is not rated by me at all but there does happen to be a trend in their album-making ability that says "Now let's make a shite song". Don't get me wrong - I am a big fan of this group, but yet again with 'Californication' there are too many weak songs. For example, the first four song are ... Read review

Advantages: Still not as good as their earliest stuff.
Disadvantages: Californication and Scar Tissue are pretty damn fantastic songs!

...perfect song! 4. Otherside- Among with Californication and Easily, the standout track on the album. 5. Get on Top- Bizarrely titled funk-rock track. Hated it the first time I heard it, but it grows on you. 6. Californication- Impossibly catchy but still vey intelligent and thoughtful. 7. Easily- Three word- Fantastic guitar solo! 8. Porcelain- A ballad, and not the best one at that. Slightly dull and definitely melodramatic. 9. Emitremmus- Definitely ... Read review

Advantages: well thought out and complex
Disadvantages: length means 1 or 2 poor tracks are inevitible

After just a few months into my new found addiction to rock, I heard the song 'Otherside' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the radio. I was hooked by the moment that song first played out and it was to become one of my all time favorites (and no, I do not think that this is an exaggerated statement). Of course,I knew OF the Chili Peppers by that point, such tracks as 'Under the Bbridge' being unmissable. But no song, even Scar Tissue, made me stand ... Read review

Advantages: Perfect for any occasion
Disadvantages: None whatsoever

The Chili's are an easy band to like as it is, but 1999 was the year in which they truly became accessible to all, thanks to the brilliance of Californication. As a band, the Chili's have been through a lot, from drugs and deaths throught to the problems of fatherhood. With this album they left behind the Californian idiosyncracies that had once highlighted but more recently dogged their appeal and turned on the excesses of Americana in all its forms ... Read review