Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chili Peppers

...of their latest studio album, Stadium Arcadium, earlier this year. And it's no wonder - this album is a complete dichotomy for so many reasons, beginning with the fact that it's so different to anything that's gone before for the band, yet it seems to beg and borrow bits and pieces from their back catalogue. The question is, does it get away with it?

This is the band's first double album, a total of 28 songs making the final cut, which ...
...Sand, Charlie, Strip My Mind, Stadium Arcadium), to what seem to be semi-attempts at country style (Slow Cheetah, Desecration Smile), to the totally unidentifiable (Hard To Concentrate, Animal Bar)! I'm sure the artists enjoyed putting this album together tremendously - any musician would love to express themselves in so many different ways all on one record. And if they were hoping to open the minds of their listeners musically by doing so, I admire ... more

It's been up for debate amongst die-hard Chili Peppers fanatics on their various internet haunts (I should know, I'm one of them) ever since the release of their latest studio album, Stadium Arcadium, earlier this year. And it's no wonder - this album is a complete dichotomy for so many reasons, beginning with the fact that it's so different to anything that's gone before for the band, yet it seems to beg and borrow bits and pieces from their back catalogue. The question is, does it get away with it?

This is the band's first double album, a total of 28 songs making the final cut, which is an epic by anybody's standards and takes some patience to listen to at first, as not only is it extremely long, but it's one of those albums that doesn't sweep you away on first listen - it's definitely a grower, as the stand-out songs are subtle in their magnificence and it takes time to even begin to appreciate the greatness within their many-layered shells. It's also peppered with so many different styles from what I would describe as old-school rock (Readymade, Storm In A Teacup), to classic Chilis-style alternative rock (Snow, Wet Sand, Charlie, Strip My Mind, Stadium Arcadium), to what seem to be semi-attempts at country style (Slow Cheetah, Desecration Smile), to the totally unidentifiable (Hard To Concentrate, Animal Bar)! I'm sure the artists enjoyed putting this album together tremendously - any musician would love to express themselves in so many different ways all on one record. And if they were hoping to open the minds of their listeners musically by doing so, I admire them for it. I'm just not sure whether it works.

Rather than detail every single song and completely spoil the surprises for anyone who then decides to listen, I'm going to look broadly at some of the highlights and low points to be found across the two discs, Jupiter and Mars, from each of the artists.

~~~ ANTHONY KIEDIS - LEAD VOCALS AND MAIN LYRICIST ~~~

There's no faulting the vocal performance on this album - it's strong throughout, with Anthony's unique blend of shouting, rap and melodic singing. He has a way of singing cascading lyrics that run very quickly together, yet making every word count, as we hear on songs such as Dani California, Snow and Slow Cheetah. He can also turn something that's barely a tune into a controlled vocal performance where other people would just sound flat, such as the verses to Tell Me Baby and We Believe. His sexy and soulful voice is strongest on this album in the soft rock love songs, particularly Stadium Arcadium and Wet Sand, where he manages to soften the tone of his usually very masculine voice to convey a whole world of emotion and take these songs with their pretty lyrics and rhythm guitar to another level. There isn't a song on this album that isn't sung well.

Anthony is also known as the main lyricist of the band, and it's always been debatable whether his lyrics are touched by genius or whether they make absolutely no sense at all and are just a string of words put together. I happen to think that, at their best, his lyrics are extremely clever. The way he sings them is proof enough to me that they mean a lot to him. I have a horrible habit of only catching snatches of lyrics as it is, as I tend to get swept away in the music, and usually over the years my opinion of what songs are about changes as I learn the lyrics better. Anthony's lyrics suit me really well, because I tend to remember the bits and pieces that mean something to me, that make sense in my mind, and I learn the rest later. I don't care if the rest of them don't make sense - poetry doesn't have to make sense, anyway, and they are most certainly poetic.

If lyrics are important to you to enjoy a song, you'll find examples of all Anthony's songwriting strengths on Stadium Arcadium. He has a unique way with language where he'll put together unexpected, clever rhymes, often several in the same verse - "My shadow side, so amplified, keeps coming back dissatisfied" (Wet Sand) or "Walking down to the burial ground, it's a merry old dance with a merry old sound" (Slow Cheetah) being nice examples. Or he'll run together a cascade of words that tumble off each other in a most pleasing way - "It's so bad it's got to be good, mysterious girl misunderstood, dressed like a wedding cake" (Slow Cheetah) and "She's a runner, rebel and a stunner" (Dani California) are two of my favourites. Then, my personal favourite, you get the stand-out lyrics, spiritual, meaningful, usually expressed quite simply that just grab you straight away - "When we collide, the universe will shift into a lull" (Wet Sand) and "The more I see, the less I know, the more I like to let it go, hey oh" (Snow) are both lines I find myself having to sing and getting choked up as I do. And some of them just capture a feeling so beautifully - "My heart, your skin, this love I'm in" (Charlie) or "Lions and tigers come running just to steal your love" (Especially In Michigan) or "Desecration is the smile on my face" (Desecration Smile) are all, to me, such perfect expressions of emotion. Intelligent and thoughtful, Anthony has an amazing vocabulary, and this album definitely does not disappoint lyrically.

The only problem is that, in this album more than any of its predecessors, it's not consistent. I've read somewhere that in the making of this album, the artists all had a lot of input and used a diversity of ideas from different band members, so I wonder whether some of the lyrics were not written by Anthony and are just in a different style, or whether he was running out of ideas and some of the lyrics are just a little less inspired than others. Some of the low points lyrically are Animal Bar, 21st Century, We Believe, C'Mon Girl, Hey and Tell Me Baby, which are repetitive and have several rather pointless sections to the overall meaning and point of the song. I also don't like the lyrics on If, but they're clever enough, I just find them a bit too sickly sweet.

~~~ FLEA - BASS AND RHYTHM GUITAR ~~~

…amongst other things, as he is also known to play the cello and the trumpet (the latter of which can be heard in Hump de Bump) and try his hand at percussion when needed, as well as dabbling in background vocals, especially the shouted sort as heard in Charlie and Animal Bar, which he is rather good at.

Flea is an excellent musician and hasn't lost of his energy and enthusiasm over the years - having seen them in concert several times this year and watched him doing acrobatics and jumping on the speakers, I can personally vouch for that! And he puts that energy and enthusiasm into his charismatic bass playing. He shows in this album that he can still pull off a funky tune, particularly in Hump de Bump - I have to say the only redeeming feature of that song for me is the cheeky bass! Sorry guys! In some of the songs, there are bass parts that put the lead guitar in the shade, too, which is no bad thing because it's nice to hear Flea dominate sometimes. The bass carries Death of a Martian, Readymade and Warlocks, for example, and pretties up a rather boring guitar solo at the end of Dani California with an interesting undertone that builds up to a powerful climax to the song.

This is one of the members of the band that seems very keen to push the boundaries, exploring and experimenting with new styles, and one of the most new, different and beautiful songs on the album, Hard to Concentrate, was inspired by Flea's relationship when the album was being made. A stripped back, simple, almost acoustic feel to the music is played perfectly by Flea and his partner-in-crime John Frusciante. I was lucky enough to hear that song first live at the intimate Radio 1 show in April, and it stuck in my mind from that day I was so impressed with it.

Also listen out for the amazing bass at the end of Wet Sand - it underlies the most captivating lead guitar solo I've ever heard, so it took me way too many listens to notice it, and it's one of the many gems on the album.

~~~ JOHN FRUSCIANTE - RHYTHM & LEAD GUITAR, BACKING VOCALS ~~~

From the catchy rhythm guitar patterns that make songs like Snow, Charlie and Stadium Arcadium classics, to the chord changes that take you unawares like the ending of Wet Sand, the whole of Strip My Mind, the very characteristic Especially In Michigan, and the progression that lifts you to the chorus of Desecration Smile, to a whole chocolate box full of delightful little riffs and exhilarating guitar solos which make a lot of magical moments on this album, this is an artist on top form. Being my favourite musician in the world ever since I came upon his solo work, I may be a little biased and you may want to bear that in mind, but many of the songs on this album in my opinion would be a tad on the mediocre side without the guitar solos - the gentle, soaring moment of escape at the end of Animal Bar, for example, lifts that song completely from being a bit of a question mark into something sublime - and I'll listen to the whole thing just to hear that wonderful piece of music at the end.

The stand-out solo for me comes at the end of Wet Sand and really demonstrates how technical brilliance can be perfectly matched with heart-and-soul feeling. The whole song builds up from a simple and beautiful rhythm guitar background, to a more insistent chord progression coupled with the focal lyrics "You don't form in the wet sand, you don't form at all", to the absolutely haunting lead guitar which runs through a series of rippling cadences up to the gutwrenching, screaming notes at the song's climax. While the lyrics and vocal performance of this song are equally beautiful, it would not be the absolute Chili Peppers classic it is without the mind-blowing guitar, so typical of John's particular style. A lot of people rate the solo in She's Only 18 as the best on the album, but to me it's a bit flat in comparison - though technically brilliant.

Don't be fooled into thinking that's all the guitar has to offer - listen out and don't miss the delightful little riffs and one-off pieces which are threaded through the album. There are some blink-and-you'll-miss-it interludes in So Much I, Desecration Smile and Turn It Again which are well worth a careful listen. The catchy riff that builds up to a powerful peak in Charlie totally sweeps me away into the music. And there's a sad but gorgeous melody that plays somewhat in the background on Strip My Mind, which surges up in the second verse delightfully and makes me tingle - a real shivers-down-the-spine moment. The guitar gives voice to such a spectrum of emotions and to me is the biggest strength of the album.

John's backing vocals are always worth a mention and this album is no exception, although there are songs where I feel it doesn't quite "work" such as We Believe and Desecration Smile. His voice laces together with Anthony's perfectly in the harmonies in songs such as Snow, She Looks To Me and Stadium Arcadium, for example, and these are worked in in just the right places, and not too overbearing giving Anthony plenty of space to shine. Three-quarters of the beauty in the undeniably beautiful Strip My Mind is the backing vocal in the intro to each verse, which echoes the guitar melody running through and at times is given different treatments to make it sound quite haunting. Another one I especially like is in the chorus of Torture Me, which together with the deliberate slowing down of the song in the middle steps that song up a notch.

~~~ CHAD SMITH - DRUMS AND PERCUSSION ~~~

It's kind of hard to talk at length about the drums on an album in quite the same way as the lyrics and guitar parts, but Chad deserves a mention as a drummer with a true feel for what his bandmates are trying to put across. He always plays his heart out, with a great deal of energy in fast songs such as Storm In A Teacup and Dani California, and a perfect sense of timing in slow, soft songs like Stadium Arcadium and She Looks To Me, where he rightfully allows the vocals and guitars to take centre stage and softly taps out the rhythm in the background. I think of him as being the last piece you put in a jigsaw puzzle, and you get that satisfying sense of completion - the whole thing would be spoilt if it was lost.

Other than when I'm nodding my head, tapping my fingers on my steering wheel, or dancing frantically to it, I don't usually notice the drumming to be terribly honest. But in this album Chad lifts himself to new heights. I know this because in several songs I actually noticed the unusual rhythms (Storm In A Teacup, Turn It Again, Hump de Bump) which seemed to go against the grain of the melody and bass and yet somehow work. In Death of a Martian and Torture Me especially, tempo changes are handled masterfully with changes of the rhythm to complement and accentuate the change of mood. And listen out for a subtle but skilful performance in Hey, which has a very relaxed tempo - the rhythm really pulls it together and makes it work. Chad's playing is the pulse of this album. Many songs just wouldn't work without him.

~~~ …AND FRIENDS? ~~~

It's worth knowing that in some of the tracks on Stadium Arcadium there are also other contributing artists, most prominently the lead guitar solo by Omar Rodriguez of the Mars Volta in Especially In Michigan. I think it's a lovely idea for the band members to invite their friends to do bits and pieces on an album, but in the case of Stadium Arcadium I'm just not so sure it works - it seems a slight case of 'too many cooks spoil the broth' to me, especially where there are extra backing vocalists such as in We Believe and somehow it just doesn't sound right for a Chili Peppers track.

~~~ CHEMISTRY…OR CHAOS? ~~~

And therein lies what I believe is the fatal flaw of this album, which makes it one step removed from being a true classic. I've read comments by the band members about the concept behind this album, and there is a great sense that each of them contributed their own varied ideas, and that everybody's ideas were used to an equal extent, rather than one person being the driving force behind the whole album. This is fair and nice and lovely, sure, but these are four different people with different musical tastes and I do feel that there is a lack of cohesion to this album. Stadium Arcadium will never make my top five albums in the same way as By The Way or Blood Sugar Sex Magik did, because the albums that blow me away are the ones you can listen to start to finish without skipping a track, the ones that only make sense played through beginning to end, the ones that have a theme or a feel or a mood or a style that runs right through. There are 'threads' of cohesion on Stadium Arcadium but it never quite comes together.

I've heard plenty of people say that this could have been an absolutely amazing, once-in-a-lifetime, must-own album had it been narrowed down to the very best 14 tracks. But I think it was Flea that made the wise comment I read about everyone in the band having their own personal favourites that they would have kept had they cut it down to a single 14-track album - they wouldn't have agreed on that final 14. And in a way that broadens Stadium Arcadium's appeal, because a more diverse audience will be able to find something on there that touches their heart or floats their boat. Maybe that's more important than doing a third album that has a very definite character. Maybe that's the point of it. That's why I can't decide whether this is the pinnacle of the unique chemistry that manifests itself with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, or whether it's just a chaotic confusion of songs grouped together because they were composed around the same time. That's why it's a dichotomy - that's why I'm just not so sure it works.

Despite this, and the questionable limited edition box set that came with a 'making-of' type DVD and some pointless toys (given that the music is the only thing I really care about I just bought the standard CD, and there was a hefty price difference between the two and it seemed rather a rip-off to me but who knows the reasons behind that), and the fact that there are more tracks that I skip than I'd like such as Hump de Bump, She's Only 18, C'Mon Girl, Readymade, If and So Much I, I still love Stadium Arcadium. After all, the reasons for skipping some songs are mainly subjective, and the simple, subtle beauty of the songs that make my heart beat a little faster makes up for any criticism I have of the album.

There are definite echoes back to the older music of the band, and I'm still undecided as to whether this is a weakness as well. For example, songs like Storm In A Teacup and Hump de Bump seem to pick up where Mother's Milk or Blood Sugar Sex Magik left off, the main riff in Stadium Arcadium sounds similar to Californication, and chords and melodies used throughout are sometimes recognisable from previous work or John's solo work. I wonder whether the familiar styles are part of the magic of this album, or whether it is as some people say a swan song, a drying up of ideas and a tying up of loose ends.

The only conclusion I can come to is that it's neither their swan song nor an out-an-out classic. The artists have more than proved through Stadium Arcadium that they're still growing and improving as musicians, and there's enough experimenting with styles and ideas to suggest that there is more to come. If this was their last album, they'd be going out on such a high. And at the same time, while there are songs that could become classics, it's going to take existing fans and new listeners alike to give them a chance and listen out for the magic moments. Maybe the true point of this album is that it leaves you thinking. It leaves you wondering. It leaves you confused. But all in all, it leaves you smiling.

And because every time I listen to it I discover something new that takes my breath away, I can't stop listening to it. With that, I'm going to let Stadium Arcadium speak for itself. If you decide to listen to it, make sure you listen to it more than once. Otherwise, you might miss out on something just a little bit fantastic.
 

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