The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American alternative rock band, which formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. The band has four members which are: Anthony Keidis - Vocals. John Fruschante - Lead guitar and backing vocals. Flea - Bass guitar and backing vocals. Chad Smith - Drums. The band are still going strong after an impressive a 24 year career, and nine studio albums.
~The Album~
Produced by, Rick Rubin. Mixed by, Ryan Hewitt and Anthony Scheps. Released in May 2006. Stadium Arcadium is the newest offering from the Chili's, which is a two CD album containing 28 tracks, the two discs are named Jupiter and Mars. Run time is 122.19 mins.
The track list:
~Jupiter~
1. Dani California. (Single)
2. Snow (hey oh.) (Single) 3. Charlie. 4. Stadium Arcadium. 5. Hump de bump. (Single) 6. She's only 18. 7. Slow Cheetah. 8. Torture me. 9. Strip my Mind. 10. Especially in Michigan. 11. Warlocks. 12. C'mon Girl. 13. Wet sand. 14. Hey.
~Mars~
1. Desecration Smile (Single) 2. Tell me baby. (Single) 3. Hard to concentrate. 4. 21st Century. 5. She looks to me. 6. Readymade. 7. If. 8. Make you feel better. 9. Animal bar. 10. So much I. 11. Storm in a tea cup. 12. We Believe. 13. Turn it again. 14. Death of a Martian.
The music has been described as alternative rock, funk rock and funk metal over the years. The album integrates all aspects of the bands musical styles, from funk rock, rap to pop punk, styles which the Chili's have always been consistent with and there's no mistaking their music if you've heard them before, they definitely have a very unique style. Anthony Keidis is one of the most charismatic front-men alive and his passion for the music is obvious in his singing, his biggest influence is Jimi Hendrix which definitely shows up in 'Hump de bump'.
~My thoughts~
I have been a big fan of the Chili's for a long time now and own all their albums, and I couldn't wait to hear the newest release, especially as it was a double album. But that's the only problem, with so many tracks to digest you need a good few months of listening to really appreciate each song for what it really is, so many of my friends had listened to it a few times and said 'nothing really stands out apart from the singles'. But they have since changed their tune! In my opinion over half of the tracks on the album are quite strong enough to be successful singles.
Both CD's have the same calibre of music and neither is better or worse than the other, containing funky soul tunes, ballads with complex harmony styles, to right rock blow outs. The diversity of the tracks is fantastic with vocals, guitar and bass being particularly strong. And after an impressive 24 year career with a troubled past including drug addiction, death and different band members coming and going, the Chili's are stronger as a band than ever. The photography is also fantastic by Gus Van Sant, and the layout of the booklet inside the CD case has the Mars and Jupiter lyrics opposite ways, so one is turned upside down which is great.
All in all the album leaves little to be desired, and I definitely recommend it be added to your music collection.
~Trivia~
This is the ninth studio album and sold 442,000 copies in the U.S in its debut week and hit number one on the Billboard 200, a first for the band. Rolling Stone quoted it as 'Most anticipated album'. Q Magazine said '#1 must have album for 2006'. The album gained them 7 Grammy awards in 2007 and has sold 7 million copies worldwide to date with the first three singles reaching number 1 on the U.S modern rock chart. The song 'Death of a Martian' was an ode to flea's dog Martian, who died during the recording of the album.
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band of the Chili Peppers' stature: consider they'd originally recorded enough for three discs. The restless, trouble-plagued outfit that helped break alternative r...
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Disc 1 Dani California Snow (Hey Oh) Charlie Stadium Arcadium Hump De Bump She's Only 18 ... more
Slow Cheetah Torture Me Strip My Mind Especially In Michigan Warlocks C'mon Girl Wet Sand Hey Disc 2 Desecration Smile Tell Me Baby Hard To Concentrate 21st Centur...
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actual bass lines (and John Frusciante's searing guitar parts) straight from the Peppers' smash-hit double album Follow along with the exact note-for-note transc...
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Advantages: long, lots of great songs, wonderful guitar work and strong performances all round Disadvantages: very diverse and lacks cohesion, some of the songs just don't hit the mark