REVIEWS
One of the biggest rock bands of today, Chili Peppers have a strange and long history. They were very original band at the beginning, playing some kind of rap-funk with some metallic intonations. Focusing their sound on large funky basslines and straightforward, but effective guitar lines, RHCP had to struggle for five years before having their minor breakthrough with the album Mother’s Milk in 1989. Then, in 1991 the album Blood, Sex, Sugar And Magik scored again, and so the band became one of the most popular rock bands. In result of their 90’s evolution, the band’s funk elements had gone almost completely, and they have turned into a damn good pop-rock band.
The first line-up: Anthony Kiedis – vocals, Flea – bass, Jack Sherman – guitars, Cliff Martinez – drums. Sherman left after the first album, replaced by Hillel Slovak. Martinez left after the second album and was replaced by Jack Irons. Slovak died because of drug overdose in 1988, and John Frusciante came to the band. Jack Irons also left and was replaced by Chad Smith. In 1992, Frusciante left the band, so the others called Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, who was dumped out of the band and replaced by returned Frusciante. Ooh, that’s all.
All songs on this album follow the same formula: the band plays some tight groove at the background, while Anthony Kiedis raps about partying, girls and other fun things. That may seem like a fun idea, but it gets old already at the second song on the album. Moreover, many of these songs just don’t have hooks at all. Well, TWO of them are catchy and definitely very good: the opener “True Men Don’t Kill Coyotes” with infectious “Through the Hollywood hiiiiiiiiiiiiils” line and “Why Don’t You Love Me” with hilarious brass blasts and funny “Why don’t you love me like you used to?” line from Kiedis. And the closing instrumental “Grand Pappy Du Plenty” is, despite its’ horrible stupid title, kinda weird, dark and cool.
But that’s all, ‘cause all other songs are rather absolutely unmemorable
or just bad. “You Always Sing The Same” is, for example, thirteen
minutes of Anthony Kiedis singing “You always sing you always sing you
always sing the same”. “Police Helicopter” and “Out
In L.A.” are stupid funk jams, and then there’s “Green Heaven”,
a four-minute bore in which Anthony goes ahead and writes a social commentary.
If the idea of a social commentary in between all these songs about partying
and girls doesn’t scare you, the music will. And I have no idea what I
can say about numbers like “Baby Appeal’ or “Mommy, Where’s
Daddy?”, because they all are the same song. Crap, why people do release
albums on which I can’t tell one song from another, eh?
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See, at that point of their career, Peppers decided to make a REAL funk album. They got George Clinton to produce this album and recorded a collection of songs. It would be cool, if not the fact that this album just blows. Playing is awesome, grooves are tighter, but WHERE ARE THE ACTUAL HOOKS? Why am I supposed to listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers pretending they are funk heroes? And why are all of these songs are so stupid lyrically? I mean, do you REALLY want to listen to the song called “Catholic School Girls Rule”? Or 30-seconds long spoken “Thirty Dirty Birds”? Or stuff like “Sex Rap” (WORST LYRICS IN HISTORY) or completely hilarious “Nevermind” (check these lines: “ Nevermind Hall and Oates/ Those guys are a couple of goats/ Nevermind the Culture Club/ That jive's just one big flub/ Cause we're The Red Hot Chili Peppers”). In short, this album is quite possibly the worst lyrical album I have ever heard.
Musically, as I said, the songs are nothing too. The mentioned “Catholic School Girls Rule” is pretty, yeah, but all others are either long funk jams (usually with generic horns and back vocals) or short funk throwaways (usually they are less than two minutes long and have Anthony Kiedis rapping and screaming at the same time). There is also a Sly And The Family Stone cover (“If You Want Me To Stay”), and it’s awful beyond words. And man, here comes the real insult: this album seems to be a fan-favourite. Almost every fan says it’s “cool” and picks this one as the fave early Red Hot Chili Pepps album. I tell ya.
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Yep, this one is an ordinary early Red Hot Chili Peppers album. Except that it doesn’t suck. Kinda. You know, this one must be the most horribly produced album I have ever heard. It sounds so cheesy, sounds so 80’s, and the sound quality is really low. And, man, why does Anthony sing like he’s in toilet on here? The vocals are mixed terribly. And there no melodies on here, just grooves (heck, they even turn Bob Dylan’s “Subterrenean Homesick Blues” into groove), but I guess you can get used to it listening to a funk (or a “funk”) album. And I also guess that in 1987, at that stage of their career, Red Hot Chili Peppers were better at grooves than on melodies. The great proof of it is big four and a half minutes bore called “Behind The Sun”. The actually try to write a “melody” on here. It results in horribly cheesy ballad that doesn’t go anywhere. I guess it’s people favourite from this album, and I can see why – it’s the only song that bring this album at least some diversity and the only song you can remember after the first listen.
Back to the album as a whole, I suppose that stuff like “Me And My Friends” or “Organic Anti-Beat Box Band” (featuring fuckin’ awful “party” feeling) are ordinary funk throwaway that are on every Red Hot Chili Peppers album. But some songs are good, you know. “Fight Lie A Brave” is completely hilarious and, for some reason, really hooks you up with a groove. “Special Secret Song Inside” has dumb, but catchy refrain (“I want to part on YOUR PUSSY, BABE!”), and the mentioned cover of “Subterranean Homesick Blues” is good too. It’s no surprise that of all artists they chose Mr. Zimmerman to cover, and it’s definitely no surprise that they chose “Homesick Blues” to cover – the song has probably invented rap. Maybe. Or maybe not. Who cares anyway if the only rapper I can listen to is Zack de la Rocha and even he was in the damn great metal band. And I surely can’t listen to Anthony Kiedis rapping. Except some times like “Backwoods”, which is a cool song and is on this album. And this album doesn’t really suck. It’s cheesy funk, man, it’s only cheesy funk. It isn’t even offensive.
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