Most of you will know the Red Hot Chili Peppers as those white boy funk rockers from California. Well you might find it a bit of a surprise when you listen to By The Way. It drops alot of the funkiness on previous records, but don't worry it still has some booty-shakin beats and the bass is still rumblin and thumpin. There is more focus on songwriting and the majority of the songs are light tempo and softer than material on BloodSugarSexMagic. By The Way is often overshadowed by Californication and is neglected over earlier releases, but I find it to be one of their most consistent and better releases.
Released in 2002,
By The Way was left in the cold for other big releases that year, such as records from
The Flaming Lips, Queens Of The Stone Age, Wilco. People tend to forget how good this album really was. By The Way has some of the Chili's best melodies and has some really standout musicianship. John Fruscianate really shows some talent off and has some exceptional solos. Flea has some of his signature bass licks that we all love. The use of studio effects is quite apparent on this album. The use of more guitar effects and synth add some dimension to the Chilies.
Universally Speaking and
Warm Tape adapt the synth rather nicely.
There is also a more noticeable amount of poppier songs on here.
I Could Die For You and
Dosed are sugary love songs that could easily be accepted into the thriving MTV masses. This does not mean they are not any good.
Dosed has some great melodies and
I Could Die For You is beautiful, slow, and funky and brings back memories of Under The Bridge.
Midnight is a slower ballad-esque song. It begins with a string arrangement, the verses sound if it’s set in space, and it has an almost soul sounding chorus, all in four minutes.
There is also some of the Chili's signature funk-rock fusion. The title track
By The Way has the menacing bass and rapping vocals their famous for.
Can't Stop has a highly infectious guitar lick, and trust me if you learn how to play it, you really can't stop playing it. The song is very upbeat and has the rapping verses and the singing choruses. The backup vocals add a nice effect and the slow bridge and soulful solo are exceptional too.
This Is The Place is a continuation of the drug confessional of Under The Bridge. The synth and watery guitar really standout here and it's insanely catchy verses make this one of the standouts of the album.
The Chili's also venture into new territories.
Cabron is a fast paced Latino influenced song and sticks out from other Chili songs quite noticeably.
Throw Away Your Television ultimately is a funk rock song but has a solo familiar to the frantic style of Omar Rodregious-Lopez of The Mars Volta.
Venice Queen is a six-minute almost prog like song. As mentioned before there is more use of effects which shows a good direction for the Chilies, for they used the effects rather fittingly.
By The Way is all killer no filler. From start to finish there is not one un-enjoyable song. Every one serves its purpose. This album is also good for fans who liked both the funky and slower side of the Chilies. If you are a Chilies fan go out and pick this up. They don't fail to impress on this album.
