At first, with nothing more to offer than their playful, rocking jams, a wide assortment of incredibly funky licks, and a lone sock on each one of their ‘private’ areas, the band we now know as the Red Hot Chili Peppers stepped right across the line that clearly separates the men from the boys…and maybe the more immature men at that…
After instant successes in the late 80’s and early 90’s like their Hillel Slovak-inspired album, “Mothers Milk” and “the definite RHCP album”, BloodSugarSexMagik, the band had already been through their share of the big time, but after guitarist John Fruciante developed a nasty drug habit, the Peppers had no choice but to give him the boot and make way for another ‘cleaner’ guitarist. Now, I’m not sure if Navarro was the right choice or not, but the truth is that it didn’t sound the same. As much as One Hot Minute was harshly reviewed by industry-watchers, it was still the band taking the next dive into the pool of what had turned into their own material and messages that tended to reach out to their listeners.
After the album reached the success that any Peppers album is expected to reach, the band realized that they needed the legend back, and invited John back and thus, the magical lineup that was always meant to be was completed once again. They were ready for the next big thing. And also to escape from most of their playful, raunchy and just plain wrong lyrics and melodies and face something much more serious. Which brings us back to 99’ where they released the album titled “Californication.” It’s after you stare at that pleasant but confusing artwork and actually open the case, and see the band in a circle hugging in what seems to be backstage of one of their shows, that you realize that this is but the glorious recovery of the brilliant lineup to create an utter supernova of a return. One that has since been treasured by fans all around the world. A milestone unlike any other.
Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication
#399 on Rolling Stone's top 500 albums list
Red Hot Chili Peppers-
Anthony Kiedis- Vocals
John Fruciante- Guitar
Flea- Bass
Chad Smith- Drums
Around The World
Without the slightest doubt that this is one of the most known Chili Peppers songs and single itself in the history of the band, and opens the album on not exactly a serious note, but not immature either. It’s a good song with a great message and if you realize it, one of the best openings to an album possible. An awfully distorted bass-line starts off the track and into a moment of silence, and that’s always Anthony’s cue to start us off with the bliss that is the peppers. Its not exactly a song about togetherness, as much as it is about many places in the world and their descriptions RHCP style. The magnificently well-put melodies lead up to the slower chorus, where Anthony lets the best line of his lyrics hang out, and then that same chorus leads to a more chaotic chorus involving funkier licks by Flea that fill in the offbeat blanks provided by Chad. Goes back to standard-proedure fade-out, with Fruciante taking lead, and there goes one of the Pepper’s very damn best, and also the perfect intro to the album.
4.5/5
”I know, I know for sure, that life is beautiful around the world”
Parallel Universe
Kicks off with a more serious sounding riff by Fea and shuffles on the hats by Chad. Anthony begins with amazing, and perfect vocals to set the mood the album itself will try to set. The wonderfully catchy lyrics talk about some sort of a virus, and where it can be found, which Anthony refers to as the parallel universe. Although not sure, I am still very, very impressed by this track, and the band overall does their whole effort to provide a more heavier, serious, but yet classic-sounding Peppers track. The bridge continues with the same riff by Flea and more variations by Chad while John steps right in with a wail of a solo that follows up to the conclusion. The song succeeds in the way that it catches your attention on the first listen, and it will leave you wanting more, yet ranks in at almost five minutes. Just another overall great-built song with all the musicians at their very best.
5/5
”Christ I’m a sidewinder, I’m a California King. I swear, it’s everywhere. It’s everything”
Scar Tissue
God Almighty. This has to be possibly the mother of all slower Chili Peppers songs, apart from Under The Bridge. What can I say, other than, it’s a truly beautiful song. It tells a story while it shares the musical excellence provided by mostly John on this one, and overall, just makes you feel the emotion that is constantly pouring into the song and is fitting in so damn beautifully. Starts out with what sounds like two acoustics and Chad sets off a quite infectious slower beat with lots of effects on the hats, fitting in with vocals. Anthony scrolls past many measures of what is his amazing vocals, as always. And then comes upon the same tempo and intensity of a chorus that touch you as well as takes the song further as well. The bridge is a no excuses solo by John that really just captures Anthony’s story in a nutshell and hurls it along with the outro to the song toward you at a slow, steady speed, while still keeping at his excellent soloing. Some of John and Anthony’s best on the album. One of the pepper’s best hits, and it shows why.
4/5
”Scar tissue that I wish you saw, sarcastic mister know-it-all. Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you cause with the birds I’ll share...”
Otherside
Starts out once again with John on an acoustic and right away, Anthony goes at it until Chad comes in with a pleasant rim beat and Flea keeping a steady example for the others to follow. As this is a much darker and much more serious song, clearly about the “Otherside” referring to the dead, album itself starts to make you taste some of what it means to project against the audience. The verses flow with the standard-procedure vocals by Anthony also once again telling a meaningful story, while the others back up him up all the way through the choruses until we reach the bridge, which at the most is just a teeny tiny but funky, as the tempo picks up a bit and Flea steps in tenfold. When I first heard the song, I was confused, I’ll admit. If you’ve never heard it before, you will be too. It’s just not what fans are used to, but overall, still delivers the good pretty nicely. The conclusion halts right in front of you, leaving you with a few hunches and maybe a decent satisfaction. Not a big fan of the song, personally, and never quite understood why it was so damn successful.
3.5/5
”Centuries are what it meant to me. A cemetery where I marry the sea. Stranger things could never change my mind, I’ve got to take it on the otherside.”
Get On Top
Hah. Just as you thought the album was sinking into utter seriousness, this song picks it right up off the floor. A song that truly belongs on BloodSugarSexMagik, Get On Top delivers to all the more raunchy lovers of the type of writing that brought to you Suck My Kiss and Give It Away. Starts off with John messing with a sudden riff until Anthony rants out the song title a few times and the bass and drums kick in to start up the raunchy reunion of the gods. Anthony right away gets to rapping through the verses, while Flea completely takes over for the chorus portion, executing with great damn slaps and whatnot that brought the song to the listener’s attention in the first place. The song twirls the tune throughout your head, while still maintaining to the roots of the song, and the song seems like it starts all over again, coming through with another verse and chorus, this time making it as sweaty and steamy as most of them come. Brilliant.
4.5/5
”Complications of a mastermind, last temptation of my kind. Extra planetary sign, when do we align?”
Californication
Right off the bat. This song, the title song, is not just near perfect. It shot the arrow and hit the bulls-***ing-eye right on target. Although slow, and more serious, it’s the emotion and the feel the members give the track that really makes it, and wants to make you listen in yet again. The song starts out with more acoustic, and with no excuses, Anthony gets to the point using excellent metaphors and just outstanding lyrics overall that truly mark it as Anthony’s very best on the album. Other than that, Flea takes a bit of a step back on this one, keeping the funky at bay for the rest of us, and Chad marches with an arsenal of hat effects and a trust ride cymbal to make every measure sound like the best measure. Every single verse, as well as the choruses make you reflect off the lyrics’ message and think about it yourself. Very much a breakthrough hit and if it wasn’t for this track, the rest wouldn’t be backed up so perfectly. The solo is nothing close to impressive, but still holds the necessary amount of notes to hold its place along the highlights of the song. One of my favorite Peppers songs, and it deserves it’s place as one.
5/5
”It’s the edge of the world, and all of western civilization. The sun may rise in the east, at least it settles in the final location. Its understood that Hollywood sells Californication…
Easily
This one ranks in as my favorite one the album. As many say this track is mediocre and simple, I look at it as a very fun, yet serious track that truly fills in the gaps and sets standards for the other mid-tempo tracks remaining on the album. The lyrics echo just ever so perfectly provided by Anthony, and is what drove me to liking the song so much once again. The lyrics once again tell a story, while Flea keeps the rhythm at a flavorable pace and keeps it going, and John takes out a chunk of his best solos and puts it right at the end of this excellent track. Chad also scrolls through the song with short, steady beats on toms as well as hats, and fills stand pretty decent .The main highlight here are the vocals, as Anthony uses one of his stranger tones to fill in the blanks on this one, and yet, the same damn one you can hear in all the classics. The song is very close to my favorite by the band, but wraps up for me as the best on the album, and with sounds like that and the perfect build-up, mmhhhm. Yep. Deserves my five stars.
5/5
”Throw me to the wolves because there's order in the pack, throw me to the sky cause I know I'm coming back.”
Porcelain
One of the weakest attempts on here. Although the band tries to have another go at a more emotional track, they carry on way too long and the monotone vocals and the absence of a more musical portion just sort of pisses you off a bit. Although I will admit that the lyrics are something admire if you just read them, when they are inserted into the song itself, it just makes you want to skip it. And only close to the end of the track did I realize that there were actually any drums in it. Or should I just mention cymbals. Chad goes at that slow, slow hat pedal probably very bothersome, as it is not very constant, and just sounds boring as hell. Good luck to the people who are fans of the song. As it probably never reached very high on anybody’s standards and I wouldn’t be surprised if anybody’s heard this song less than ten times. But why do we fall? So we can get back up!
2/5
”Do you smell like a girl when you smile, can you bear not to share with your child. Drifting and floating and fading away.”
Emit Remmus
As another appearance of ranchyness, the song is pretty standard or generic, if you will. Anthony goes past verses quite nicely with a touch of dirty in his vocals, and Flea keeos a nicely put bass-line that sticks to the song’s other back-up instruments, guiding them through the rest of the track. The vocals dramtically pick up for the chorus, and I still don’t quite get what the lyrics mean, exactly. But what I’m sure of is that it’s mostly filler. The interlude some people may call a bass solo keeps the song going right after the second chorus, and Anthony whips up a nice yell for the conclusion and John comes ni wailing pretty nice to wrap up the track nia pretty little package. It’s better how it starts than how it ends. But other than that, extremely average material.
3/5
”London in the summertime, call me now, use the satellite”
I Like Dirt
Back to the funky, with Flea leading the way with the material that the peppers stand for. The repititve although infectious vocals in this one stick to your brain as Chad and John pace through the track beautifully and including the bridge and the short solo, finish it up quite nicely. This is one of the shortest on the album, and clearly leaves you wanting much, much more than what it offers at first, but the more times you listen in, you’ll be more satisfied. The song overall seems very stupid and unnecessary, and that’s exactly what it is too. The song seems like once again is starting all over again, as John takes it to newer heights and executes into another, more unexpected solo to end the song in a pretty nice conclusion.
4/5
”The earth is made of dirt and wood, and I’d be water if I could”
This Velvet Glove
Nice bass to start off this “Zephyr Song” sound-alike. Sounds serious and emotional at heart, but really doesn’t. Just the old, generic Chili Peppers from self titled and maybe even some off of BloodSugarSexMagik. It also tells a story, and while interludes speed up mix at half-point, they keep the same feel. On the contrary, John, Flea and Chad keep at their best after the interlude and end the song in a satisfying twist of more slower bass, and the others stop and make way for Anthony to step through with his last blow. This song overall keeps together pretty nicely, and delivers the musical portion of your wants after the interlude, but it fails before that and is just overall pretty generic. The party is still on, as we start to approach the end of the album, and another one of the best off the album.
3/5
”It’s such a waste to be wasted”
Savior
The title itself can just tell you what a big deal this track will bring your way eventually. Starts out with pounding toms and a western-sounding backround as vocals rush in with the greatest of ease and the song starts rolling. This song also makes the mark for the longest intro, ranking in at a mine and twenty-six seconds. Although it seems like it would be a grueling long time to wait, it goes by very quick, with the drums keeping at a Grade-A state and Anthony’s vocals rushing through your head once again. A small fill on the snares set off a heavier portion of the still intro and Anthony finishes it up and into the actual song finally. It gets silent, and Flea starts us off with a more tender bass-line which brings the vocals to rush in with more sensitivity and care. This then brings it to reveal the chorus which sounds exactly like the long intro that brought us upon the song at first. Very, very nice track. And different from the rest.
4.5/5
”Dusting off your savior, the life that you have always narrated”
Purple Stain
Another single, if I’m not mistaken. A much more rocking song, with the talent flowing from John’s fingertips coming very first at the front of the line. Another song in which Anthony raps through, which makes the result come out much shorter than what you may think originally. The chorus makes great effect, with Chad at the very great alerted state, and ready to dip into the next measure. Vocally, I’d say its not that big deal, but musically is where it shines the most here. The bridge is the amazing part here, as Flea, Chad, and john go insane all on their own to cause an orgasmic-like explosion that pleases every time. They unleash the monster out of the cage and Chad suddenly goes on fire with rolls projecting off the snares, and Flea and John give us their taste of the songs conclusion. Amazing way to end the track and is once again one of the album’s best.
4.5/5
”Knock on wood, we all stay good, ‘Cause we all live in Hollywood”
Right On Time
Very up-beat, to the point business on here. Anthony spazzes out his magic as Flea and Fruciante hand us one infectious riff after another. Very fun to listen to, and stands for great variation on the album, although a very short score.
4/5
”Discard to bombard”
Road Trippin’
Starts off acoustic, and we get the feeling that the whole song projects right up front right away. Metaphors and just lyrics and vocals overall by Anthony slowly crawl through the track and finish up very nicely at the end, and this being an acoustic track only, Chad stays away, as well as basically Flea, cause all he does is pluck some similar, familiar notes in the back. But hey, look at this. A violin. Ohhhh. Pretty and unexpected. I like it, and it fits in very nicely. Seems repetitive, but after you consider the lyrics a bit more, and get into the melody and the build-up of the song, you’ll learn to like it. As far as conclusions for an album like this go, this ones not close to the bottom, but at the same time doesn’t change the song around much.
4/5
”Sparkles light with yellow icing”
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Pros
+Anthony
+More meaningful than others
+First Half
Cons
-Compared to older RHCP albums, Flea falls back a bit
-Leaves you wanting much more
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Californication was indeed somewhat of a milestone for the band, and I’m sure that it impacted the industry itself as well as fans. If wether that’s a good or bad thing, I, myself was very well satisfied and think that this album is simply put one of the best ever produced. It’s the lyrics on this one that makes the entrance for me. Anthony really did it this time, and it’s what kept it glued together. Noiw don’t get me wrong, I also like the band in any other form it may strike in, but this one I prefer over any other one. You can just feel the slices of stories and emotions that the band has been through. If it’s a story about fakes, true love, addiction, or even a lost friend, this is where the Red Hot Chili Peppers Truly stand in my book.
”Underwater where thoughts can breathe easily, far away you were made in a sea. Just like me”
4 / 5
