Review Summary: 'Sending a dummy to my God'
Getting famous as the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist, John Frusciante managed to build his own solo career without having to be concerned about sounding a certain way. He pretty much only cared about making music for himself, not bothering to sound commercial or to appeal to anybody. However, fast forward to (the first out of many) 2004's
Shadows Collide with People and you have John's most accessible work up to that point, but still with a big dose of experimentation.
'Shadows Collide With People Acoustic' was released as an alternative for the fans who didn't like the highly produced sound of the album, so if you thought the album was good but you didn't like the big production or all the electronic stuff on it then this album is definitely the way to go. Also the album is going to work for fans of any of Frusciante's 'phases'. It's not experimental as Niandra LaDes but it has the same raw sound. However, if you are a big fan of 'Shadows Collide with People' there's a big chance you'll find this great but most likely there'll be a lot of times when you'll fell there's something missing, because obviously there are no drums, no bass, no effects and what could be the most important, there are no harmonies, so you'll have to go through the same process of letting the album grow on you but since there's not such a big difference in sound from song to song it is an easier listen than the original album, and also there's a chance that this would be a great album for the ones that found the instrumentals '-00Ghost27' and 'Failure33Object' (and maybe '23 Go In To End' - which would be madness) to be major turn-offs on the original album.
The album is produced in such a manner that you feel like you are right there in the middle of the action, standing next to the guy as he goes through his set, and at some point it makes you feel like you are part of it because it sounds so natural. John can carry the album with just a guitar and his voice, there's really no need for anything else because the songs are already great on their own and he manages to keep them like that no matter what shape or form they take. Since I mentioned the Chili Peppers in the first paragraph, John is not only known for his guitar-work but also the harmonies which proved to be a great input in the band's sound. Obviously he used harmonies on his solo stuff, and 'Shadows collide with people' was really full of them, so it's a bit disappointing that there are no backing vocals on here, however, Josh Klinghoffer still makes an appearance on 'Omission'.
'Shadows Collide With People Acoustic' is a great album on it's own, but compared to the original version since there's nothing else other than an acoustic guitar playing in the background, the songs tend to lose some identity. No more effects that drown John's voice as he states that he regrets his past on
Regret, no 8-bit video game intro on
Song to Play When I'm Lonely and no crazy solo on
Second Walk that would make you jump out of your seat from the adrenaline rush. You can see that the song are still brilliant even without the whole array of instruments and effects, but you kind of miss those things in the end.
Highlights
Carvel
Ricky
Song to Sing When I'm Lonely
