Published on Jan 28, 2005
Hard to believe, but it took the Red Hot Chili Peppers nearly 20
years to record an album where there was minimal turmoil within the
band. No band member dying tragically of a heroin overdose (
Mother’s Milk). No band shuffling (
One Hot Minute,
Freaky Styley). And, unlike during the recording of
Californication, the band did not have to win back fans or
stage a “comeback.”
Not that the band intentionally set out to prove anything but
themselves for all of these releases, but during 2001, the external
pressures that the Red Hot Chili Peppers faced were fairly minimal
to rock start standards. Because of
Californication, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were able to
escape the discount-bin obscurity of their peers.
Unfortunately, for fans of the sex-crazed, funk-filled,
thrashing Chili Peppers of old, the mellow tones that were on
Californication blanket
By The Way. However, if you’re willing to put aside the fact
that the band will not likely record another “Catholic School Girls
Rule,”
By The Way offers a slew of awards for a patient
listener.
The evolution of the Red Hot Chili Peppers is actually not
surprising. In high school and early college years, the Peppers
were there to provide the soundtrack to a Barton’s and Busch-fueled
party. As listeners and the band members grew older, music was used
more for come down therapy. Flea’s bass has gone from slapping to
jazzy mellowness. And Anthony Kiedis’s songwriting has matured.
Most of
By The Way‘s sobering tone tackles drug addiction and the
perils of mortality.
That’s not to say that the Peppers have gone all Joy Division on
its fans. Flea’s bass line on the title track sounds suspiciously
like Fugazi’s “Repeater” and even if you’re sick of power ballads
by the Peppers, the recent additions of this album (namely “Don’t
Forget” and “Tear”) could easily stand with the best of their power
ballads that made them famous.
Still, with all the heavy topics levied on
By The Way, Kiedis could still use some help in the lyrical
department. His much-improved falsetto gives a haunting edge in the
opening of “This is the Place” : “This is the place where all the
junkies go / Where time gets fast But everything gets slow.”
However, Kiedis slowly sinks into some of the embarrassing lyrics
that plagued so much of their earlier material (though the music
was so great, most listeners overlooked this). “Can I smell your
gasoline / Can I pet your wolverine.”
By The Way is definitely more Beach Boys
Pet Sounds era or late Beatles and less Funkadelic and Black
Flag. If you like the band’s former manic energy, by all means,
this may be an album to skip. However, if you’re willing to go
along for the ride, and are willing to picture the Red Hot Chili
Peppers settling into its mellow California stage of their careers
(ala the Eagles or Fleetwood Mac),
By The Way is a great soundtrack to a Sunday afternoon. Who
would have thought the Red Hot Chili Peppers could have staked its
claim to the hangover music market?