Published on Jan 25, 2005
There are certain records that are a “must-have” for the fans of
the band, but “money-gone-down-the-drain” for others:
What Hits!? is such a record.
What Hits!? was released after the band’s smash hit,
Blood Sugar Sex Magik, possibly to capitalize on their fame.
But, much to everyone’s surprise, Red Hot Chili Peppers (RHCP) had
plenty of numbers to come up with a “Greatest Hits” LP like this,
when the hoi polloi thought
Blood Sugar Sex Magik was the act’s only album.
Playing around with this fact, the album-title has been toyed
around with, by the group: the question-mark, for those who had no
inkling of the fact that RHCP even existed before
Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and the exclamation-mark by the group
saying “yes, there are many more songs to our credit than meets the
eye, though none of them ever made it even close to the
charts.”
What Hits!? is a record that captures RHCP during their
struggling days, and there were many: four LPs, one EP, and seven
years, it took them to make the overnight transformation from
complete obscurity to total stardom.
Every obscure band has a few pleasant surprises that astonishes,
and RHCP has more than a few of them, but especially a couple:
“Higher Ground” and “Behind The Sun.” These tracks are distinct
album (and career) standouts, along with the band’s cause to fame
and fortune, “Under The Bridge.”
Take these three songs out of the record, and the rest of the
album is the same. The act sounds weak and immature on most part of
the album. Anthony Kiedis’ vigorous rapping, which otherwise is
full of strength and sprightliness, sounds absolutely weedy, and
the weak music makes it even worse. For most of the times, the
sound quality itself is all worn out and inferior.
But, putting aside all the bickering of what’s wrong with
What Hits!?, the numbers aren’t all that bad, but only if
one musters the patience to sit through eighteen monotonous songs,
and do it all over again and again — and that’s a lot of listens
— till one gets the hang of what’s actually going on in the album,
and appreciate it, if not totally, than at least to some
extent.
Actually,
What Hits!? reveals another facet of the act, and a
completely different one, from the current “RHCP” that we all are
familiar with. The group was a whole lot funkier than what it is
now, and the muscular guitars and drumming of the “RHCP” of today
gave a more fun loving and frivolous effect to the music back
then.
For fans of RHCP,
What Hits!? plays dual role: in addition to some interesting
listening material that it provides,
What Hits!? is also an essential album, and a way to get to
know their favorite band during their pre-mainstream days. For
others, well, there is always the radio and the music channels —
not to mention illegal file sharing — for “Higher Ground” and
“Behind The Sun.”