Album Reviews
View Back in the revolving-guitar saddle is John Frusciante, of Blood Sugar Sex Magik fame, who replaces the outgoing Dave Navarro (who, of course, replaced Frusciante himself not so long ago) and proves once again why he's the only ax slinger God ever wanted to be a Pepper, too. As in days of yore, Frusciante continually hits the mark with slithery chicken licks, ingenious power chording, Axis: Bold as Love grace notes and sublimely syncopated noises that allow the nimble Flea to freely bounce back and forth between bombastic lead and architectonic rhythm parts on the bass. If there were a Most Valuable Bass Player award given out in rock, Flea could have laid claim to that bitch ten years running.
The real star turn on this disc, though, is by Anthony Kiedis, whose vocal cords have apparently been down to some crossroads and over the rehab, and returned with heretofore unheard-of range, body, pitch, soulfulness and melodic sensibility. On "Scar Tissue" he laces out a falsetto purple enough to have made Jeff Buckley swoon with envy; on "Savior'' he croons and belts with enough chest-thumping pride to suggest that Vegas is just a kiss away, sustaining supple, buoyant tones with such ease, you know he must be amazing himself, too. (As a friend observed, if she didn't know it was Kiedis, she would have thought the vocalist a Kiedis clone who could actually sing.) The point being that until you hear Californication, you haven't ever heard Kiedis truly sang, as they say in the church, nor prove himself so adept and moving in the lyrics department, either. Just in time for Matrix fever, "Parallel Universe" speaks of an "underwater where thoughts can breathe easily/Far away you were made in a sea, just like me" to the beat of a track that hybridinally splits the difference between the Yardbirds and Eurodisco. (Flea and Frusciante's remarkable handheld trillings on that one are more than a little technically impressive, we should add.)
The band treads more-familiar funk-rap ground on cuts like "Get on Top'' and "Right on Time,'' and on this album's "Under the Bridge" reduxes - the title track and the aforementioned "Scar Tissue," a dreamy Venice Beach pimp stroll with lullaby-lovely slide guitar. But songs like "Otherside'' and "Porcelain'' are delicate, vulnerable and volatile enough to earn the rubric Pumpkins-esque, while the baroque progressions and contrapuntal maneuvers heard on the hook-drunk "Easily'' could have one thinking that the Chili Peppers car-jacked Elvis Costello and made off like musical bandits. The poetry found on "Easily'' is no joke: "The story of a woman on the morning of a war/Remind me, if you will, exactly what we're fighting for/Throw me to the wolves, because there's order in the pack/Throw me to the sky, because I know I'm coming back.'' As dope as all of the above are, however, they're only the setup for the glistening simplicity and serenity displayed on the disc's denouement, "Road Trippin'," a finger-picked Olde English stylee number that ties the album up in a bow while gently inferring that Californication is the recovering singer's way of reminding himself to wake up and live and be "a mirror for the sun."
While all previous Chili Peppers projects have been highly spirited, Californication dares to be spiritual and epiphanal, proposing that these evolved RHCP furthermuckers are now moving toward funk's real Holy Grail: that salty marriage of esoteric mythology and insatiable musicality that salvages souls, binds communities and heals the sick. Not exactly your average white band.
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Review 1 of 10
No Screen Name writes:
after the unsuccsessfull one hot minuet.the chilis return with john back in,and is it good.reccomended tracks:get on top,road trippin,around the world,otherside,i like dirt
May 26, 2008 00:25:37
Review 2 of 10
No Screen Name writes:
after the unsuccsessfull one hot minuet.the chilis return with john back in,and is it good.reccomended tracks:get on top,road trippin,around the world,otherside,i like dirt
May 26, 2008 00:25:37
Review 3 of 10
No Screen Name writes:
This album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers marked a rise back into popularity in the late 90's.
In this album, the one thing that stands out is the fact that the Chili Peppers have changed their style of music from the funk/punk mixture of Blood Sugar Sex Magik to now a more melodic style of music.
The change was welcomed, and this album is considered one of the Peppers' greatest pieces of work.
Apr 27, 2008 11:57:41
Review 4 of 10
No Screen Name writes:
Good God. This album is by far the best work by The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Not only does it save their career from the less then sucsessful One Hot Minute, but it prooves that people can change. With amazing riffs and licks like those found in the title track, "Californication" Then it gets down to the amazing pop prizes, like "Easily" and "Scar Tissue" And it also goes back to their funk roots likein "Get On Top","I Like Dirt"(A Personal Favorite) and "Purple Stain" And it doesnt fear to show more emotions through lyrics and music, such as "This Velvet Glove" which is a melancholy masterpiece, and "Savior", the rock song driven by heavenly guitar riffs and deep vocals. And the end track, "Road Trippin'" is nothing short of a brilliant acoustic marvel. This amazing album is the Chilis' definate best work, and will always be a musical inspiration to me.
Dec 10, 2007 18:44:42
Review 5 of 10
No Screen Name writes:
It's Perfect.
Jun 26, 2007 20:14:53
Review 6 of 10
No Screen Name writes:
Californication became the Red Hot Chili Peppers' ultimate comeback, with the failing One Hot Minute behind them, guitarist John Frusciante returned to the band after years with heavy drug abuse - proclaiming his brilliant talent on songs like "Scar Tissue", "Road Trippin'" and the title-track. Californication doesn't sound like anything the band had made before, much of the funk is stripped away and replaced with more hard rocking songs as "Parallel Universe", "Around the World" and "Get on Top". And as the album reached a massive popularity with hit-singles released, it was the perfect album for a band who'd almost been clumsing its own talent away.
Jan 15, 2007 06:50:29
Review 7 of 10
No Screen Name writes:
I agree somewhat with the previous post. Californication has a few dead spots, more so than By the Way ever had imo. There are a lot of songs that remind me of their earlier days. that is now harder to do because fans know they have evolved with better vocal and music sounds. The past and what people remember from the early days are important in the sense they are show the undying style of the band. I really like almost all of the songs on the album with Road Trippin,Easily and Otherside as my favorites. This album was so very important however for the rebirth of the band(who many wrote off) and most importantly John Frusciante's return after the Navarro mess. I would put this album equal to Stadium Arcadium but not better than BSSM and By the Way. It is worthy of all the praise it has recieved and a regular in the rotation of CDs I play. DIG!
Jan 11, 2007 09:27:25
Review 8 of 10
No Screen Name writes:
This is a five star album with great tracks such as "Otherside", "Easily", and "Californication", it lays the foundation for their later efforts of 2002's "By The Way" and this years release of "Stadium Arcadium". But as great an album as it is, it is also a little overated. Their are about 4 or 5 songs I was just scratching my head on. "I like dirt" I just thought was horrible. I know a lot of people like that track and say it reminds them of BloodSugar days, but blood sugar had rythm to it, a nice chorus, this wasnt it. Californiacation is their most commercial album is a better assessment of this album rather than their best. It made more people Chili fans, which is great, but anyone whos listened to them for a long time, knows BloodSugar is far superior, and By The Way is better as well. The return of the great Frusciante is well observed on the album. It is an album that was very important for the band, a great album, but a little overated considering how many people think its their best ever.
Aug 14, 2006 19:47:54
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