Record Boy Ink:

Let me tell ya something about the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I first saw them in the mid-eighties at a club in Hollywood. Each band member wore a sock (this is meant literally!). That’s right, just one strategically located sock. They played an explosive set of punk/funk music and the raw power of the musicians, particularly Flea, the bass player, was awesome. They were signed to EMI-America and proceeded to put out several albums with uneven material and promising-on-paper producers (i.e. George Clinton) resulting in dismal sales. Then, their original guitarist Hillel Slovak od’d and the band signed to Warner Bros.

When Rick Rubin took over the production chores for the band in 1990, they met with huge commercial success thanks to "Under the Bridge", went through numerous personnel changes in the guitarist chair, and are now back to John Frusciante, (the "Under the Bridge" era guitar player) who has apparently won his battle with heroin addiction.

To Record Boy’s ears the weak link in the band was never the revolving door guitar players. Quite simply put, kinetic, vigorous, charming, mesmerizing front man Anthony Kiedis couldn’t sing his way out of a wet paper bag. On stage my opinion was invalidated by the sheer forcefulness of his performance. However on record, it always rubbed Record Boys ears the wrong way.

Which is why I can happily now make public my wild theory: I think Anthony has taken singing lessons! Nothing short of that can account for the fact that on the new Red Hot Chili Pepper album "Californication" (Warner Bros.), Anthony Kiedis sings! He doesn’t just sing, he sangs! Californication is the best all around performance of the Chili Peppers on record, thanks to Anthony’s strong, flexible, vocals. Here’s what Record Boy really likes about this record: the single "Scar Tissue," Flea’s melodic bass at the beginning of "Otherside," the tender "Porcelain," the classic rock feel of "Emit Remmus" (hold the title up to a mirror), the funky "I Like Dirt" and the fact that only the Chili Peppers can get away with writing a disco tune like "Right on Time." (Also, Anthony rhyming "my Johnson" with "Wisconsin.") Many of the lyrics on this album drop names of locations, which might be an indication that Anthony had his travels on his mind more than his troubles. It’s a nice way to travel though!

To summarize, Flea is one of the very best bass players in rock, Chad Smith is a very capable time keeper, John Frusciante is no guitar god like ex- Chili Dave Navarro, but he seems to be a much better fit in this band and Anthony Kiedis can now really sing. Maybe he didn’t take lessons. Maybe he sold his soul to the Devil. Maybe he just stopped wearing that sock and discovered that (vocally) he had a lower register.

Check it out and decide for yourself!