HIGHLIGHTS: Desecration Smile - Storm In A Teacup - Dani California
RATING: 3/5
Red Hot Chili Peppers? Red Hot Pipe And Slippers more like - but in the fondest possible way. I reckon it must have been the release of 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik' that saw the last time the Chili Peppers released a decent funk rock tune, then they seemed to get lost in the wilderness for a while, a bit like exiled funky prophets and rustled up their worst album 'One Hot Minute' from parched ingredients before coming up trumps with 'Californication'. Despite being riddled with some crap funk rock tunes it also developed their softer side notably with the track 'Scar Tissue'. Then they realised they were quite good at doing tunes that weren't funk rock and knocked out the corking 'By The Way' sometimes criticised by long time Chili Peppers fans as sell-out and mellow, when in actual fact it was a successful reinvention of themselves and the best thing they'd done in ten years. Clearly followers of the adage 'If it ain't broke don't fix it' the Chili Peppers now present us (in classic 'rock folly' tradition) with a double album that is as 'mellow' as 'By the Way' in content but with a sound that seems less raw than that album and reminds me more of 'Californication'. As Chili Peppers albums go it's not the worst and if you like their softer more tuneful side you'll dig it. Man. Basically it's business as usual since they changed their style of business - in fact if there's a surprise at all it is that a rock band have managed to release a double album without any terrible tracks on it at all (apart from Kiedis's lyrics that is) - I've tried to stop picking out the words since 'Emit Remmus' on 'Californication' - "The California animal is a bear, angeleno but the devil may care..." indeed!
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