Red Hot Chili Peppers
Stadium Arcadium

THE REVIEW

Chasing after the Red Hot Chili Peppers, for the few mainstream rock bands left unscathed after the hip-pop/rap/r 'n b explosion, seems to have become the national pastime in the U.S. Just think of the latest Incubus, almost on the verge of the ridiculous; sales at the level of the peppers, however, not even close to crying.

The (almost, as we shall see) former funky rock band returns after a silence since 2003 (the year of the release of a Greatest Hits with two new songs, including the hit "Fortune Faded") with the most ambitious work of a now twenty-year career. 28 pieces "spread" over 2 discs (Jupiter and Mars), a truly surprising variety of styles, but above all a Frusciante (notoriously not a technically brilliant guitarist) truly in shape, even stunning when he has the chance to "make himself heard" more. Overlooking the over-played first single ("Dani California"), it's useless to judge the album through a lengthy track-by-track; instead, it is useful to immediately clarify some fundamental points of Kiedis & co.'s new work.

First and foremost, the genre: Frusciante has warned us again and again, the Red Hot are no longer a funky-rock group, due to age, new musical horizons, etc. etc. What remains of the old, spicy peppers? Something, but little; the incendiary "Storm In A Teacup" (a jump back in time, in truth, not very convincing), or the Audioslave-oriented "Readymade", which, however, is an alien offspring of the band, which had never ventured into this musical territory. Better then, by overlooking the tracks of clear Peppers' origin (now a trademark), to dwell on the sound peculiarities that the work offers us, starting from the second track (and third single) "Snow ((Hey Oh))", dominated by a very pleasant guitar arpeggio by Frusciante and Kiedis's relaxed singing. In "Charlie" (already scheduled as the fifth single, released in the summer of 2007), Flea emerges prominently with his usual schizoid bass but perfect, but there's no talk of aggressive guitars. Bass is also highlighted in "She's Only 18", where Kiedis raps again, then in the chorus, the six-string opts for a more acidic and distorted riff, outlining one of the best numbers of the entire album.

"Especially In Michigan" is the only featuring, with Rodriguez from Mars Volta participating; the piece is a kind of homage to U2 with the musical score that, especially in the (beautiful) intro, echoes the beautiful "Pride (In The Name Of Love)". Too bad for a Kiedis not up to the situation this time. Strange winks to guitar-dance, instead, in "C'mon Girl", perhaps the most peculiar number of the work. Mars (the second CD) opens surprisingly with a bang: "Desecration Smile" (current single, the video directed by Gus Van Sant is highly recommended) is a perfect pop gem, as few can write. "Hard To Concentrate" is very experimental by the band's standards, with an interesting balance between Kiedis's usual singing style close to rap and the song's calm arrangement. Very interesting. Few other highlights in Mars, including the already mentioned "Storm In A Teacup", a "We Believe" that in the chorus resurrects the more pop-oriented things of P.O.D., and the beautiful conclusion, almost "recited" by Kiedis at the end, of "Death Of A Martian".

Ultimately, not being in front of a band of rookies, but veterans active for two decades, it is highly commendable to note that, despite the recycling into a purely "mainstream" genre (even if tracks like "Hard To Concentrate", "She's Only 18", "Charlie" I would have reservations about labeling them as radio-friendly), the quality of writing is still at an incredibly high level. If they were to return to the genre that made them famous worldwide, they would probably regain many old fans but at the same time probably lose freshness and immediacy. Do you want them back as they were, still want them this way, or don't want them at all anymore (or perhaps never could stand them)?

For posterity (and your comments), the difficult verdict.