YRadio

I remember the day I got this album so very clearly, after hearing the ever brilliant Dani California and being reminded that Red hot chilli peppers were back. I was so looking forward to getting it that when I saw the brilliant album cover and that the two CD's were called Jupiter and mars, I was beside myself with joy. Ever since the revival bliss that Californication gave to the world I have loved this band, the fact that their music has developed and matured like a fine wine, has made me realise I loved this band so much more than I thought. It even annoys me that Keidis looks amazing even after all this time. So while I was away in London I found myself listening to their 2006 album stadium arcadium and found myself

enjoying it even more than the last time I listened to it. So I thought as always here on y radio, we are going to review what we are listening to and this is no exception!

First of all I wasn't even sure that red hot chilli peppers should carry on after their hugely successful album by the way. I must have worn out that CD the amount of times I listened to it. I just couldn't see chilli peppers coming up with a better album. Even when they announced the name of the new album at the time I was unreasonably sceptical. I think it's to do with my reasoning that u2 haven't made a good album since Joshua tree and maybe when you make a great album it's a lot harder to make a better one. In Chilli Peppers defence they did spend a great deal of time getting this album right and once I got the album I noticed that instantly. One of the first thing that hits you is there is 28 songs on the album, 2 CDs with 14 each on. Most natural reactions would be that it's far too many songs at least conventionally, but in their defence when have they done anything conventionally? My second assumption about the length of the album (and in my opinion the correct one) is that they were incredibly inspired when making the album and had an even better standard than usual. I've seen it happen in musicians when they find that extra 5 percent that makes them churn out creativity at a much faster pace. Maybe this is what happened with stadium arcadium or like I said earlier they took their time and it paid off by having a strong 28 track album.

Taking my nerdiness aside with them calling the CD's Jupiter and mars, the album starts with the first single Dani California which got me to buy the actual CD. I swear this is true that I sometimes skip the song to hear the great guitar solo by John Frusciante. Not that the rest of the song is great it's just an unbelievable brilliant creation and it also lets you be aware of how good the songs are at following into each other. The great plus about this album is that you can press play and I doubt you'd ever skip a song, that's how consistent this album is. What's also very clever is that there never seems to be two songs that are similar next to each other. After Dani California you have snow which is more melodic and not as punchier as Dani California, but throughout the album the type of song changes after each track. Basically there's a little bit of everything on this album which underlines how talented chilli peppers are and are reaching the height of their powers. As you go through the first CD you also notice that it's a fun record, there's many upbeat and funky songs like hump de bump which has a very jazz feel to it. As you reach the middle of the first CD you notice that the heart of the album is John Frusciante, the amount of cool riffs and guitar solos he produces on this album is frightening. One of his talents that never seems to get enough praise for I think is his backing singing. He is a good singer, I urge you to check out 'song to sing when I'm lonely, from his solo work which will underline this point. Due to Frusciante stepping up his game I think the rest of the band delivers the same level, with fleas brilliant baseline showing in 'torture me' to chad smiths great rhythm on the same track. It seems weird to say that Anthony Keidis is not as in your face as in previous incarnations, but once you listen to the album in detail you realise he is as focused as youve ever heard him sound like. His voice in certain tracks like 'strip my mind' is unbelievable, but one of the things I love is his lyrics are just genius, you can connect to him and the band a lot more because of that throughout the record.

The element of fun is carried on throughout this record with hard hitting tracks such as cmon girl and 21st century, but like I said earlier because they don't come around all the time you enjoy them when they arrive just as much as more serious, slower tracks. The element of space is also maintained through some of the distortions used by Frusciante and Flea, the guitars and base often scream or sound very futuristic, my personal favourite on the first CD being 'Stadium Arcadium' that sounds literally out of this world. However, the songs that resonant most with me has to be 'wet sand' and 'hey' at the end of the first CD. Some of Keidis singing and song writing in these songs are incredible as they are fairly basic songs compared to the rest of the album, but it underlines just how much of a genius Keidis is. The best lyrics in the whole album is probably in 'Wet Sand' - 'I'm almost there why should I care? My heart is hurting when I share, someone open up, let it show'. The coolest song has to be 'Hey' as the riff and beat match Keidis voice perfectly. It's also quite an emotional song, but it feels like a jamming session, something that I find really fun and enjoyable.

As I said though it maintains its strength throughout the album, with such classic sounding chilli peppers songs like 'tell me Baby' with a really nice relaxing feel to it. It's one of them albums that you can listen to it while you're working, but if you give it your full attention you realise that it's an extraordinary achievement. The fact that they have managed to get the most out of each of the band members it's very hard to do and the fact that they have done that with 28 strong yet different songs is really their crowning glory. The fact that renovated themselves is also an achievement, as it sounds different and new but it still sounds like Chilli Peppers, and they clearly reached in this album a very unique trust in each other. Like I said they clearly had fun making this album which gets underlined through tracks like 'make you feel better' which makes you enjoy it because you can hear the effort that went in making it. As you through the second CD, you begin to realise that the Chilli Peppers have found some sort of comfort level, yet in that comfort is still their desire to make the best Chilli Pepper sound. The fact that they have achieved this while reinventing themselves is truly extraordinary.

I think the best way to sum up how good this album is, is to say that I've listened to stadium Arcadium a huge number of times and each time it gets more and more compelling and influential. This is all after I didn't like it when I first listened to it bar a few songs. You can listen to this album when you're happy, sad, content, frustrated, whatever colour on the emotional spectrum your feeling, it really has everything you'd want in an album. A true red Hot chilli peppers album, its just a shame it's the last full thing they did with john frusciante, because it might very well be the last true pure and brilliant album they ever do.

Overall YRadio Score

78%

Release Date: May 2006

Reviewed by: Steven Hesse

YRadio Rating System

• 0.5 Star = 0% - 10%
• 1 Star = 11% - 20%
• 1.5 Star = 21% - 30%
• 2 Star = 31% - 40%
• 2.5 Star = 41% - 50%
• 3 Star = 51% - 60%
• 3.5 Star = 61% - 70%
• 4 Star = 71% - 80%
• 4.5 Star = 81% - 90%
• 5 Star = 91% - 100%