Californication

Performer: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Artist: Greg Kurstin
Producer: Rick Rubin
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Red Hot Chili Peppers: Anthony Kiedis (vocals); John Frusciante (guitar); Flea (bass); Chad Smith (drums). Additional personnel: Patrick Warren (Chamberlin organ); Greg Kurstin (keyboards). Engineers include: Jim Scott, John Sorenson, Greg Fidelman. "Scar Tissue" won the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. CALIFORNICATION was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. "Scar Tissue" was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. "Californication" was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and for Best Rock Song. CALIFORNICATION finds The Red Hot Chili Peppers once again in the more straightforward punk-funk mode of BLOOD SUGAR SEX MAGIK. This return to their original sound also marks the return of prodigal son John Frusciante, who takes over for his replacement, Dave Navarro. The Chili Peppers fill CALIFORNICATION with material shaped by personal and professional turmoil, resulting in a somewhat more sensitive approach than one might expected from a band whose hard-core following are skate-punks and drunken frat-boys. Songs such as "Otherside," "Scar Tissue" and "This Velvet Glove" overflow with background harmonies, while Frusciante's unadorned guitar provides support for Anthony Kiedis' emotive singing and broken-hearted lyrics. The title track is one of the most impressive songs this quartet has written--It tells a tale of wandering souls who've lost their way searching for the American Dream in California. This sensitive showing does nothing to undermine the Chili Pepper's trademark aggressive musical style. If anything, their playing has gotten tighter--as evidenced by the chicken-scratch funk of "Get On Top" and the scat-sung approach of "I Like Dirt." The most impressive anomaly on CALIFORNICATION is "Savior," an ethereal track that finds Frusciante playing with a tone reminiscent of early Peter Green.

Rolling Stone (6/24/99, pp.63-69) - 4 out of 5 - "...tunes that tickle the ear, romance the booty, swell the heart, moisten the tear ducts and dilate the third eye. All this inside of song forms and production that reveal sublime new facets upon each hearing....Not exactly your average white band." Entertainment Weekly (6/11/99, pp.63-4) - "...the Peppers sound more relaxed, less grating, and...more introspective than ever before...." - Rating: B+ Q (1/00, p.85) - Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1999." Q (7/99, p.112) - 4 stars (out of 5) - "...the band's intrinsically eclectic nature ensures that they wander into new musical areas.... [reinforcing] their knack for great, unsual pop..." CMJ (6/28/99, p.5) - "...combines the best elements of the Peppers' ever-broadening sound, from healthy doses of power-funk...to more straight-forward rock...,revealing the band's increased strength as songwriters....Kiedis's voice sounds much more confident and melodic..." Melody Maker (6/19/99, p.52) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...'Parallel Universe'...smoulders with sidewinding splendour, sorta Janes Addiction rendezvousing with Dark Star on the set of 'Mad Max'....hearing a veritable rawwwk classic like the title track...you have to be glad they're still around." Mojo (Publisher) (p.55) - Ranked #89 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "[T]he album adds a West Coast psychedelic haze to the band's patented P-funk-punk." Mojo (Publisher) (7/99, p.100) - "...the Chili's latest riff-test should awaken even the rustiest of wedding-tackle....[their] characterful, tongue-in-somebody-else's-cheek approach still hits the spot..." NME (Magazine) (6/5/99, p.38) - 6 out of 10 - "...they've never lost their knack for making everything sound like a gleefully sticky schoolyard euphemism, for revelling in the leering testosterone and goateed bass that stalks the world of nightmare..."

Inspiring legions of imitators (especially among the rap-metal crowd), the Red Hot Chili Peppers combined biting rock guitar with funk rhythms and rap-influenced vocals for a thunderous, party-hearty sound. While the California band was popular on the alt-rock circuit in the late-'80s, they broke through to the mainstream and became superstars in the early '90s with a more mature sound that incorporated melodic ballads. Nevertheless, the band's stageshow continued to be just as unpredictable and outrageous as their music.

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