Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers
Stadium Arcadium
[4/5]

Let me start off by saying that I am usually not a huge fan of double-discs. It’s such a large amount of music to capture in one listen, not to mention that it’s all by the same band. Despite my given my dislike for double-discs, I still thoroughly enjoy this album. It’s impressive that The Red Hot Chili Peppers are still pumping out magic with such intensity and grandeur. On their 9^th studio album, with the continued work by once-lost guitarist John Frusciante, they move back to the Blood Sugar days to write a variety of funk-rock inspired songs about drug addictions (Charlie, Snow) and the alternative side of life (21^st Century, So Much I). After Flea and Frusciante worked with The Mars Volta on their last album, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez decided to repay his debt by performing solo guitar work on the Arcadium song “Especially in Michigan.” The two discs are quite different: the first disc gives a glimpse into their pop-oriented radio friendly songs, whereas the second disc is more progressive and harder hitting. Don’t be fooled by the disastrous single “Dani California” because it is by far the worst song on the album.