8th June - Red Hot Chili Pepper's Californication

Artist – Album: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication

Released: 8^th June 1999

Sounds Like: A dark summer

Summer’s here kids! With the UK finally getting some much needed continuous sunshine and temperatures hitting the early to mid 20’s (which, having just checked online, is similar to the highs of such well-known hotspots as Moscow, Minsk and Riga), it feels likes the hard slog through the looooong winter is finally over. Now is the time for beer gardens, bbq’s and summer playlists. Yay!

Today’s album seems to revel in its status as a faux summery album. From the title itself, which crosses the name of the Golden State with, well, sex, to the artwork, with a pool side picture bastardized by the strange colour scheme, things are not quite as light and warm as they first appear. The sweetest melody and mellowest guitar belongs to ‘Scar Tissue’, but in truth, like previous hit ‘Under the Bridge’, the song deals with lead singer Anthony Kiedis’ crippling drug addiction. ‘Emit Remmus’ is summer time backwards. At turns the music can be chilled or funky, but the subject matter tends towards the dark (though never gloomy), with subjects such as sex, death, suicide and drugs being covered.

Each member of the Chili’s had matured incredibly by this seventh album, and they had never collectively been stronger. Kiedis had turned into a genuinely great singer rather than an entertaining front man and John Frusciente had returned from his drug induced sabattical a cleaner, and arguably better guitarist. The rhythm section of Flea and Chad Smith, meanwhile, have always been one of the best the rock world has ever seen, and here they are borderline telepathic.

Californication is a downright brilliant album by a group at the peak of their powers, and, if you’re looking for an album with a little more to it than the general sunny pop fluff whilst you’re sat in the garden drinking Pims, you could do worse than to turn to this.

Albumaday... rating: 8/10

1.        Around the World – 3:58

2.       Parallel Universe – 4:30

3.       Scar Tissue – 3:35

4.       Otherside – 4:15

5.       Get on Top – 3:18

6.       Californication – 5:21

7.       Easily – 3:51

8.       Porcelain – 2:43

9.       Emit Remmus – 4:00

10.   I Like Dirt – 2:37

11.   This Velvet Glove – 3:45

12.   Savior – 4:52

13.   Purple Stain – 4:13

14.   Right on Time – 1:52

15.   Road Trippin’ – 3:25

 Listen to ‘Scar Tissue’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzJj5-lubeM

Also released on the 8^th June:

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