Red Hot Chili Peppers – discography
By The Way
Original Release Date: 2002
Produced by: Rick Rubin
Tracks:
- By The Way*
- Universally Speaking*
- This Is The Place
- Dosed*
- Don’t Forget Me
- The Zephyr Song*
- Can’t Stop*
- I Could Die For You
- Midnight
- Throw Away Your Television
- Cabron
- Tear
- On Mercury
- Minor Thing
- Warm Tape
- Venice Queen
(* marks the tracks released as singles)
Review
By The Way, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ eight studio album released in 2002 and produced by Rick Rubin, continues on the same track like Californication, although it’s basing even more on Anthony’s personality and the band’s passion for life, love and lust and John Fruscinate’s guitar, his sense of melody and composing as well as his outstanding backing vocals are present more than ever before. Red Hot Chili Peppers have managed to take this album to a different direction, like they did with their previous recordings, making every single release a unique one – which became their trademark and helped them attract new audiences but retain old fans as well.
The instrumental harmony is still being blended with some aggressive sounds, as in their first track – By The Way, or like in a fast-paced rhythmical song and Anthony’s rapping to Can’t Stop. As far as lyrics are concerned, Kiedis is still looking back – writing about drugs, and their bad influence, never forgetting about his dear friend Hillel, but most of the time he’s inspired by love, especially his girlfriend Yohanna, and the emotions one feel when being in love. Songs such as Don’t Forget Me and Universally Speaking, my personal favorites, represent a real eruption of emotions and feelings of confusion, love and regret – both lyrically and instrumentally.
By The Way received a mostly positive reaction from critics, peaking high on charts it proved bend’s constant popularity. This amazing foursome grew together in a way that no one expected them to grow, inexhaustibly maturing along with their music. In fact, John Frusciante described working on this album as one of the happiest periods of his life.
