Red Hot Chili Peppers – discography
Californication
Original Release Date: 1999
Produced by: Rick Rubin
Tracks:
- Around The World*
- Parallel Universe
- Scar Tissue*
- Other Side*
- Get On Top
- Californication*
- Easily
- Porcelain
- Emit Remmus
- I Like Dirt
- This Velvet Glove
- Savior
- Purple Stain
- Right On Time
- Road Trippin’*
(* marks the tracks released as singles)
Review
Californication represents an unexpected turn in the band’s career, their rebirth, as a great guitarist John Frusciante returned, it’s celebrating the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ reunion as well. After, what can be called a failure of One Hot Minute they have managed to rise again, higher than ever, and the reasons for that are more than obvious – a reapperance of the quintessential guitarist John Frusciante who is credited for changing the band’s style, resulting in a radically different recording than what was produced with Navarro. He succeeded to include his own style like never before, resulting in a more melodic, emotional and certainly more lyric-oriented album. There was not a lot of heavy jams, it all revolved around the beauty of the song itself, and Anthony proved to be a great vocalist, singing the notes no one thought he could pull out.
Even though the core funk was not all the present like in Blood Sugar Sex Magic and the earliest fans and some critics were disappointed with this release, calling it a pathetic attempt filled with false empathy, Califroniaction turned out to be very successful worldwide. All 15 tracks are lyrically and instrumentally very well developed; words are matching in tones and moods with notes, and everything fits just great. Anthony is finding the inspiration in various things, being very self-confident about his lyrical contents, he writes about his own feelings and the critical view of the world that surrounds him. Californication one of the all time hits is about the way he sees Hollywood, and everything ‘fake’ in California – which is about to become his regular inspiration. His lyrics are varying from everlasting sex theme to some more vulnerable feelings of loneliness, as in beautiful Scar Tissue and his struggling with drug addiction, like in Other Side.
Californication is a real masterpiece, filled with new and refreshing elements, containing some of the strongest emotional moments that this band has ever showed to the audiences. The whole world praised John Frusicante’s return, and his irrefutable influence on the ever changing Red Hot Chili Peppers.
