When was it that the Red Hot Chili Peppers last had some music out? 2006? Ever since then, the Chilis have been the sort of been the sort of band that you listen to and think, “oh I remember them!”
Now, after ‘an extended hiatus,’ they’ve brought out a 10th album, I’m With You. It’s fantastic.
I'm With You
It all started when I was browsing iTunes last week and spotted the famous asterisk of theirs at the top of the page. I’ve never been a massive fan but I like some of their stuff and I recorded Can’t Stop for my Music Tech AS. There was a stream of the album to listen to, all the way through so I gave it a try one evening and after a couple of songs, that was it.
I pre-ordered it and downloaded it on Monday before going away for a couple of days and by the time I got back and synced iTunes, the play count was 5+ per song. But what makes this album so good?
First of all, it’s lost none of RHCP’s special sound to it. Rick Rubin has produced it (of course) and even though there’s a new guitarist, pretty much all of the songs can sit right alongside their older material, spanning nearly three decades. Long time Chili fans, rejoice.
There is some new ideas in there though, more material to push the band forward and ahead of whatever codswallop is on commercial radio these days. As the blurb on iTunes puts it ‘Flea’s basslines grow ever more intricate’ and nowhere is that more true than in Goodbye Hooray.
What I like best about the album though is that the band doesn’t (appear) to have any pretentious agenda behind the album. Matt Bellamy is always complaining about the US Government, half the music in the charts is money-driven pop and there are dozens of hipster little bands, trying to be a bit different. RHCP are nine of these.
That’s my opinion anyway. And if you want a second opinion, my mum likes it and says that it sounds “warm.” There you go, now buy it with a Linda Tervet seal of approval.
