Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers
Stadium Arcadium
(Warner)
With the one-two punch of Californication and By the Way, the Chili Peppers proved that they are more than just a drug-fueled party machine. Instead of moving ahead one step at a time, for Stadium Arcadium the Chili Peppers had visions of grandeur floating in their heads. Initially intended to be a mere 10- to 12-track LP, it quickly ballooned into a meaty 38 tracks, to be released as a trilogy over 18 months. But as production deadlines began to encroach, the plan settled on the 28-song, two-disc musical odyssey (with tracks such as “Tell Me Baby” and “She’s Only 18,” that harken back to the early funk-infused catalogue and the more modern-sounding “Turn it Again” or “Slow Cheetah,” Stadium’s daunting track count is quickly tamed). Stadium Arcadium is the culmination of all that has preceded it, recorded in the same mansion as 1991’s breakthrough Blood Sugar Sex Magik, produced by Rick Rubin, who is along for this ride too. Fans of the Peppers’ vintage material will probably be satisfied by the reintroduction of funk into the mix as the band maintains the successful adult-alternative sound of its more recent work. Stadium Arcadium is surprisingly filler-free and showcases a band that has overcome the odds to record the defining album of its long and storied career.
—Trevor Savory
categories: Coast pick