Listening to RHCP backwards.
I decided to chuck on my whole Red Hot Chili Peppers collection of CDs onto my iPod finally. Going through the Playlists and for "Recently Added" playlist, it lists out all the songs of each CD backwards. So basically, I'm currently listening to Californication but with backwards tracklisting. I've never done this before! It's like a whole new way of listening to an album! Completely different experience!
I've been listening to Stadium Arcadium for the last 2 days. I'm not sure what to think of it. I'm not sure whether I actually like it. First of all, its a LOT of music to digest. Two hours of RHCP goodness after 3 or 4 years of complete silence from the band. I haven't enough of it to make any sound judgments but so far, it just seems so 'radio-friendly'... and totally mainstream in a sense. I haven't caught on to any of the songs yet... well there are a few good singalong "oh this is a great tune" songs but nothing has caught onto me on a deeper level.
By contrast, I'm currently listening to the song "This Velvet Glove" off the Californication album. That is a fucking good song. FUCKING GOOD SONG. It's somewhat dark, and deep. It connects with my soul musically. When I listen to Stadium Arcadium, as much as it is really good quality music - good writing, great instrumentals - but it just feels like as if Kelly Clarkson can sing the songs and make them chart topping hits too. Y'know?
I even listened to By The Way yesterday after two years of sitting in my CD tower. Even though a lot of people complained about it being so not them... they explored a different avenue of music writing but still holding a credible amount of "yeah, that's the chili peppers". I mean, take "Midnight" for example. What an awesome song. "Don't Forget Me", "Venice Queen"... gems amongst the other melodic, doo-wop songs. It went off on a massive tangent from Californication but it was musically excuseable - complete experimentation and not confined to anything.
Californication - such a brilliant album. Omg, so brilliant. Blood Sugar Sex Magik - omg, even better. And Mother's Milk is just SOO GOOD!! As I'm currently moving back towards the RHCP catalog... their new album just doesn't cut it... Not that I'm one of those losers who want RHCP to stick to their roots and not explore anything new... I want them to, which was why I loved By The Way. But Stadium Arcadium didn't quite do the same thing.
I don't know. Maybe I'm speaking too soon. I will keep giving it more listens... I don't give up on an album so easily - and especially if its RHCP.... the band that provided the soundtrack to my teenage years.
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| 3 Comments: |
- At 9:02 AM, Steve said…
It took me a few weeks to get to the point where I liked all the songs. The second disc in particular is difficult to digest, but ends up being, perhaps, superior to the first disc.
That said, Rick Rubin has a habit of sucking all the life out of all the mixes he's done in the past 5 years or so. The records he's been producing sound ultra clean and 'perfect' but it makes the music lose a lot of its character along the way. Listen to another recent Rubin-produced record (Weezer - Make Believe, Audioslave - Out Of Exile for instance) to hear it again and again. When you consider he produced Blood Sugar Sex Magic it's kind of sad to hear how it is now. But maybe that's just my theory. And it's a very 'pop' mix too. The vocals and guitar are turned up so high that the rhythm section loses its punch.
I think you might start to like the album more when you're more familiar with the second disc. It's more dense and isn't instantly accessible like the first but I really think it's better off for that.
I think bands have a harder and harder time as each album comes out. With every album comes one more past album to compare them to, and particularly if you grew up on them, you're going to automatically judge them based on past albums. I remember doing it, being all "man I don't know about this" when By The Way came out. But that ended up being one of my favourite albums also. With every new album that comes out, it takes longer to "accept" that album as part of the growing collection. It seriously took me about 6 months to accept By The Way as part of the chili peppers discography, and it's probably going to be at least that long until I see this one truly standing up against the others.
Oh and "Midnight" off BTW is one of my favourite songs of all time.
Anyway I have crapped on too long and need to go to work. I have a feeling you'll end up liking the album one way or another. 28 tracks is like 2 christmases and a birthday all on the same day.
-Steve
- At 12:35 PM, Stellar Drella said…
Hey Steve :)
I actually warmed up to By The Way as soon as I heard it. Maybe because at that stage I was still obsessed with them and this time round I'm more capable of taking a unbiased judgment! But yeah, you're right. I'm still trying to warm up to Stadium Arcadium and probably would take me a while.
Meanwhile, I'm just going thru their back catalog again mainly because I haven't for such a long while. It's like discovering them again but this time, you actually know the words to the songs! I've stopped listening to them for so long that their songs have become fresh again for me. It's ace.
I wish Rick Rubin would go back to the early days of BSSM and Mothers Milk. I love the raw-er sound.
See you at trivia? We can discuss this further :P
- At 7:08 PM, Steve said…
Hope to be at trivia, pending current sickness :(
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Chez George
| shay jorj |
n. The blog of Georgina - perfectionist, realist, surrealist, futurist, modernist & romanticist. A confusing collection of thoughts, rants, art, music, dreams, opinions, news, photos and other random bullshit you didn't need to know about. Origin. mid 18th century French; Greek name for 'farmer'.
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It took me a few weeks to get to the point where I liked all the songs. The second disc in particular is difficult to digest, but ends up being, perhaps, superior to the first disc.
That said, Rick Rubin has a habit of sucking all the life out of all the mixes he's done in the past 5 years or so. The records he's been producing sound ultra clean and 'perfect' but it makes the music lose a lot of its character along the way. Listen to another recent Rubin-produced record (Weezer - Make Believe, Audioslave - Out Of Exile for instance) to hear it again and again. When you consider he produced Blood Sugar Sex Magic it's kind of sad to hear how it is now. But maybe that's just my theory. And it's a very 'pop' mix too. The vocals and guitar are turned up so high that the rhythm section loses its punch.
I think you might start to like the album more when you're more familiar with the second disc. It's more dense and isn't instantly accessible like the first but I really think it's better off for that.
I think bands have a harder and harder time as each album comes out. With every album comes one more past album to compare them to, and particularly if you grew up on them, you're going to automatically judge them based on past albums. I remember doing it, being all "man I don't know about this" when By The Way came out. But that ended up being one of my favourite albums also. With every new album that comes out, it takes longer to "accept" that album as part of the growing collection. It seriously took me about 6 months to accept By The Way as part of the chili peppers discography, and it's probably going to be at least that long until I see this one truly standing up against the others.
Oh and "Midnight" off BTW is one of my favourite songs of all time.
Anyway I have crapped on too long and need to go to work. I have a feeling you'll end up liking the album one way or another. 28 tracks is like 2 christmases and a birthday all on the same day.
-Steve