Red Hot Chili Peppers
One of the true kings of funk rock in the 80's, the RHCP have changed and morphed with the times, and have amazingly been mainstream and in the public eye since the late 80's.
The RHCP do seem to polarize, it seems, with various factions of their fans enjoying only certain time periods of their catalogue, whether it be the funky stuff of the 80's, the alt rock of the mid 90's, or the more melodic guitar-based songs of the late 90's/00's. What albums do I think are the best? Read on....
The Red Hot Chili Peppers (1984) ***
Not a bad start. Funky, sometimes rocking, it wrapped up what the band members were about at the time; parties, drugs and just rocking out. There are a few songs that aren't great (Mommy Where's Daddy is just weird, and not in a cool way), but the foundation has been set for the albums prosecutors.
Anthony's rapping and Flea's bass are especially prominent on the album, and the shorter, punchier songs (Out in LA, Get Up And Jump) are catchy and True Men Kill Coyotes is a good try for their first hit.
Still, overall, the album is raw, and quite badly produced, which diminishes the power somewhat. Still a good starting block for the band, without it's key members in guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons, who would return later.
Freaky Styley (1985) ***
A step further into funk. Producer George Clinton obviously wielded a large amount of control, and leaves us with a very funky, but inconsistent album.
A big problem for me is the short "songs" (Lovin' And Touchin', Thrity Dirty Birds) which are quite frankly irritating and provide absolutely nothing to the album, even if they only waste a combined 50 seconds.
The highlights here are great though. Hollywood is a slow funk song, that manages to retain interest over the five minutes, while Nevermind has a great groove and interesting vocals from Anthony. Kudos must go to Catholic School Girls Rule, if not only for the song title/theme and the good riff from the recently returned Slovak.
A quirk of sorts in the RHCP catalogue, and almost the most love/hate album they have released (asides from One Hot Minute, of course).
