Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (1999)

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are mostly known for jumping around on stage in their underwear on The Simpsons and for brazenly performing the 2014 Superbowl show with unplugged instruments. To me they're a band that rich executives hire when they want to seem edgy but not be too offensive, which explains why they were randomly at the Superbowl in 2014. It's not that Red Hot Chili Peppers aren't a bit edgy, it's that their heyday is well since passed and most people are bored with their shtick.

The Chili Peppers play a decent mix of funk and metal, largely driven by heavy performances from bass player Flea. I think the problem most people have, and that I largely agree with, is they haven't updated their sound in 20 years. Granted I might only have that opinion because I'm only familiar with stuff they released 20 years ago, like Californication and that song, I think it's called, "Gibbit Away Now." If I'm being unfair I apologize. Before I'm too critical I might as well listen to a bit of the album and see how much they suck.

Oh man, huge flashback moment. If you turned on the radio at some point from 2000 to 2003 you know the song "Scar Tissue." It's like a microcosm of every piece of squishy alt rock dreck from the late 90s, the shining summit of turd mountain. I haven't heard it in years and I don't think I ever recognized it as a Chili Peppers tune. Remember how I called this band edgy? Never mind.

The title track is another sapfest, and way back in high school made me realize that singers love rhyming words that end in "AY-shun". From this song alone Anthony Kiedis rhymes "Californication" with elation, quotation, civilization, location, constellation, information, station, creation, vibration, and ... basement. Close enough, right?

I appreciate how the band mixes up the songs and play more than just fast funky metal or cheesy soft rock. I'm not sure I really like "Porcelain" which is a slow lounge ballad, but it's nice that the album isn't totally monotonous despite all the songs featuring a similar sound. It's also cool to hear songs change and go through different movements. The Chili Peppers are really tight and talented, and although I complain a lot about their sappier numbers this album is pretty solid. I wish they had used a different closing track. "Road Trippin'" is lovely (and actually uses a mellotron correctly!) but was way too soft to close out a Chili Peppers album.

Still, I generally liked what I heard. 3 stars.