Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium

Genre rock Publisher Warner Bros. Records External Links Official Red Hot Chili Peppers Website Official Warner Bros Website

If there's one group that has absolutely no business stretching their limited resources any thinner it would have to be the Red Hot Chili Peppers. A solid live act and a killer "Greatest Hits" band for sure, but front to back their single album releases have taken some patience to slog through and at 28 tracks spread over two discs (one dubbed "Jupiter," the other, "Mars") Stadium Arcadium is a mind-numbing audio ordeal in one sitting.

However, there is some good to very strong material here, particularly on the "Mars" side. I'm not sure what the story is with "Jupiter," quite frankly. "Jupiter's" 14 tracks nearly made me want to crack both discs in half and stomp on them until they took on powder form. For quick boiling down: "Jupiter" is for you if you're more a fan of the band's By The Way & Californication period what with its more cloistered arrangements and larger pop sensibility; while "Mars" is more akin to Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik and perhaps aspects of Mother's Milk or One Hot Minute (the most maligned of the band's catalog, but it has its moments in "Warped," "My Friends" and "Aeroplane").

Oddly enough, the tracks on "Jupiter" that work the best are the more inane ones, something that is surprising considering the band's been doing this shtick for a very long time. A double team of "Hump de Bump" and "She's Only 18" bust out with the most energy and abandon. Guitarist John Frusciante, a performer I'm not remotely as fond of as his cult-ish fans are, tears it up particularly on "18." On the "Mars" side "Desecration Smile" and "Readymade" loom largest, but the second disc overall is quite strong, featuring the band at their loudest and fiercest.

Singer Anthony Kiedis's voice may have grown a bit over the years, but I'd much rather go back to the days when he was unintelligible. The lyrics this preening monkey spits out are groan worthy at best and wincingly awful at worst. Also, and I am not making fun of it, but Kiedis' lisp is always a put-off. His oft-used state/city references sinks lead single "Dani California," and the gentle, genteel "Slow Cheetah" is the Peppers at their most MOR. "Slow Cheetah" is representative of Stadium Arcadium's overall weakness. The song and the band coast tepidly on half of this album, giving the listener the impression that, while it may have been a blast to chill out and record the album (drummer Chad Smith had tracked his drum parts a full year before the album's completion, giving him a great vacation I would imagine), a little more fire under the band's collective asses would've yielded stronger results.

Blame producer Rick Rubin for this, at least partially. Though it was the band's decision to stick with someone they're "comfortable" with. When they first hooked up with Rubin on 1991's Blood, Sugar... he was still fresh off producing rappers and the band obviously vibed strongly with him. But with each successive release the liveliness of the playing has been reigned in and the perfunctory playing has been ratcheted up many notches. The nadir being 2002's By The Way an abortion of a record wherein the band went out of their way to craft simplistic pop hooks that veered as far away from their funk roots as possible. The band, particularly Flea, have indicated in recent interviews that they were close to falling apart on that record, with the bassist indicating he had every intention of quitting after their touring for it was done.

But with this album the band squashed any strained interpersonal relationships and the creativity surged forth. But again, editing is needed. 28 tracks is too much for this band and their limited capacity. Whereas the three musicians (Flea, Chad and Frusciante) have formed a tight, jamming unit, Kiedis tends to muck things up with his mook sing-song vocals and lyrics. But when you look at the percentages, the good outweighs the bad by a slight margin. Oddly enough, this is indeed a record perfect for the summer season.