Wednesday 7 September 2011

Red Hot Chili Peppers- I'm With You

So from reading other music blogs I've realized that I kinda write about mainstream music... Well. Yeah, I'm sorry, I do and well I guess there has to one or two of us sickening degenerates. And with that in mind today I talk about one of the biggest bands of all time... Again.


So... The album cover is cool... I like the whole thing with the fly and the pill. And then in the inside cover the fly is sitting on all these other pills and then on like the last page the fly is dead... So yeah, that's cool... Flies. They're cool.


Oh! And they got a new guitarist! In erm... (Wiki says) 2009 they're old guitarist, John Frusciante left the band! How about that! So... Yeah, they got this new guy, Josh Klinghoffer. He isn't bad.


So... The album art is good and erm, they got a new guitarist! Ooh! And ahh, flea dyed his hair green and Anthony Kiedis grew a mustache that kinda makes him look like a mix between Freddy Mercury and some guy from a porno movie. Speaking of Freddy, it was his birthday recently, this week or last week I think.


So yeah, Plug in your head, see ya next time, I'm now gonna wallow in the remnants of the RHCP's career...








...






Fine, I'll talk about the freaking album!


Ok so before I start, I never had high hopes for this album. I always thought it was gonna be bad and well, it was. But lets not look only at the bad! Flea's hair is green! And well I guess some songs are pretty cool.


So it starts off with, Track 1, Monarchy of Roses. It kinda sounds like some crappy garage band that's only in it for  the "Bitches" and the partying. The kinda band that only does Sum 41 and Blink-182 covers. And then the vocals come in and it sounds like the lead singer of The Mars Volta came to play! But then BAM! The Chorus comes in and it's all ORGANISED and OVER PRODUCED! YAY! And of course in usual RHCP fashion the lyrics make no sense but... Lyrics- Good! This song honestly sounds like they're trying to go back to how they sounded before Stadium Arcadium. But eh.


Ok now I feel kinda hypocritical cuz Track 2, Factory of Faith isn't just ok. It's actually fuckin' awesome! I love the bass and the lyrics are really cool. I love his voice and the vocal melody is pretty badass. But then that generic piece of shit that they call a chorus comes in and I automatically think, Hey! I've heard this before! IN THE LAST FUCKING SONG! Now they aren't exactly the same, but for both songs it kinda seems like they put in a chorus because they thought that it's too unconventional to not have a chorus. But still, that bass is really cool! 
My Girl Friend bought the album and played it to me and my friend who's a bassist, (You know who you are!) and the next day he goes to learn how to play it and he's like, damn... This is hard. And it may not sound it but if you listen carefully, every barre is different. But I don't like the guitar AT ALL! It sounds like they recorded one guitar part and used Ctrl+C Ctrl+V throughout the entire song where they felt a guitar part should be seriously! Every part is identical.


On to Track 3, Brendan's Death Song, Eh.


Ok then there's like 4 songs until you get the next note worthy song. Track 7, The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie. This was the first single off the album and I instantly thought Ooh! I like this! Then of course the dreaded Chorus. God, just... Just stop it guys. And I know that all they're lyrics make no sense and that's excusable. But really! 


"Tic toc I want to 
Rock you like the 80's
Cock Blockin' isn't Allowed."


And then it goes on with some other crappy lyrics I can't bare to convey to you due to respect in you, me and the music industry. He then starts doing that thing he did in Around the World where he starts replacing all words with random syllables. It kinda worked in Around the World, but not in this song. So Lyrics- Bad


Finally I think that Track 12, Even You Brutus? is interesting. Not great, but interesting. It bugs me that he says, 
"God is Good and Fate is Great." Not because I am anti-religion, Not at all, in fact earlier this year I was filling in as a guitarist at a church. But I don't like it when bands flaunt their religious views in their music. I feel like it alienates a large portion of their listeners who don't have the same view points as them. That's why I try to avoid listening to Religious bands, (With exception of Die Straatligkinders (An Afrikaans Punk Metal Band) and Daemon Hunter, because they either scream so I can't understand them or it's in a different language so I can't understand them.)
The thing I find interesting about this Track is that they kinda do this Hip-Hop thing and He, well, Raps? It was weird when I first heard it because it was different, but it wasn't necessarily bad.


I feel like this whole album is like a step backwards to what they used to have and what they used to be. Like they felt that Stadium Arcadium was a mistake and that it shouldn't be repeated. But Track 12 is certainly a step forward. I've always loved it when bands try to combine genres because it shows that they aren't close minded. For instance I loved the Track KoRn did with Skrillex! That fusion between Metal and Dubstep was genius! And The RHCP have always had this combination of Rock and Funk, but a band shouldn't get comfortable with their music, it must always challenge them and I think that this song must have been quite tricky to wrap their brains around cuz they aren't Hip Hop at all!


So yes, there are, as someone said to me (You know who you are!) a few gems in this album and the other songs are kinda just there. They aren't really something special. But it's not that they are bad songs, it's just that a band of this calibre is almost expected to create master pieces. So I am not in any way saying don't listen to this album, Hell! Even buy it if you like! Just it isn't their best. But then again, at least it isn't as bad as One Hot Minute. That album isn't even just boring, it's actually bad! I find it hard to listen to. But that's all I will say on that.


I hate to say this and it may upset many people, but I feel that perhaps RHCP should have broken up after Stadium. Because all to often, bands try to keep going on and they just tarnish their reputation and keep making bad albums. ACDC for instance, does anyone REALLY like Black Ice? It has a few good songs but it just isn't great. Bands should start following the example of The White Stripes. I was sad when they broke up because they were and still are one of my all time favourite bands, but I feel they ended on a high note and if they carried on, they would have made disappointing records.


So Yeah. Here's a Link to The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie on YouTube. Unfortunately, it isn't up on Grooveshark yet.


So tell me what you think of I'm With You. You can leave a comment, you can e-mail me at Xtianzzyzx@gmail.com you can Tweet me on @Xtianzzyzx You can ALSO leave a comment on the Plug in Your Head, Facebook page.


Please +1 my blog, and follow it. And if you think it's worth a mention, tell your friends. And don't forget that you can recommend me new music as well! I'll be sure to review it!


I'll be back next week with another Recommendation, so until then, Turn Up the Volume and Plug in Your Head!

Xtian Zzyzx

2 comments:

  1. im putting this on reddit. you deserve it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow. Man please ask permission to post my work on another site. And if you are going to, please email me to ask permission instead of posting a comment.

    ReplyDelete

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