By The Way- The Heart of Red Hot Chili Peppers

Yes, I do understand that it has been well over a decade since The Red Hot Chili Peppers released their eighth studio album! But I feel like when compared to its neighboring albums, By The Way sort of gets shoved under the rug, be it from their leviathan, twenty eight track double album Stadium Arcadium or their 1999 smash hit Californication. I'll provide some background information on the band during the time of By The Way's conception before breaking the album down for review.

Almost immediately after finishing a massive world tour following the international success of their previous album Californication, the band leaped back into the studio to begin brainstorming for their next release. John Frusciante, who played guitar for the band on their Mother's Milk and Blood Sugar Sex Magik albums, rejoined the band lineup for the recording of Californication immediately following his recovery from heroine addiction. During the years that John was not with the band he sold all of his guitars and hadn't played again until lead singer Anthony Kiedis and bassist Michael Balzary (Flea) reached out to him following the firing of Dave Navarro from the band. Similar to when the Chili Peppers asked him to join the band the first time, John was floored and overcome with emotion after being asked to rejoin them years later and gratefully accepted being welcomed back.

Though John was very rusty after the years he spent doing drugs, he was resolute in his decision to make the guitar his top priority again. Out of joy that John was rejoining the band, Kiedis went out and bought him a 1960s Fender Stratocaster electric guitar to supply him for the upcoming practices and recording sessions. Frusciante practiced almost nonstop during the recording of Californication and did not cease his long hours of practice even after the tour ended.

The reason I am focusing so much on John Frusciante before reviewing the album is because to me, John was the soul of By The Way. To avid listeners of the band, Californication was John's rebirth; he was growing and learning how to walk again. After Californication John had more time to practice and focus on the sounds he really wanted to make. He needed to play what was in his heart, and this desire to express himself after all of the years he could not was the most powerful force that drove The Red Hot Chili Peppers' eighth studio album (in my very humble opinion).

Beginning with the album's title track, By The Way packs a sweet yet funky punch. The main verses are filled with Anthony Kiedis' rap and Flea's intense bass riff while being pushed along with Chad Smith's fast and soulful rhythmic drum fills. The album's title track welcomes both old and new fans to the fold, incorporating both funky rhythms while still remaining incredibly catchy. But the seasoned fans who fell in love with the fast distorted funk rock sound that the band became famous for might lose their interest after this song. Chad Smith stated after the release of the record that it's "very honest, raw and emotional music. It's a very dynamic, rich and lush album." And he wasn't kidding, By The Way is the most emotional, and soulfully driven album I have ever heard the band release.

The next track, Universally Speaking, incorporates clean guitar rhythms equipped with chorus effects that made me feel like I was on a beach during a very sunny summer day. The closing guitar solo was the closest the group has ever been to sounding like a surf rock band, with its clean,  repeated and optimistic sounding melody. Kiedis sings of wooing a beautiful woman, and I can almost see them both on that same sunny beach. This probably sounds really lame (come on Mike, a beach? A sunny day? How full of shit are you?) but hear me out! You'll understand what I mean when you give the song a listen! It's one of the band's most beautiful love songs, and it's sure to put a smile on your face and have you humming along to the backup vocals that John provides.

While on the topic of backup vocals, John didn't hold back in putting his voice on every song of the album. It's obvious that he's very confident not only on the guitar but behind the microphone as well. There are many songs on the album that are strengthened by John's vocal harmonies, such as Dosed and The Zephyr Song. Two of the sweeter songs on the album, the choruses on Dosed are almost completely driven by John's voice taking the spotlight. I originally thought that the backup vocals on The Zephyr Song were sung by a woman, but as seen during the band's live concert at Slane Castle (My favorite concert DVD) John is great at hitting those really high vocal melodies.

Before you know it, Dosed, in its five minute length, is over leaving you wanting more just as the guitar solo brings the song to a close. John's solo on this track was a game changer for me when I first listened to By The Way in my sophomore year of high school. I used to believe before hearing it that all solos had something to prove to the audience. A musician needed to convey a message for everyone without a thought for his or herself. Frusciante threw these ideas out of my head on this track and during all of his live solos (most of which were never played the same way twice). The guitar solo on Dosed is so melodic, emotional, and playful. It's as emotional and loving as a hug from a loved one, or a kiss you sneak to your boy/girlfriend's cheek.

The guitar solos throughout By The Way are all beautiful, well written, and surprisingly simple. On many occasions I've attempted to figure out the guitar solos on a few of the other tracks including this one, and ended up figuring them out without much effort. This is not to say that the solos are all overly simplistic or lack creativity. What I mean to say is that I truly admire any musician who can incorporate a solo that is simple and yet evokes this level of excitement and happiness in me.

Dosed isn't the only song that provoked this reaction; the flange guitar effect on This Is The Place continues to amaze me years after first hearing it. Anthony Kiedis' lyrical writing on the track was another aspect of the listening experience that I truly enjoyed.  If John Frusciante was the soul of By The Way then Anthony Kiedis was the heart. He reflects on missing the funeral of the band's first guitarist and close friend Hillel Slovak, who died of a heroine overdose, due to his own drug addiction with lines like "On the day my best friend died I could not get my copper clean." You can really feel Kiedis' sorrow and regret on this track, which made me love the album even more. At the time Kiedis was still having some drug issues of his own, and the emotions that he incorporates into his lyrics on the album seemed more sincere and human when compared to all of the band's previous albums.

Can't Stop, one of the bands' biggest hits to date, is the funkiest tune that we get on the album. Once again Frusciante's minimalist approach to his solos, along with his beautiful backing vocal harmonies, give the song an emotional drive that is strengthened ever further by the rhythm section. A great talent of Chad Smith's, both on this song and well throughout his entire drumming career, is how easy it is for him to make us feel the emotion he is putting into his playing. Many of the beats are simple, but on Can't Stop, as well as on Throw Away Your Television, where the main push comes from the rhythm section, Smith never fails at submerging us within the atmospheres of the songs.

The only songs that I felt didn't bring it home for me were Cabron and Minor Thing. Both are very catchy tunes but get fairly repetitive after a while. They aren't bad songs at all, they just don't come close to reaching the emotional summit upon which the rest of the album stands.

Tear and On Mercury go hand in hand with each other because of how different they are next to one another. Whereas Tear is long, dramatic, and slow, On Mercury is fast, playful and upbeat. The trumpet solo on Tear is as unexpected, soulful and satisfying as the harmonica accompaniment of On Mercury.  Both of these tracks do well in preparing us for the final two tracks on the album, my two personal favorites

Warm Tape is without a doubt the weirdest song that I have ever heard the band release. The main melody, played on a synthesizer, is very clear and yet dissonant in its accompaniment with Flea's bass and Chad's drumming. It took a few listens for me to really enjoy the song. Before I started appreciating the track, I would immediately skip to the next song because the spaced out tone it gave off intimidated me. But the track is brilliant in its arrangement; the final twenty five seconds of the song include Flea plucking along to his mellow bass line while Anthony chants the last line "Settle for love" with the synthesizer pushing the finale to its peak intensity before the song dissolves into the air like a daydream.

Venice Queen is completely different from Warm Tape. Where Warm Tape was alluring in its straight tempo and spaced out atmosphere, Venice Queen is focused, poly-rhythmic and delivers a unique punch that I did not expect of the band. The first half of the track is slow and ominous, Flea and John play the same haunting melody over Kiedis' cryptic lyrics. Frusciante incorporates a fading in and out guitar echo with his volume knob while playing which really gives the song a ghostly feel before it eventually fades into its second half.

The second half hits you in the face with an unexpected acoustic guitar progression strummed very quickly. This sounds the charge for Chad and Flea to join in the much faster tempo set by John. Kiedis and John then begin to sing together, with Kiedis in the lead and John on backup. The songs' lyrics were written by Anthony to commemorate a California drug counselor, Gloria Scott, who helped him through many of his struggles with addiction. She was a great inspiration to him but unfortunately died of cancer soon after Kiedis left drugs behind. Venice Queen is not only a farewell to a dear friend of the band, but more broadly it is a goodbye that can be sung for anyone whom you have lost. But it isn't a sad song either, it's a respectful homage to anyone whom you have lost in your life. On no other Red Hot Chili Peppers album can I say that I have felt as awed and inspired as I did when first hearing Venice Queen.

Overall, By The Way is an excellent album that brought us to a place where the band had never previously ventured. Hearing John's growth as a guitarist following Californication was such a joy that inspired me greatly as a musician. By The Way  showed me that the band was not always on the sex and drugs side of rock and roll, and that they could take a moment to reflect on their lives in a serious and beautiful way.

I give By The Way 4 and a half out of 5 stars

All songs and albums mentioned have been linked to YouTube (for songs) and Amazon (for albums) for either listening or purchasing.

Our Love to Admire- Interpol's Stretch

A rock band hailing from New York (which only made me love them more), Interpol released their debut album, Turn on the Bright Lights in 2002 to almost universal praise. Their second album Antics, my personal favorite, was released two years later to reviews almost as shining as those received for their first. But instead of reviewing one of their first two most popular releases, I instead wanted to review their third record: Our Love to Admire, released in 2007.

Before purchasing Our Love to Admire, I was fairly skeptical. Having so thoroughly enjoyed their first two albums I didn't want to be disappointed. But I loved TOTBL and Antics far too much to discourage myself from listening to any of their following releases. After a few listens I found that there were parts of the album that I was disappointed with but also many parts that I truly enjoyed.

Beginning with Pioneer to the Falls, Daniel Kessler plays a slow and dissonant guitar melody which remains throughout most of the song before giving way to a beautiful guitar solo break. During this solo Daniel uses an octave guitar pedal to raise his already high pitched, and fast strummed solo another octave, which gave the impression that his guitar was screaming. It's easily my favorite part of the song, but this change in the melody doesn't last and instead of a smooth resolve, we are once again left with the beginning note melody that doesn't offer much more to the listener than it did at first, even with the addition of a string section behind it. Though it isn't a bad song, I quickly got bored of the main guitar and vocal melodies and found myself wanting to get to the second track a while before the song actually ended. The band could have trimmed the track down a good minute and a half before it eventually wore itself out.

I did really enjoy the following track, No I In Threesome, which remains consistently energetic and instrumentally beautiful. Be it from the simple piano accompaniment, Sam Fogarino's tight drumming, Daniel's clean and echoed guitar setting, or Carlos Dengler's consistently brilliant bass playing, every part of the band is moving at the same speed which makes it a great listen even after hearing it many times. But this energy isn't retained and soon dissipates after repeated rises and falls throughout the rest of the album.

I do believe that an album should be dynamic and have sections of varying intensities, but there just didn't seem to be much of a flow on Our Love to Admire. The record lacked a solid arc and in general the songs felt poorly arranged in their chosen track listing. I was most disappointed in the final track, The Lighthouse. The song, consisting mostly of just one guitar layer accompanied by Paul Bank's almost inaudible lyrics, just doesn't do justice to the great songs that were still present on the album and provides an anticlimactic end to an album that sorely needed a great conclusion.

Despite these points, Our Love to Admire is not a bad album. There are still a handful of songs that I couldn't get enough of. Heinrich Maneuver incorporates the rhythmic precision and melodic complexity that is also present on Antics. This was the first song I had ever heard by the band years ago when I was a kid in middle school, so hearing it again on its own album was a huge treat for me. This, as well as Who Do You Think, are probably the album's catchiest tunes, both being short, fast paced and almost impossible to get out of your head once they're there.

One of my two favorite tracks on the album, All Fired Up, incorporates some of the best guitar playing I've heard Paul and Daniel ever record. Each of them playing different parts on different beats really made the song come alive with an intensity I hadn't heard since PDA on their debut record. The final minute includes both guitars engaging in call and response solos that bounce off of each other with rising momentum until the song abruptly ends as the solos reach their highest pitch.

My other favorite track is Rest My Chemistry. Slower than All Fired Up, the song delivers the beautiful instrumentation that made me fall in love with the band in the first place. The fading in piano melody backed by string orchestration gives the song a mythical atmosphere and at many points I felt as if I was in space. Paul's lyrics are almost as haunting as the melodies themselves, with lines like "I've bathed in nothing but sweat, and I've made hallway scenes for things to regret" I couldn't help but relate to the contemplative and sad nature inherent in the song.

All in all, Our Love to Admire is a decent album. Interpol definitely showed growth in their methods of songwriting, but were not able to focus their efforts enough to discourage my opinion that they forced the songs out without arranging them in a more flowing manner.

I give Our Love to Admire 3 out of 5 stars.

All songs and albums mentioned have been linked to YouTube (for songs) and Amazon (for albums) for either listening or purchasing.

Our Deepest Glimpse into Sufjan Stevens Yet- Carrie & Lowell

Over the past two decades, Sufjan Stevens has gained success and praise from releasing records that both deny the demands of the mainstream music culture while retaining a distinctive brilliance that you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else.

My first experience listening to Stevens was back in 2006, during a time when my mom was really sick. When me and my dad would visit her in the hospital, we would always listen to Illinoise during the car rides there and back. It was a very sad time for all of us, but Illinoise, filled with a plethora of songs that continue to inspire me today, both cheered me up and helped me understand that it was alright to be sad, and that sometimes it's good to acknowledge and express that sadness if you want to get past it.

I started listening to Carrie & Lowell with high expectations and, as expected with every other album that I've listened to by Stevens, it had its own distinctive sound and layout. Where Michigan is strong in its instrumental complexities and Illinoise dense in its twenty two track length, Carrie & Lowell is incredibly potent and straight to the point in its forty-two minute duration.

But this is not to say that the album is too short or lacks any depth. Instead I wanted to make note that I've always had a habit of analyzing songs first on their instrumental arrangements before their vocal layers. So keeping this in mind, I was in disbelief when I found myself first listening to every single word that Sufjan whispered in a soft, and at many points, pained voice before the string sections.

This brings me to the songs that stuck out to me the most: Fourth of July and John My Beloved. These songs are my favorites on the record, but I do not mean to say that the rest of the album is not as good; these two tracks are simply diamonds in a goldmine.

Fourth of July is the deepest representation of the sadness that Stevens expresses on the record. If ever you have lost a loved one, then this song is likely to hit you the hardest. The song, to me, was a conversation between Stevens and his mother. Some lines such as "Now where am I? My fading supply" are answered with others such as "Did you get enough love, my little Dove? Why do you cry? And I'm sorry I left, but it was for the best, though it never felt right" and "Make the most of your life while it is rife, while it is light." Hearing these powerful words, which hint at past conflicts between Stevens and his mother as well as describing the challenge he faced in accepting her death, brought tears to my eyes before I even knew what they were for, during my first listen.

Concluding with the repeated line "We're all gonna die", Fourth of July felt like the goodbye that we all have to accept or give one day, the acknowledgement of the impermanence of life and its fragility. The piano accompaniment on the song gives the tune an eerie and haunting atmosphere, one that will stay with you throughout your day. You're completely immersed in a sadness that most of us would prefer to run from if we were facing it in our own lives.

John My Beloved accomplishes much of what Fourth of July does in that it reflects more on Stevens' mental conflict of leaving a loved one behind. But this time it seems that it is he who is going to die, not the other way around. He begs for closure with lines like "So can we contend peacefully before my history ends?" The honesty that the lyrics express (as with every other song on the album) will continue to humble you after every listen. Despite the subjects that give the entire album its strong foundation, Sufjan's lyrical sincerity paired with the instrumentation on John My Beloved somehow give off a hopeful feeling of perseverence. By admitting that you are at a low, and confronting your conflict, you can only push forward from there.

I can go on forever analyzing each track off of the album, but I'll try to be concise for the rest of this review. After a few more listens I was able to accept and truly enjoy the instrumental minimalism that contribute to the album's intensity. The album itself maintains a fairly quiet tone throughout its entire duration, but this in no way is a bad thing.

Many of the songs on the record conclude with instrumental interludes and absolutely no time is wasted in these sections. They not only provide deeper and clearer identities for the songs they are found in, but they also allow you more time to digest the song you just heard before the album progresses to the next one.

A prime example of this is the first track, titled Death with Dignity. Its final forty seconds incorporate a lap steel guitar paired with multiple harmonized vocal layers. Following the seemingly cheerful tone of the first three minutes, these last moments provide a magisterial beauty and warmth that I can only describe by comparing it to hearing the voice of a loved one waking you from a nightmare in the morning.

While it's true that Carrie & Lowell is a very sad record, the sadness that you will feel during and after listening to it is a sadness that is beautiful and healthy to acknowledge, though you may not like to immediately admit it.

In conclusion, Carrie & Lowell is much more than simply a collection of songs Stevens dedicated to his mother and stepfather. They are entire moments of his life; moments that we are sucked into willingly or not. Sufjan has placed on this record one of the most intimate parts of his soul, something that takes so much courage and strength. I only have thanks for him in allowing all of his listeners the chance to see so deeply into him.

I give Carrie & Lowell 5 out of 5 stars.

All albums and songs mentioned have been linked to Youtube (for songs) and Amazon (for albums) for either listening or purchasing.

Living in Dookie's Shadow or, In Defense of "Insomniac"

It's been twenty years since Green Day released their fourth studio album: Insomniac. To most people this album was simply the record after Dookie, the album that shot the band into their massive mainstream success.  Without the sales and radio play that contributed to Dookie's success, it was easy to shove Insomniac under the rug.

Before I go any further, I want to clarify that in no way do I mean to attack or trash Dookie.  I grew up blasting "When I Come Around" and "Welcome to Paradise" in my room which, along with the other fantastic tunes on the album cemented Green Day as my favorite band even now as I write this review. 

So when I first gave Insomniac a listen back in the later years of the 2000s I was not blown away.  I even went so far as to consider it Green Day's least inspiring album when compared to the gems on Dookie and Kerplunk! Only when I found myself continually going back to the listen to it over and over again on my way home from high school did I slowly begin to realize that the album was having a profound effect on me. 

Clocking in at a little more than a half hour, Insomniac takes no prisoners in its loud and heavy distorted attack. Opening with Tre Cool's drum fill on "Armatage Shanks" I immediately heard this albums greatest strength: the rhythm section. 

Throughout the entire record if you weren't sold on the quick and catchy tunes Billie Joe Armstrong sings in a voice which, to me, differs from every other Green Day record in its almost incoherent and rough timbre, then you can't help but tap along to Tre's drum parts or hum to the involving and melodic bass lines Mike Dirnt is tearing through.  

Tre and Mike never fail to deliver a mean rhythm section for Billie Joe to sing and play guitar over, and it's most apparent on this record.  The song that stuck with me (no pun intended) the most on the record was "Panic Song" which is driven by Mike's power strumming in the beginning and is then joined by the rest of the band in what can only be described as distorted punk machine gun fire. In this buildup Tre also makes fantastic use of the toms in a beat which stumped one of my old bandmates when trying to cover the song. This buildup takes up the first half of the tune before exploding into the verses and choruses of the song. Along with other songs like "Stuart and the Avenue" I can say without any doubt that Mike Dirnt's bass playing shines the most on Insomniac.  

Moving on to the guitar playing on the record, I loved Billie's heavy and thick distortion and how it really immersed me in a punk sound that at the time I was not familiar with. On many albums that I love, there has always been at least one point on the record where things slow down for a ballad and then pick up once again. This was not even close to the case for Insomniac; another reason I loved the record. It sounds like the band is never moving or changing instruments as the album plays through which adds a much more intimate and genuine feeling to the album which I really loved. 

Something I always made note of on the record were the lack of any guitar solos. Being a guitarist myself, I'm always up to hear a good solo here or there. But not so with Insomniac. On many occasions there are parts of the songs where it is clear that a guitar solo could have been dubbed there. But Billie Joe never did this, another aspect of the record I always respected. On most of the Green Day records it's clear that Billie always wants to go for a "less is more" approach when it comes to guitar melody and guitar solos. And this really makes you appreciate the guitar solos when they do come. All in all, the instrumentation really shined on Insomniac. It wasn't all about the lyrics and singing, instead it was more about every instrument and the effect each band member had on the songs, no part was diminished in importance.

The albums short length always leaves me wondering if I really listened to an entire album.  In today's culture where so much importance is placed on concision and how quick and to the point your message is, Insomniac shoves itself in your face and leaves before you can feel its punch. To me, Insomniac not only reaches the bar that Dookie left, but exceeds it.

All albums and songs mentioned have been linked to Youtube (for songs) and Amazon (for albums) for either listening or purchasing.

Out of 5 I give Insomniac 4 and a half stars.