Which RHCP album do you like best?

[Mr. Air]

Titel says it all. Which RHCP do you like best and why?

I just listened to some RHCP in my car the other day and I thought I would be interesting to hear which album you prefer. My initial thought is that Blood, Sugar Sex, Magik will claim first place as it was the big brakthrough of the band, but I could be wrong.

As for my own vote I think I'll have to call it a dead race between Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik and One Hot Minute. BSSM is one big hit from the beginning to the end (minus "They're Red Hot"), but to me the musical style and expression is the same throughout the album apart from "Breaking the Girl", "I Could Have Lied" and the aoforementioned "They're Red Hot". This is not a bad thing, but it doesn't make the album  as challenging to listen to as One Hot Minute were RHCP experiments with new expressions. This can be examplified by the opening number "Warped" that begins very suttle and then changes into a hard rock/progressive rock/funk hybrid and ends as a pop rock song. On OHM the Chilies still delivers tracks with their trademark funk sound like "Aeroplane" and "Walkabout" but they cover so much more ground than they did on BSSM and that's why OHM is such a great album. RHCP could have stuck to the BSSM formula so that all the fans would have found them self at home, but in stead the went and reinvented their sound without losing the RHCP core.

So what do you think?

[Ian Price]

I'm a big fan of RHCP (and even more so of Frusciante)

I don't think you can really compare BSSM with OHM given that Navarro had replaced JF for that album. I really don't think Navarro was suited to the sound of RHCP. Great guitar player but wrong brand for his style.

I've seen them a bunch of times with 4 different guitarists (JF, Arik Marshall, Dave Navarro and Josh Klinghogfer). By far the weakest of these performances were with Arik Marshall and Navarro. Surprisingly I found them to a better live experience with Klinghoffer than with JF - strange given that Frusciante is my favourite guitarist (yes, I sound like a teenager).

Back on thread now! I don't think I have a "favourite" album of theirs as it all depends on what sort of mood I am in. If I were to pick right now though it would be something like:

Stadium Arcadium
I'm With You
Uplift Mofo Party Plan
By The Way

I'm not as familiar with OHM as I am with their other albums. Maybe I should give it an airing.

[Philly Q]

Blood Sugar Sex Magik

Hands down, no contest.

I also really like Mother's Milk, even though it was a "transitional" album and Frusciante was only just beginning to find his place in the band.  But it has an energy the recent material totally lacks.

I initially loved Californication and By the Way because they have some truly beautiful songs, but over time I've become disenchanted with how "samey" their songwriting has become.  And Stadium Arcadium was just too much in one go, a straw which broke the camel's back for me (like Smashing Pumpkins' Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness).

I haven't even heard I'm with You.  Apologies to Josh Klinghoffer, but I just took against the guy because (a) he's not Frusciante and (b) there's just something about the way he looks (I know that's ridiculous).

(Edit:  One Hot Minute - I like the album, I like Navarro, but I don't really think of it as a RHCP album.)

[Ian Price]

I initially loved Californication and By the Way because they have some truly beautiful songs, but over time I've become disenchanted with how "samey" their songwriting has become.  And Stadium Arcadium was just too much in one go, a straw which broke the camel's back for me (like Smashing Pumpkins' Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness).

I haven't even heard I'm with You.  Apologies to Josh Klinghoffer, but I just took against the guy because (a) he's not Frusciante and (b) there's just something about the way he looks (I know that's ridiculous).

(Edit:  One Hot Minute - I like the album, I like Navarro, but I don't really think of it as a RHCP album.)

I never really got into Californication even though there are some great songs on it.

I also had the same feelings about Josh Klinghoffer. After a few listens of I'm With You I almost convinced myself that Frusciante was playing on it (gasps) - he does use a lot of the same equipment and is a close friend of Frusciante and also 'jams' (I hate that word!) a lot with him.

On the subject of One Hot Minute I think that your reflection on it is about right in that it isn't really a RHCP album.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

Gotta go with BSSM.

[Elliot]

Again I am the minority report - Californication is the one for me.

[JJretroTONEGOD]

BSSM is my favourite by far, I haven't heard all of them though.

[itamar101]

BSSM
Californication

Blood Sugar Sex Magik is just an incredible album. One of the best albums of the 90s - and that's a big statement.
I really liked Californication aswell some beautiful song on there aswell as some really cool upbeat ones too.
In fact - I have enjoyed every album from Mothers Milk to Stadium Arcadium. I'm a massive Frusciante fan (even though I rarely play music that is anywhere near his style) and OHM wasn't too shabby either.

As for Im With You... I'm not a fan.
Klinghoffers playing was too "shy". Nothing memorable at all. Maybe if I had actually heard it I would have enjoyed it more. The mix was terrible and the guitar was seldom heard.
Keidis was also trying too hard to do special things with his not so special voice... Which sort of ruined the exciting funky vibe (this might be why I like BSSM so much).
The album jut felt too "proper funk" and not "Red Hot Funk".

That said... I went to see them live back in September and they were extraordinary. So much energy and they were TIGHT. Killing hidden was even jumping around with a broken leg!

[TheyCallMeVolume]

BSSM
Californication

Blood Sugar Sex Magik is just an incredible album. One of the best albums of the 90s - and that's a big statement.
I really liked Californication aswell some beautiful song on there aswell as some really cool upbeat ones too.
In fact - I have enjoyed every album from Mothers Milk to Stadium Arcadium. I'm a massive Frusciante fan (even though I rarely play music that is anywhere near his style) and OHM wasn't too shabby either.

As for Im With You... I'm not a fan.
Klinghoffers playing was too "shy". Nothing memorable at all. Maybe if I had actually heard it I would have enjoyed it more. The mix was terrible and the guitar was seldom heard.
Keidis was also trying too hard to do special things with his not so special voice... Which sort of ruined the exciting funky vibe (this might be why I like BSSM so much).
The album jut felt too "proper funk" and not "Red Hot Funk".

That said... I went to see them live back in September and they were extraordinary. So much energy and they were TIGHT. Killing hidden was even jumping around with a broken leg!

Killing hidden?

[itamar101]

cr@p... iPad autocorrect. Haha.
I meant Klinghoffer! :lol:

[TheyCallMeVolume]

cr@p... iPad autocorrect. Haha.
I meant Klinghoffer! :lol:

Gotta love autocorrect huh?

[Telerocker]

BSSM wind hands down for me.

[juansolo]

Gotta love autocorrect huh?

Thread drift, this had me struggling to breathe with tears running down my face: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/the-30-most-hilarious-autocorrect-struggles-ever

...and By The Way.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

Gotta love autocorrect huh?

Thread drift, this had me struggling to breathe with tears running down my face: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/the-30-most-hilarious-autocorrect-struggles-ever

...and By The Way.

Lol. I've had "sec" and "sex" autocorrected a few too many times. Asking my parents or bandmates to give me a sex certainly makes for an awkward conversation.

[Sifu Ben]

Toss up between BSSM and Californication. Both very different albums, the raw power of BSSM is infectious. Far less groove to Californication, but some truly memorable tracks, especially Otherside, and some great lines. I love the funk meets grunge vibe of Californication (although ironically I think the title track is probably the weakest).