Red Hot Chili Peppers Stadium Arcadium CD

Red Hot Chili Peppers: Flea , John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith .
Personnel: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (guitar); Richard Dodd (cello); Brad Warnaar (French horn); Michael Bolger (trombone); Billy Preston (tambourine); Paulinho DeCosta, Lenny Castro (percussion).
Audio Mixers: Andrew Scheps; Ryan Hewitt.
Recording information: Akademie Mathematique Of Philosophical Research; Little Kicker Sound; The Center For The Cultivation Of The Invisible; The Mansion Of Laurel Canyon.
Photographers: Michael Muller; Gus Van Sant.
An ambitious double album, STADIUM ARCADIUM finds the Red Hot Chili Peppers building on their more mature, latter-day approach, while also acknowledging their lighthearted, youthful sound. The Los Angeles-based funk-rock quartet's third studio outing since John Frusciante returned to the fold, this 2006 release once again reinforces how crucial the guitarist is to the Peppers' aesthetic, with his mix of swirling, psychedelic leads and heavy riffs providing the perfect foil to Flea's bold bass heroics. (Instrumentally, the record also benefits from guest appearances by Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez, percussionists Paulinho Da Costa and Lenny Castro, and the legendary Billy Preston on clavinet.)
Remarkably consistent for a two-disc, 28-song offering, STADIUM ARCADIUM kicks off with "Dani California," an energetic track that hints at a Beatles influence, while showcasing vocalist Anthony Kiedis's neo-rap delivery and the tight rhythmic interplay of Flea and drummer Chad Smith. Other highlights of this collection include the emotive "Wet Sand" and the frenetic "Torture Me," which provide nice counterpoints to loose, limber tunes such as the funk workouts "Hump De Bump" and "C'mon Girl." In many ways a culmination of the Chili Peppers' decades-spanning musical evolution, STADIUM ARCADIUM stands as one of the group's most impressive efforts.
Indulgence has long been a way of life for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, yet they resisted the siren's call of the double album until 2006's Stadium Arcadium. Sure, 1991's breakthrough Blood Sugar Sex Magik was as long as a classic double LP, but such distinctions mattered little in the era when vinyl gave way to CD, and they matter less now, as the CD gradually gives way to digital-only releases. In fact, like how Blood Sugar was the tipping point when the LPs ceded ground to CDs, Stadium Arcadium could be seen as the point when albums were seen as a collection of digital playlists. Yes, it's pressed up as a two-disc set -- including an extravagant but pointless special edition housed in a clunky box that includes a make-yer-own-spinning-top -- but this is an album that's designed for you to mix and match, create your own playlist, rip and burn on your own. It's designed for you to sequence its 28 songs in some kind of cohesive manner, since the band sure didn't take the time to do that here; it's the first major album by a major band that makes as much sense on random as it does in its proper sequencing. Well, that's not entirely true: the official 28-song album does begin with "Dani California," the clearest single here, the one thing that truly grabs attention upon first listen and worms its way into your subconscious, where it just won't let go, as so much of Anthony Kiedis' catchiest melodies do. After that, it's a long, winding path of alternately spacey and sunny pop, ballads, and the occasional funk workout that used to be the Chili Peppers' signature but now functions as a way to break up the monotony. And there needs to be something to break up the monotony, not because the music is bad but because it all exists at the same level and is given a flat, colorless production that has become the signature of Rick Rubin as of late.
Rubin may be able to create the right atmosphere for Flea and John Frusciante to run wild creatively -- an opportunity that they seize here, which is indeed a pleasure to hear -- but he does nothing to encourage them toRolling Stone (pp.225-226) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[Flea] finally cuts loose again here, reasserting himself as the best non-hip-hop reason to buy a subwoofer."
Rolling Stone (p.102) - Ranked #2 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "[A] confessional and creative triumph."
Entertainment Weekly (p.79) - "John Frusciante lays down his sledgehammer riffs, Kiedis begins to actually sing the elegiac chorus, the golden harmonies of the bridge kick in, and by the end, you're blindsided by how great it all sounds." -- Grade: B+
Q (p.126) - Ranked #4 in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums of 2006" -- "[With] funk-rock rhythms, Californian harmonies and bittersweet themes."
Kerrang (Magazine) (p.47) - "There are hidden depths here, melodies that become more insistent and subtleties that reveal themselves from where they sit modestly beneath the surface."
Q (Magazine) (p.106) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "[Frusciante] has brought a sense of experimentation to a band not renowned for dabbling with the unorthodox. It's testament to his new-found vocabulary that no two songs sound the same."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.110) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "It's the sound of a band on a roll....The unbridled creativity here is a cause for celebration."