Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'Greatest Hits' (Warner)
4/5
By: Toby L
Fan or not, you must give it up for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. A band that, despite copious, past heroin-addictions, member-departures (both temporary and fatally permanent), and times of sheer musical distress (remember their right-on, funk-rock origins, people? Yikes...), RHCP are now one of the world's best-selling, largest and influential rock-bands of our time.
And, bafflingly, RHCP are equally loved by a legion of ageing hippie-rockaz, early-twenties pundits, and high-street shopping oiks, teen-urchins and kids. And, presumably to target the latter in time of the lucrative, pre-holidays, 'best-of'-hunting public at large, 'Greatest Hits' is a populist retrospective that namely focuses on the quartet's past decade of hit-making.
Thus, naturally, over sixteen tracks, it bears all the chart-defining smashes (their signature opus 'Under The Bridge'; virtually every other bleedin' track off their true, second-wave commercial-breakthrough, 'Californication'), leaves out all the thrilling, exciting stuff that amassed during Jane's Addiction member Dave Navarro's time with the band (namely, the gripping shock-rock of 'Warped'), and provides a touch of new material (recent top-20, 'Fortune Faded' - essentially the Chili's by numbers - and 'Save The Population').
So, yes - you've pretty much got it all, already. But, if not, then this is most certainly an arguably apt stocking-filler - particularly the stadium-rock heights of the sleepy, Mexican summer dreariness of 'Scar Tissue', eccentric, Eastern-flavoured majesty of 'Breaking The Girl' (replete with vocalist Anthony Kiedis' partially flat vocals), acoustic strumming of 'My Friends' and the anthemic sing-a-longs - 'By The Way', 'Universally Speaking', 'Give It Away'.
And for all the criticisms of outright commercialism, one thing that Red Hot Chili Peppers can't be ostracised against is an outlandish emulation of those before them; Flea's intricate, driving bass-lines, Frusciente's distinct guitars, Chad Smith's commanding percussion and Kiedis' rapid-fire delivery form a collective-singularity rivalled only by RHCP's potential future output. And judging by their track-record to date, the combo's impending works are likely to impact just as greatly as prior exponents.
The lesson? Clearly, a band with issues, historic trauma, legacy, is a band with the capacity to most significantly herald iconic status - a stature that this foursome has unquestionably risen to, and not without heartache or loss... Evidently, some privileges in life are best earned the hard way.
Artists in this article: Red Hot Chili Peppers
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