Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'Stadium Arcadium'

When John Frusciante rejoined Red Hot Chili Peppers prior to recording their hit record Californication, the appearance – and perhaps the reality – was that the Chilis had graciously extended a merciful hand to the returning guitarist, who basically spent his time off from the band as a full-blown junkie. Responsible for the fretwork on the band’s biggest album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Frusciante was a welcome change for the Chilis following the relative flop of One Hot Minute (and quick arrival and departure of guitarist Dave Navarro). Upon its release, Californication was rightly hailed as both a return to top form and a mature breakthrough, smoothing out the funkier edges of the band and introducing a sound more in line with the age of the band. From out of nowhere, Red Hot Chili Peppers became elder statesman of rock and roll.

Then something even more surprising occurred - Frusciante became a brilliant musician and guitarist. For years, the role of guitarist had been the revolving door of the Chilis. However, their most unexpected hit (and the bane of many early fans) “Under The Bridge” owed a significant portion of its success to Frusciante’s memorable and gentle guitar parts. That watershed moment would wield an unexpected force over Californication’s successor By The Way. Professing a Brian Wilson fetish and exhibiting a new minimalist guitar style, Frusciante became the driving force behind that record which expanded the Chilis sound to include gorgeous Beach Boys-style harmonies and soaring pop choruses. I'm sure By The Way is a favorite of many fans (myself included), but I doubt any of them count Uplift Mofo Party Plan as their second favorite.

Now comes the double album Stadium Arcadium, 28 songs of Chili Pepper glory. My most consistent complaint about any particular Chili Pepper album is the tendency to jam too much filler onto an 80-minute CD. So just imagine my trepidation about a double album – though in the iPod age, “too many songs” is kind of an outdated objection. In any case, Stadium Arcadium suffers from way less filler than most of its predecessors (though Disc 2 starts to stretch it a little). This is attributable to a number of factors. For starters, the whole band appears to find a voice on this record. Though I’d still argue that Frusciante is the star of the band, Keidis in particular allows his personality to peek through all of the songs. Flea – who apparently felt boxed out during the making of By The Way – brings his unique gifts to the party a good deal more this time. And the good-natured Chad Smith still holds this big mess together with his usual solid drumming.

But the dominant and defining factor continues to be the evolving and fiery guitar work of John Frusciante. Not content to just slap a guitar part or solo on a track, Frusciante has evolved into the most talented and adventurous guitarist working in a mainstream rock band today (see "Turn It Again" for evidence). Ditching much of the beautiful melodicism of By The Way for a more raw and aggressive presence, Frusciante laces even the duller tracks with inventive ideas and sounds. In almost every case, these tracks require multiple listens just to peel apart the layers of sound largely supplied by the fingers of Frusciante. And his influence lingers in the West Coast harmonies that still lurk beneath quite a few of these tracks, including even many of the heavier rockers.

Which is not short change the rest of the Chilis. Stadium Arcadium represents the clearest realization of this particular band’s vision to date. Keidis in particular deserves high praise for continuing to evolve into an evocative rock singer, a far cry from the band’s early albums. By The Way is a wonderful album, but even I’m forced to acknowledge that the Chilis could easily sink under the weight of such an aggressively pop-oriented vision. But I like all of their recent records a good deal more knowing that they were leading up to Stadium Arcadium. Though it has more than a handful of the band’s best work, it also serves as a handy overview of the Chilis’ later work. Frusciante is such a surprising and staggering talent that it’s easy to give him too much credit for the record – Stadium Arcadium is clearly the work of a band clicking on all cylinders.