Rockol.it review of SCWP
02nd March 2004, Rockol.it
translated by me
John Frusciante is a living demonstration of how geniuses of rock can be unusual and restless; how they can be people who, when they feel like it, create miniature masterpieces. His story goes like this: the taste of success with the Red Hot Chili Peppers (where he was the engine that was moving them, do you remember Under The Bridge), drugs, leaving the band, leaving everything (including music), while his ex-band was nothing like it was with him. Then the story continues with his return the band, their becoming even more succesful (it gives that one of the reasons for the Peppers’ success is his return) and solo albums.
While the Peppers were at the peak of celebrating their success, three years ago; he recoeded To Record Only Water For Ten Days. That was the moment when our vision of this somewhat bizzare artist, a bit burned-out from drugs but always keen to experiment with music changed and grew rapidly.
Shadows Collide With People is a minuature jewel of rock; rock that appears to be as twisted as its author. Songs that start in a very simple way are suddenly taking strange roads, haunted by bizzare sounds and ethearal intermezzo instruments, that resemble Radiohead’s Kid A period; and such songs are altering with unclear visions of pop such as Omission.
It is, however, neccessary to say that Shadows Collide With People is an album less twisted than its preceedor. In fact, it seems that Frusciante took a coumpletely different and more successful road than what was the case with allmost of To Record Only Water For Ten Days, apart from Gong Inside, the direction of which he decided to follow. And so, Carvel and Regret are a bit like Peppers’ ballads and sound like promising rock songs. Hadn’t we known Frusciante, or if this was album of an outsider, it would surely be called a miracle. Melodises of guitars in Song To Sing When I’m Lonely or Time Goes Back are true jewels of the singer-songwriter rock, while the next song, In Relief has a long instrumental intro, just like a piece by the acoustic rocker Ben Harper, and then it continues into something that sounds like solo work of The Verve’s Richard Ashcroft. Water is more electrical and funky, so it’ll please Pepper-fans; and the album could indeed be like one of the Californian band’s ones; minus the voice of Anthony Kiedis.
So, in case you didn’t realise that yet, Shadows Collide With People is a must-have. A must-have if you like RHCP, but also if you don’t like them. A must-have if you like singer-songwriters, a must-have if you like a somewhat experimental approach to alternative rock. A must-have because Frusciante is the incarnation of the perfection outside of the stereotype of a visionary rocker: a bit cursed, but overall great and never banal.
