The Bradley Scout review of TROWFTD

10th February 2001, The Bradley Scout (USA)

During the summer of 1994, around the release of his debut solo album “Niandra Lades & Usually Just a T-Shirt,” a Swedish film crew doing a documentary on the Red Hot Chili Peppers found guitarist John Frusciante hidden away in his California home.

Pale as a ghost and almost skeletal-looking, Frusciante obviously had fallen deep into the clutches of heroin, which he claimed never to have touched before leaving the Red Hot Chili Peppers two years earlier. He spoke mostly about how he used the drug to block out the ugliness in his life.

After experiencing amazing highs when “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” rocked the charts across the United States, Frusciante accused the music industry of “breaking (his) heart” and turned his back on it to venture out alone.

Now, going through terrible lows, he admittedly recorded his solo album debut mostly for drug money.

After several years of constant heroin abuse and seclusion, Frusciante was convinced to enter rehab by friends (among them was Chili Peppers bassist Flea, who had continued to visit Frusciante after his departure). Frusciante came out clean as the day he was born.

Hearing that the talented guitarist was healthy and playing music again, Flea visited him for an impromptu jam session and afterward asked him to rejoin the band.

With the release of “Californication” in 1999, the Red Hot Chili Peppers re-established themselves as one of the premiere bands of the `90s and of the new millennium.

Frusciante’s ability to do insane things with the guitar (like play it in the bathtub without electrocuting himself) caused the Chili Peppers to sign him on in the late `80s when he was only 17, and that same talent stood out in “Californication.”

His soulful and bluesy, yet sometimes insanely chaotic sound created the backdrop to huge radio hits such as “Otherside” and “Around the World.”

Amazingly, Frusciante plays every instrument on his albums, including the vocals, and at times pulls it off rather well.

On top of that, his three CDs also are entirely self-written and self-produced, allowing Frusciante complete musical freedom.

While he has come through this time clean and sober, making an album full of creative, inspiring songs, this kind of freedom doesn’t always work for the best.

Frusciante’s first album, “Niandra Lades and Sometimes Just a T-Shirt,” was created mostly from scattered fragments of songs seemingly built around a single thought, connecting with the listener only during brief high moments.

The record seemed somewhat disoriented to the listener – 27 songs with the last 13 not even named – but perhaps only those going through the same ordeal Frusciante was when he recorded it were meant to understand.

His vocals, while sometimes meshing well with his music, cannot compare to those of Chili Peppers vocalist Anthony Kiedis.

On songs like “Ten to Butter Blood Voodoo,” the pain that comes from such profound drug addiction is apparent in his voice. Sometimes clues appear as to how Frusciante got into his dire situation, such as in the unappealing song, “Blood On My Neck From Success.”

On his good days, songs like “Soul Removal” were recorded. Backed by only a melodic acoustic guitar rhythm, Frusciante’s timid voice croons about a tumultuous life in a Bob Dylan-like fashion.

“Smile From the Streets You Hold” was Frusciante’s second release. While still disjointed and confused in places, this album at least was better produced. It didn’t sound like it was recorded in a crackhouse with a Fisher Price cassette player.

Using better equipment and sobering up helped Frusciante get his ideas across better on this album. Although many of his ideas at the time still were depressing, the record seemed a better musical effort than the first.

In the title song, for example, Frusciante’s trippy guitar effects almost resembled “Purple Haze,” and Bob Dylan influences could be seen in “Height Down.”

Still being able to pull off the masters proved that this guitar prodigy had not lost any skill in his craft.

His vocal strength, however, didn’t improve too much on “Smile …” He still sounded a bit weak. On the upside, though, he didn’t scream nearly as much.

Finally, Frusciante seems to have filled out his sound musically on his latest effort, “To Record Only Water for 10 Days.”

Apparently he is working with a drummer now – a good thing because of how much of his earlier work lacked a coherent beat.

Now that the songs are kept tighter and a bit cleaner, Frusciante is free to wander farther out and come back sounding sane.

Also, his latest album seems to have actually been recorded in a studio (way to finally get out of the house!).

Having all the right equipment has enabled Frusciante to turn the volume down on his vocals and up on what matters – his talent with instruments.

“Going Inside,” the opening song, is interjected with loud, wailing guitar noises, backed by bluesy riffs.

Unlike most of Frusciante’s earlier work, which was similar to his guitar effects on “Californication,” this album seems to have moved completely away from any Red Hot Chili Peppers sound.

On this song, he even lowers his voice to match the blues rhythm, creating an appealing sound unlike anything he’s done before.

“Moments Have You” also is another new sound for Frusciante, as this song has a perky beat and seems more optimistic in tone than any of his earlier recordings.

Using a controlled falsetto, he matches his voice to eerie keyboards in the background, creating a mellow, pleasant-sounding song.

Most of the rest of “To Record …” also displays Frusciante’s new laid-back attitude.

That’s probably because Frusciante focused more on producing music than raising drug money this time.

Along with “To Record Only Water for 10 Days,” Frusciante has released several new demo recordings on Napster.

Among the best of these releases are “Places To Drive,” which sounds like early, long-haired hippie-stage Beck; “Cut Myself Out,” in which Frusciante lowers his voice to an almost Eddie Vedder-like groan; and “Untitled 2000,” which makes use of a Carlos Santana-sounding solo.

Frusciante has continued to make important music through unbearable heights and life threatening lows.

His latest album definitely is the best to date, and with it he has proven that making quality music while holding complete creative control is possible.

— Dan Bradley More