Rolling Stone name RHCP the band of the year & more
Rolling Stone named RHCP the band of the year!
The Red Hot Chili Peppers came back strong, matured with a new kind of world-weathered wisdom but still crazed in all their original sock-dicked glory. They dropped a massive double-disc opus, Stadium Arcadium, that became their first Number One album – and possibly their best ever. The band kicked it on the road with abandon, climaxing festivals from Lollapalooza to Vegoose as well as every place in between. But the emotional highlight may have been the Voodoo Music Experience festival in New Orleans, where the Peppers brought the funk back home in a headlining jam with the reunited original lineup of the Meters. It was a fitting triumph for the newly reflective, adult Chili Peppers. “It’s about surviving, starting fresh,” Anthony Kiedis said. “I’ve made a mess of everything, but I have a blank slate – a canvas of snow – and I get to start over.”
Stadium Arcadium was named number 2 in the top 50 albums of the year:
Love songs, nothing but love songs, across two CDs of encyclopedic variety and explosive verve: Stadium Arcadium, the Chili Peppers’ first Number One album, is also a confessional and creative triumph. Anthony Kiedis sings of commitment and contentment with naked need and joy, as the rest of the band swings through psychedelic bravado, sunburst pop and supercharged funk, often in the same song. The icing everywhere: John Frusciante’s Hendrix-in-my-head guitar flourishes and blowouts.
Tell Me Baby was named number 22 in the Top 100 songs of the year:
The Chili Peppers mix socks-on-dicks-era crunch with a comforting pop sweetness that burst into Hendrix-style flames when John Frusciante steps up.
*Many thanks to wonderful Marian for having typed this out.
