Daily Nebraskan review of TROWFTD
20th February 2001, Daily Nebraskan (USA)
John Frusciante should be the poster boy for the war against drugs, and “To Record Only Water for Ten Days” could serve as the anthem.
Frusciante, the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, fought addictions to hard drugs through most of the ’90s, leaving his body a complete mess.
Frusciante’s story begins with gleeful rock success. The high school dropout discovered the Chili Peppers early in their career, becoming an instant fan of their college radio combination of funk, rap, and rock.
In 1988, Hillel Slovak, the Peppers’ founding guitarist, died of a drug overdose, and Frusciante was invited to become part of one of his favorite bands. The first album he contributed to, “Mother’s Milk,” was the first Peppers’ albums to go gold. The second, “Blood Sugar Sex Magik,” propelled the Peppers into the mainstream with the hits “Under the Bridge” and “Give It Away.”
His fame collided with heroin, and he left the band halfway through the Japanese tour for “Blood Sugar Sex Magik.”
He seemed to drop off the face of the earth, releasing virtually unknown solo albums in ’95 and ’97. Finally, with the help of friends, Frusciante checked into rehab.
In an act of celestial destiny, Frusciante came out of rehab as the Peppers were firing Dave Navarro, one of the myriad of guitarists who tried to fill Frusciante’s spot in the band. Frusciante was asked to rejoin the band, and he enthusiastically accepted.
A year later, the Peppers released “Californication,” quite possibly their most celebrated album, which makes one believe that the creative abilities of Frusciante are essential to the Peppers’ success.
But from reviewing Frusciante’s newest solo album, that theory is blown out of the water.
The 15-song album, with an average song length of 2:50, falls short in almost every aspect.
I feel as if Frusciante’s demo for “To Record Only Water” was released instead of the album itself. The recording quality is very sub-par. His vocals, slurred speech behind a wall of brain damage, sound like they were recorded through a telephone. When his singing reaches higher volumes, it distorts into a cloud of fuzz.
Frusciante’s guitar playing on “To Record Only Water” is simplistic, to say the least. The songs don’t seem to be propelled by any energy, and the skill he used on “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” doesn’t appear in his solo effort.
To finalize my theory that we are simply experiencing the demo version of the album, the drum tracks are completely mindless electronic patterns, looped continually from the time the song begins to the last note played.
Every song seems to have potential that is never reached. The lack of dynamic variation makes the entire album sound flat and unfinished.
The album’s best tracks are the short “Ramparts” and “Murderers,” instrumental tunes that sound like outtakes from “Californication.” The dueling guitar parts on both songs create dreamlike images that speak tomes without the use of voice.
It’s “Ramparts” and “Murderers” that leave me with some belief that Frusciante still has the ability to construct impressive riffs. If “To Record Only Water” included only instrumentals, it may be worthy of praise, but the other 13 tracks make a good case against sticking a needle in your arm.
— Andrew Shaw
