Dailynebrascan.com

11th November 2004, Daly Nebrascan

Album of ’emptiness’ full of emotion

By CLAY MASTERS / Daily Nebraskan

“As the spirit wanes, the form appears.”

This is a short poem called “Art” written by well-known poet Charles Bukowski. The poem is a short breath that says the form of art appears through the weakening of one’s spirit.

John Frusciante, best known as the lead guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, seems to have created the art Bukowski writes about with the creation of his album “Inside of Emptiness.”

Frusciante currently is working on several releases in an ongoing series of albums. “Inside of Emptiness” is his fourth and by far the deepest album of this series thus far. He explores elements of time, love and angst that aren’t normally sung about. Nothing about this album is cliché; it all feels incredibly original.

Beware though, if you’re a big fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, don’t expect this to be similar to that of the modern rock band.

Frusciante’s albums are much more roughly put together and feel more under-produced. This adds a level of intimacy that the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ albums seem to lack. This album goes to show just how versatile Frusciante is as a guitarist.

“I go to hell to do what I sell,” explains Frusciante in the first track, titled “What I Saw,” which again touches with how this album feels so much like Bukowski’s poem.

Frusciante has had his share of lows, but through his struggles he’s able to create wonderful pieces of “art.”

In “What I Saw,” Frusciante dives into a deeper notion of being and time with lyrics like “Time can’t be, it can’t see,” and “Can the end of today be more than tonight?” What Frusciante does is asks the question, “What if time was a secondary element?”

Without the presence of time as a crutch, one can feel the true elements of being. And once we escape time as a crutch we will be free to actually “be.” Frusciante makes this clear when he says, “give me your hands, and we’ll never die.”

The centerpiece of “Inside of Emptiness” is the pivotal tune “Look On.” In this song, Frusciante realizes, “When I thought life was terrible, things were going fine,” and says now he’s empty inside. The elements Frusciante tackles in this song have to do with the obvious theme: emptiness.

With “Look On” he takes his ideas to a new level. A pencil and paper are his best friends, and he finds himself flipping through empty pages that he thought he had written on. He realizes he can’t distinguish real life from dreaming.

Essentially what Frusciante tries to do with “Look On” is take the same element of time he used in “What I Saw.” But how do these two elements interact with our notion of time? How do we handle our emptiness? These are the questions Frusciante tries to answer.

Frusciante’s voice is one of the things that makes this album so beautiful. He has an incredible range and his falsetto is flawless. This is evident on “Interior Two,” a love song.

“Wherever did we find this night, I’ll come back in another life,” he sings.

Frusciante is able to create a new essence of love that seems to work well with the albums theme.

“Emptiness,” “I’m Around” and “666” were all written while Frusciante was reading an Aleister Crowley biography. Crowley was a self-proclaimed drug and sex fiend and the leader of a cult called Ordo Templi Orientis.

“Each of these three songs, in their own way, are the result of me thinking about him and his life,” Frusciante said on his Web site, www.johnfrusciante.com.

Frusciante has another three albums to come out this year in his series, but it will be hard to top such a wonderfully crafted piece of art like “Inside of Emptiness.”

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