2004, Eesti Express (Estonia)
thanks to Grete-Liis for the translation

Today, we can be sure of two things. Firstly, we can call Frusciante’s experiment a success, though he has completed only 5 albums of the 6 he originally promised. And secondly, he has done a disservice for all his fellow-rock-stars. I can imagine how difficult it will be for some other genius to explain to the record company why the album isn’t finished yet, even though the deadline is long overdue. I can see the record company guy saying to the poor genius: “You say you need more time so that you can give a final touch for the songs? But what about Frusciante, how did he manage to do it all on time, huh!?”

How he does it, well perhaps this is not so important. “Inside of Emptiness”, inspired by Velvet Underground and Iggy Pop, is the most rock-ish of all his this 2004 solo albums. Noisy guitar and mature, smokey falsetto. Companied by his pal Klinghoffer, John Frusciante walks calmly along his own path. Some seriously magnificent songs. Thank you and respect. 9

Mart Juur

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2004, Eesti Express (Estonia)
many thanks to Grete-Liis for the translation

Peppers guitarist’s fourth solo-creation.

Maybe starting from today and further on, the solo albums by guitarist from famous rock bands will not sound like a selection of noisy chords by Spinal Tap. Because Frusciante, known to us as a Red Hot Chili Pepper, tries to create something different – tries to be a enlightened mainstream, a mainstream-rock that is supported by its own artfulness. And to name a few…Fleetwood Mac here, Mercury Rev and Flaming Lips in elsewhere. And almost no guitar solos. Nope, those little references I revealed as a preview, don’t mean anything yet. And another nope, the last claim isn’t necessarily a compliment, even though it might have seemed so at first. I just want to say that Frusciante digs a little bit deeper than first expected. And a bit further from the given spot.

There are very few serious problems here, but his singing voice – gaunt and whiny – is definitely one of them. It hurts the least when the result should actually sound slightly unstylish and bloodless indie-pop (Wednesday’s Song for an example). But the attempts to rock die imediately when the vocal appears. Not that I actually wanted it to survive – to soberly evaluate the material. Oh and also, then there are those funny electronic bits and the best of them “00Ghost27” is just enough good to be mentioned here, but not enough to earn it’s own epithet.

5/10

–Tőnis Kahu

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