Isdnews.com
from isdnews.com
Frusciante finds clarity in the ‘Shadows’ – From sock on cock to art rock
John Frusciante’s fourth solo album, Shadows Collide with People, is a scatterbrained, eclectic tour de force and a joy to listen to. His guitar work, so sharp and funky for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, mellows for his solo work, and to beautiful effect. Frusciante gets experimental, as he has on his last three solo albums, but this time it really works. This album, though encompassing a wide variety of styles and genres, is ultimately rock music made very, very prettily. It has a rock-snob feel, but when it sounds this good, who cares?
It’s impossible to discuss Frusciante without discussing the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but it’s easy to now see how he fits into the sound scheme of the band. Frusciante, widely regarded as a boy-genius guitarist, joined the Chili Peppers at age 19 for the album Mother’s Milk. Since, he’s been penning beautiful riffs which sometimes carry over to his solo work. His work on Shadows, though, is gentler than his work for RHCP. On Shadows, Flea chimes in on bass, although not with his infamous slap-bass style.
The album’s standout song is “This Cold,” whose title belies it’s upbeat tempo and radio-ready sound. It is the most accessible work on the album and sounds great in a car (especially with the windows down). Good rock made great, “This Cold” alone makes the album worth buying.
Other standout songs include “Omission,” a shockingly powerful piece that’s a little stronger than a ballad, which revels in it’s religious imagery and use of choral voices and select vocal distortion. But the distortion used beautifully in the background of “Omission” is overused in “Regret,” the album’s one over-wrought number. “-00Ghost27” is perhaps the album’s strangest song — it sounds like Sigur Rós remixed by Allison Goldfrapp. But it too is beautiful, if only because the discordant sounds manage to come together into a coherent song. “Failure33 Object” is the most experimental song on the album — it sounds like a Bach two-part invention performed on sythesized guitar. The experiment pans out because the song sounds great on headphones when the stereo effect fully kicks in.
Ultimately, the album doesn’t provide a relaxing listen, but that’s not what Frusciante was going for. Shadows Collide with People, while a challenge to listen to, is easy to enjoy.
—Kehla West
