Rock Sound
from Rock Sound magazine
John Frusciante is one of the most inspired and inspirational – not to mention prolific – artists working in rock music right now. Not only has the guitarist revilatised the fortunes of the Chili Peppers mothership with his return to the fold, he has also released solo albums of such depth and emotional force that they give the impression of having been torn directly from his soul rather than recorded. Ataxia is a slightly different proposition, being a three-way experiment conducted by Frusciante, regular collaborator Josh Klinghoffer and Fugazi’s Joe Lally. The end result suggests a less claustrophobic take on PIL’s ‘Metal Box’ brightened by Frusciante’s keening vocals and expressive bursts of fluid guitar. ‘Automatic Writing’ is undoubtably a self-indulgent exercise but it’s also a fascinating and rewarding glimpse of yet another side to this most quixotic of rock musicians.
8 (out of 10)
—Joe Stannard
