Sputnik
From Sputnik Music
Before we start I am fully aware that this is not just a John Fruscainte album and that Josh klinghoffer plays just as big a role but under the band title John Frusciante/ Josh Klinghoffer it got no views so i have deicided to change it to just John Frusciante.
Sphere
A multi-layered keyboard provided by Klinghoffer opens up this track and though you may expect it to go somewhere in the 8 and a half minutes but it really doesn’t. There is a small solo by Frusciante at 4:30 followed by an even shorter one by Klinghoffer, but all in all its not a perfect song to start an album with, very similar to failure33object off “Shadows collide with people”.
The Afterglow
Possibly my equal favourite track on the album. It opens with a very up tempo electronic synth drum loop with John saying “undenied” over and over again mixed with a bit of his trade mark falsetto. In comes a catchy little guitar/bass line that leads to the first verse which adds another guitar layer in and features John’s brilliant dark lyrics also in a high pitched “by the way†style voice. It is surprisingly interesting and easy to listen to considering the same drum loop is played for the whole 5:19 of the song. The main line is this song is “death before life†which again gives you a feel of the dark mood on this album, though this is probably the happiest sounding song.
Walls
Another drum loop opener this time a disco sounding ultra keyboard sounding one, then enters a white-noise keyboard 2-not riff with John doing some nice rough blues style singing over the top. Then over the top of that comes in Klinghoffer’s vocal debut on this album, and surprisingly enough he sounds like a woman.. I Know its bizarre but it’s not a high pitched woman its more like a deep voiced woman if that makes sense but he still has an extremely well trained voice and he compliments and contradicts Frusciante perfectly. The song then keeps building out without any instruments being taken away only loop noises added until the song sounds like a multi layered electronic experiment, the noises then drop away and we are left with the same disco drum beat as an outro. Again a very different sound but still enjoyable, one of the more normal on the album.
Communique
My (equal) favourite track, which is one of two vocal/piano tracks. Josh performs the whole song. The track starts with an awesome slow piano line and then Josh’s equally good lyrics come in . All the lyrics on this album are very unspecific and obscure and this track is no exception, so I can’t really provide an insight into song meanings but I would believe it to be something sorrowful and personal due to the music.
At your enemies
Sounds almost like a glockenspiel at the start of this song playing a very slow sad riff, which is then met with Josh’s vocals with a lot of echo, then in comes one of the first distinct bass lines on the album. A hugely melodic song and the vocals soar high above the main riff and then return. It becomes apparent at this point of the album that Josh has far more range than John and is suitable to the sadder songs. Th song build up and then returns to he simple glockenspiel line several times then the glockenspiel line plays again and fades out. Another haunting track due to Josh’s voice.
Surrogate People
A slow acoustic riff with white noise in the background is joined by some of Klinghoffer’s again soaring vocals that by this stage you would be used to, Frusciante acts as a choir in the background supporting Josh even further. Drums are a nice addition to this song, as the last two tracks had none what so ever. After the first chorus we are treated with a Frusciante style guitar solo that fits in nicely to this obscure electro-acoustic song. Frusciante then takes the reigns on lead vocals. Again this song doesn’t build up much but has traces of John’s earlier work.
My Life
This is the second solo piano/vocal song this time it’s Frusciante. Probably my least favourite track, it is only 1:35 and is not nearly as dark as communique but still has a nice chorus with John wailing “Life was never what you thoughtâ€, It ends quite abruptly.
This album definitely needs a lot of time to grow on you, but it is worth it as it is very unique both to Frusciante and music in general. If you are a Frusciante fan most people would tell you to stay away from this one but I say go and buy it so you can get a good gauge on who Frusciante actually is as a musician. This album focuses more on the two artists writing and composing abilities over musicianship and this is really shown on communique, walls and The afterglow. You will find each time you listen to this album the more normal it sounds to you.
