Star E-Central review of Niandra
From Star E-Central (Malaysia)
In my review of Stadium Arcadium, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ most recent LP, I mentioned that 36-year-old axe-slinger John Frusciante has, since 1998, been the central figure of the Chili renaissance. His current full-time job aside, the last few years have also seen Frusciante make notable contributions to records by the likes of Fishbone, the late Johnny Cash and The Mars Volta. Unfortunately, Frusciante’s solo albums are a whole other story.
Of his many solo outings, 2001’s To Record Only Water for Ten Days remains his most coherent. With drugs no longer a part of his life, Frusciante’s songs on that LP seemed focused and fully realised (though his low-grade Captain Beefheart vocals were still beyond help). The coherence wasn’t to last, though.
Beginning in February 2004 and ending exactly 12 months later, Frusciante released a total of six full-length albums and one EP. One of these – Shadows Collide with People – was reasonably pleasurable but the remainder harked back to a more psychedelic/ avant-garde time. However, while there were obvious reminders of a long-forgotten past, none of the releases were nearly as wacky as Frusciante’s earliest solo record – 1994’s Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt.
A prized collector’s item until American Recordings decided to re-release it last year, the album is actually two records in one. The first 12 tracks that make up Niandra LaDes are supposedly meant as a film soundtrack. As for the second part … well, it’s possible that not even the composer himself has any idea what the 13 untitled cuts of Usually Just a T-Shirt are supposed to represent. After all, the John Frusciante of 12 years ago was pumped so full of heroin he once claimed to have been visited by celestial beings every single day!
Still, despite the overwhelming eeriness and inconsistency, this album is worth investigating. Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt is strange, psychotic and quite often disturbing, but it does throw up odd moments of innovation that may just allow fans a clearer understanding of Frusciante’s journey from troubled soul to one of the best living axe-men.
If Stadium Arcadium shows a musician at his most professional and accomplished, then Niandra LaDes is the work of a confused and vulnerable kid who was never more than two steps from utter ruin. And in the grand scheme of contemporary rock, perhaps, “both†Frusciante’s personalities deserve to be remembered and afforded respect.
