August 16, 1985 - Freaky Styley
Two months since my last release and a year after their self-titled debut, Red Hot Chili Peppers released their second album "Freaky Styley" on August 16, 1985. During the tour supporting their debut album, lead singer Anthony Kiedis and guitarist Jack Sherman were not on good terms and Sherman ended up being fired by the band. He is replaced by the band's founding guitarist Hillel Slovak and they also sought out new producer George Clinton. The band were experiencing issues with drugs already in their career and this album would not be successful commercially but it's another stepping stone for these funk rockers. Let's check it out!
That is the end of "Freaky Styley" and I thought it was a decent album, but it leaned on the more comical side than the true musicianship side. I'm all for having fun while recording and I enjoyed some of their quirkier songs but there were a lot of them on this album. I thought they balanced things better on their debut album and even though I think Hillel Slovak is a better guitarist than Jack Sherman, I think their self-titled debut is better than this newest offering. But RHCP continue to offer a unique brand of music and I look forward to the next one!
The album kicks off with it's first single "Jungle Man" and Flea drives the main riff with some solid funky bass while Slovak comes in and out with some decent guitar. Kiedis's vocals are in the same style as their debut album as he still sounds a little immature and unpolished. The verse flows right into a similar chorus and aside from the name of the song it's a bit difficult to hear what Kiedis is saying on this one. The music is decent and has a catchy beat though as they start up another verse. After another verse and chorus we hear Slovak's first guitar solo and while I don't think it matches the rest of the song very well, it was a pretty cool solo! It just seemed like an odd place for it and they're not really sure what to do next as they stumble their way back to the chorus. Certainly not a smooth prog segue and overall this seems like an odd choice for the "big hit" single. The next song was their only other single: a cover of the song "Africa" by The Meters, but RHCP changed all the lyrics to be about their native Los Angeles, resulting in the title "Hollywood (Africa)". Slovak leads the way on this song with a catchy and cool guitar riff and Kiedis sounds way better on this song. His voice is much clearer and he sounds more like his usual self, singing quickly along. There's also some horns that I always find a welcome addition as they spice this catchy beat up even more. The chorus is a little uneventful with the whole band singing the name of the song together several times but the verse is full of cool music. After another verse and chorus Slovak gets another chance to solo and this time it fits the mood perfectly as he plays a cool solo. It's not too complicated, but it sounds great and after quieting things down briefly they ramp back up into the chorus. As they continue to jam out the chorus we hear some trumpet start to stand out amongst the music and I think it sounds great! The horns are he highlight for me as this song slowly jams out to the end. Track 3 is "American Ghost Dance" and Flea plays some great bass while Kiedis nicely raps overtop and the horns sound good once again, adding some nice emphasis to the riff. Slovak finally shows up for the chorus and he plays some cool guitar while everyone says the name of the song together. As good as the guitar is, I like that it's not a part of the verse as Flea is doing a fine job on his own! He is a really good bassist and continues to come up with some great funkadelic bass lines. They don't stray away from this verse/chorus formula but it's still a pretty cool song and I didn't find that things were getting old at all. Up next is another cover titled "If You Want Me To Stay", orginally by Sly & the Family Stone. Once again we have a good combination of guitar, bass, drums and horns that makes for another catchy main riff as Kiedis sounds like he's having fun singing this one. He accents a lot of words heavily and the charismatic frontman leads the way as they jam out another catchy riff that doesn't seem to get boring for basically this whole four minute song. Track 5 is called "Nevermind" and Kiedis starts off this party anthem with some quick, hilarious lines: "Yo in the middle of June in the summer of '59
I was young and cool, shot a bad game of pool, and I hustled all the chumps I could find. Now they call me the swan cause I wave my magic wand and I loved all the women to death. I partied hard, packed a mean rod, and I'll knock you out with a right or left". That's quite the opening and the band comes roaring in with a party jam that sounds a lot like their first album. It's very fast-paced and Kiedis lists some other artists that we should apparently not listen to, "'cause we're the red hot chili peppers!" In case you didn't already know! They play a couple more quick verses and choruses before Slovak delivers a short but decent solo. One more verse and chorus follows before they end things with some heavy distortion that might hurt your ears a bit! Up next is the title track "Freaky Styley" and a slow but cool bass riff by Flea drives this song. Slovak slowly fades in on guitar and he plays some trippy, very distorted guitar overtop the main riff. Kiedis sings quietly in this one and although it's hard to hear everything he says, you can make out " fuck 'em, just to see the look on their face". They don't stray from this formula for the whole song and it's yet another weird offering from these guys that isn't bad by any means, but also isn't great either. Track 7 is "Blackeyed Blonde" and it's played at a pretty fast pace with Flea and Cliff Martinez kicking things off with a cool rhythm section. Slovak plays a fast and cool guitar riff to match and Kiedis sings along very quickly in this verse that seems fit for a chase scene! It's a funky and very catchy beat and Kiedis sings lyrics about this beautiful woman that "little boy will clean your clock!" The lyrics are very sexual and immature but the music sounds quite mature as everyone sounds great and perfectly in time on this fast song. After a couple goes round they focus on Flea's bass (which sounds awesome as usual) and he sets the stage nicely for the guitar solo. It's another short but sweet solo from Slovak and they quickly resume the main riff and play out a final verse and chorus to finish things off. The next song is called "The Brothers Cup" and Flea lays down another great bass line to set the mood as Slovak plays a nice guitar riff and the horns return and as usual spice things up. The horns help to make things sound more commercial I feel and this song feels like a potential single instead of a weird song. It's a very catchy main beat and Kiedis sings nicely along to it, using his typical higher voice in the verse, but also a nice low voice in the chorus. The music stays the same for both as once again they're happy to jam out a great beat once they find one. After another verse and chorus the guitar drops out so we can really hear Flea's great bass playing and what sounds like a small child takes over the vocals. This young kid talks overtop the cool bass and it's definitely an odd choice that seems very out of place. After this weird bit the guitar and horns rejoin and they jam out a final verse and chorus. Track 9 is the two-minute "Battleship" and it seems like this album's "Police Helicopter" as they come roaring out of the gate with a fast and furious riff. Everyone is playing really quickly but again Flea stands out as his bass sounds wonderful. Kiedis sings or rather yells overtop this nice fast riff and they zip right through a couple verses. Slovak and Flea both play some cool stuff in a short instrumental bit and after quieting things down for effect, they storm back in to finish off this short but cool song. The next song, "Lovin' And Touchin'" is just 36 seconds long and features Kiedis singing in a soft, almost romantic voice while Slovak plays some light guitar. This very short love song is decent for such a short song but it's certainly unlike RHCP. The next song sounds much more up their alley, titled "Catholic School Girls Rule". Another two-minute song, they kick right into another catchy main riff led by some sweet guitar by Slovak. Kiedis does sing a couple short verses on his own, but most of this song is just jamming out the chorus, which has everyone chanting the name of the song over and over. It's not very creative, but it's pretty catchy and Slovak is the real highlight, playing some cool guitar the while way through. The short songs continue as we have another sexually charged two-minute song called "Sex Rap" and it's exactly what it says it is. Kiedis raps very quickly about various sexual things overtop another fast-paced riff and while these short quirky songs are fun, I do prefer their more standard songs. Slovak lets loose for a cool solo in the middle of the song, then Kiedis continues his rap until the end of the song. The next song is actually the shortest on the album at just 14 seconds, titled "Thirty Dirty Birds". It's actually Hillel Slovak who does the vocals and this extremely short song is just him rhyming words in a weird accent. It does sound pretty funny and if you thought that was weird then wait for the album's final song. It's called "Yertle The Turtle" and it's lyrics are all taken from the Dr. Seuss book of the same name! A Dr. Seuss musical cover is certainly something I thought I'd never see but RHCP have done it and they hilariously open the song with "look at that turtle go bro!" Kiedis begins singing the book and it somehow fits perfectly with a typical funky Chili Peppers riff. Slovak plays a nice guitar riff and Flea keeps the pace with some cool bass as Kiedis reads children's books to us! The horns return in the instrumental sections between verses and that part sounds really great and catchy! The verse is solid as well as they make this work spectacularly. It's quite a cool little song and a very Chili Peppers way to close things out.
I was young and cool, shot a bad game of pool, and I hustled all the chumps I could find. Now they call me the swan cause I wave my magic wand and I loved all the women to death. I partied hard, packed a mean rod, and I'll knock you out with a right or left". That's quite the opening and the band comes roaring in with a party jam that sounds a lot like their first album. It's very fast-paced and Kiedis lists some other artists that we should apparently not listen to, "'cause we're the red hot chili peppers!" In case you didn't already know! They play a couple more quick verses and choruses before Slovak delivers a short but decent solo. One more verse and chorus follows before they end things with some heavy distortion that might hurt your ears a bit! Up next is the title track "Freaky Styley" and a slow but cool bass riff by Flea drives this song. Slovak slowly fades in on guitar and he plays some trippy, very distorted guitar overtop the main riff. Kiedis sings quietly in this one and although it's hard to hear everything he says, you can make out " fuck 'em, just to see the look on their face". They don't stray from this formula for the whole song and it's yet another weird offering from these guys that isn't bad by any means, but also isn't great either. Track 7 is "Blackeyed Blonde" and it's played at a pretty fast pace with Flea and Cliff Martinez kicking things off with a cool rhythm section. Slovak plays a fast and cool guitar riff to match and Kiedis sings along very quickly in this verse that seems fit for a chase scene! It's a funky and very catchy beat and Kiedis sings lyrics about this beautiful woman that "little boy will clean your clock!" The lyrics are very sexual and immature but the music sounds quite mature as everyone sounds great and perfectly in time on this fast song. After a couple goes round they focus on Flea's bass (which sounds awesome as usual) and he sets the stage nicely for the guitar solo. It's another short but sweet solo from Slovak and they quickly resume the main riff and play out a final verse and chorus to finish things off. The next song is called "The Brothers Cup" and Flea lays down another great bass line to set the mood as Slovak plays a nice guitar riff and the horns return and as usual spice things up. The horns help to make things sound more commercial I feel and this song feels like a potential single instead of a weird song. It's a very catchy main beat and Kiedis sings nicely along to it, using his typical higher voice in the verse, but also a nice low voice in the chorus. The music stays the same for both as once again they're happy to jam out a great beat once they find one. After another verse and chorus the guitar drops out so we can really hear Flea's great bass playing and what sounds like a small child takes over the vocals. This young kid talks overtop the cool bass and it's definitely an odd choice that seems very out of place. After this weird bit the guitar and horns rejoin and they jam out a final verse and chorus. Track 9 is the two-minute "Battleship" and it seems like this album's "Police Helicopter" as they come roaring out of the gate with a fast and furious riff. Everyone is playing really quickly but again Flea stands out as his bass sounds wonderful. Kiedis sings or rather yells overtop this nice fast riff and they zip right through a couple verses. Slovak and Flea both play some cool stuff in a short instrumental bit and after quieting things down for effect, they storm back in to finish off this short but cool song. The next song, "Lovin' And Touchin'" is just 36 seconds long and features Kiedis singing in a soft, almost romantic voice while Slovak plays some light guitar. This very short love song is decent for such a short song but it's certainly unlike RHCP. The next song sounds much more up their alley, titled "Catholic School Girls Rule". Another two-minute song, they kick right into another catchy main riff led by some sweet guitar by Slovak. Kiedis does sing a couple short verses on his own, but most of this song is just jamming out the chorus, which has everyone chanting the name of the song over and over. It's not very creative, but it's pretty catchy and Slovak is the real highlight, playing some cool guitar the while way through. The short songs continue as we have another sexually charged two-minute song called "Sex Rap" and it's exactly what it says it is. Kiedis raps very quickly about various sexual things overtop another fast-paced riff and while these short quirky songs are fun, I do prefer their more standard songs. Slovak lets loose for a cool solo in the middle of the song, then Kiedis continues his rap until the end of the song. The next song is actually the shortest on the album at just 14 seconds, titled "Thirty Dirty Birds". It's actually Hillel Slovak who does the vocals and this extremely short song is just him rhyming words in a weird accent. It does sound pretty funny and if you thought that was weird then wait for the album's final song. It's called "Yertle The Turtle" and it's lyrics are all taken from the Dr. Seuss book of the same name! A Dr. Seuss musical cover is certainly something I thought I'd never see but RHCP have done it and they hilariously open the song with "look at that turtle go bro!" Kiedis begins singing the book and it somehow fits perfectly with a typical funky Chili Peppers riff. Slovak plays a nice guitar riff and Flea keeps the pace with some cool bass as Kiedis reads children's books to us! The horns return in the instrumental sections between verses and that part sounds really great and catchy! The verse is solid as well as they make this work spectacularly. It's quite a cool little song and a very Chili Peppers way to close things out.
That is the end of "Freaky Styley" and I thought it was a decent album, but it leaned on the more comical side than the true musicianship side. I'm all for having fun while recording and I enjoyed some of their quirkier songs but there were a lot of them on this album. I thought they balanced things better on their debut album and even though I think Hillel Slovak is a better guitarist than Jack Sherman, I think their self-titled debut is better than this newest offering. But RHCP continue to offer a unique brand of music and I look forward to the next one!
Comments
Post a Comment