September 29, 1987 - The Uplift Mofo Party Plan

18 days after my last release and two years since "Freaky Styley", Red Hot Chili Peppers released their third album "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan" on September 29, 1987. This is the first album by RHCP to have the band's original four members as founding drummer Jack Irons replaces the fired Cliff Martinez, who the rest of the band felt no longer had his heart in it. Both Anthony Kiedis and Hillel Slovak were struggling mightily with heroin addiction at this point and Kiedis even briefly went to rehab during recording. They are still playing the same funk-rock style but with Irons back in the fold this would also be their first album to chart on the Billboard 200. Let's check out the latest music from these funk rockers!

The album kicks off with it's only single "Fight Like A Brave" and Irons lays down a loud drum beat and Slovak plays a simple but decent guitar riff that drives this main riff. Kiedis sings some fast vocals in his typical almost-rapping voice as the band slowly jams along to back him. The rest of the band echoes Kiedis in the short sing-along chorus, then Anthony is back to spitting lots of vocals in another verse. After a couple of choruses this time Flea cues up a new part with a pretty sweet bass riff and this sets the stage nicely for Hillel's guitar solo. Slovak delivers a pretty sweet solo to match and the guitar and bass in this part is way more complex and cool than the pretty simple main riff. They return to the main riff for a final verse and jam out the chorus several times to end things. Kiedis yells the chorus lyrics as he is now echoing the rest of the band and Slovak plays some cool guitar overtop the chorus riff until it eventually fades to a close. Up next is "Funky Crime" and Slovak, Flea and Irons combine to make a nice slow and funky main riff. Kiedis sings slowly overtop and we hear his usual voice as well some of the lyrics in a computer-y and distorted version of his voice. When Kiedis sings the name of the song the guitar picks up into a louder and cool riff for the chorus as Anthony nicely yells out the chorus riff. It's a cool but short chorus and it's right back to the funky main riff and we hear some talk box in this verse, adding to the multitude of distorted sounds in this strange but solid main riff. They play a couple more verses and choruses before shifting to a brief instrumental section. It's not a solo for any instrument and nothing is very flashy, but everyone nicely jams along as we hear some bits of cool guitar, bass and drums. They connect it nicely back to the main riff and play out a final funky verse and chorus until the song ends a bit suddenly. Track 3 is called "Me And My Friends" and after a brief cool bass opening by Flea they kick right into the chorus of this song as everyone shouts the name of the song several times over. They settle into a nice hard rock riff for the verse as Slovak leads the way with some nice guitar and Kiedis sings a fast verse. It's a nice upbeat pace the whole time as they shift nicely into another chorus and then back to the main riff for another solid verse. Kiedis mentions Hillel in the verse and after saying "take it" Slovak does just that and takes off for a nice guitar solo! The end of his solo leads right into another chorus and after that Flea plays a short but sweet bass bit before they return to the main riff once again. A final verse and chorus follows and Hillel ends this nice jam with one final bit of crazy guitar. The fast-paced jams continue with "Backwoods" as Irons and Slovak form the rhythm section of this riff and Flea comes in with a lead bass riff that sounds pretty good. I like that Flea's bass leads the way in a rare change of pace, but the riff is still a nice funky jam and Kiedis still sings a fast verse just like he would normally. This leads into a similar chorus that's pretty short and simple as Kiedis sings a couple "take me to your backwoods now" and we're back to the main riff. After another nice verse they play a couple choruses before Kiedis yells a big "yeah!" and Slovak follows with a guitar solo. After a solid solo the guitar falls away completely as Flea continues his nice bass riff and Kiedis goes on an epic rant! He says a ton of words in this part as he rambles on quickly and it all ends with the line "take me to your backwoods now", bringing things full circle as they jam out a couple quick choruses to finish it off. The next song "Skinny Sweaty Man" is just over a minute long and continues the RHCP trend of at least one fun little joke song. Irons starts it off with a nice drum beat and Sloval and Flea both play some pretty fast stuff as they zip through some very fast verses and we hear Kiedis say "skinny sweaty man in a green suit". It's definitely a weird little jam with Kiedis doing several strange voices but the fast guitar and bass sound pretty good! Track 6 is "Behind The Sun" and Flea kicks it off with an epic bass riff before Slovak comes in with a light guitar riff. This guitar certainly sounds very different from the rest of the album as it's a bit pop-y but it sounds good still and the rhythm section is still very typical Chili Peppers. Kiedis begins to sing a light verse and he matchez the mood of the song nicely as he leads the way. They break shortly as we hear another awesome bass bit from Flea, then it's back to the main riff as they finish the verse and move into a light and pop-y chorus with Kiedis singing the name of the song lots. After another verse and chorus Slovak plays a guitar solo with this lighter sound and unsurprisingly it sounds decent but not amazing. The end of the solo flows perfectly back into the main riff as we hear a final verse (including another great bass break) and a final chorus to end this peculiar and unusual RHCP song. The next song titled "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is actually a Bob Dylan cover! The lyrics are all Dylan's, but the music sounds nothing like the original at all as RHCP turn it into a party rager fit for their style. Irons, Slovak and Flea play another upbeat funky riff as Kiedis raps along and it's very weird that lyrics from any Bob Dylan song fit so nicely in this style. The chorus sounds very emphatic as the rest of the band shouts "look out kid!" a couple times and Kiedis follows it up with a nice line of his own each time. They jam through another solid verse and chorus before Slovak goes off on not quite a solo, but a cool little guitar bit. Kiedis continues to sing some fast rapping vocals overtop and the guitar bit turns into a brief bass bit as Flea plays some decent stuff before they return to the main riff again. Kiedis is singing throughout this whole song pretty much as he goes straight into another rapping verse and chorus to finish off this weird but cool cover. Track 8 is now known as "Special Secret Song Inside", but on the original pressing it was called "Party On Your Pussy". Slovak plays a slow guitar riff while Flea plays some nice slow and funky bass and Kiedis sings a slow verse to match the mood. The record companies may have got the title of the song changed, but the chorus is still pretty clear as Kiedis sings "I want to party on your pussy, baby" several times. Sexual songs like these have always been a Chili Peppers staple, this one is just extremely vulgar and right to the point! After another slow verse they jam out the chorus several times as Kiedis sings the infamous line in several different voices, fast and slow. After we hear "have mercy" Slovak goes off on a simple but nice-sounding solo and it carries right into the chorus as they play it a couple more times to finish off this one. Up next is "No Chump Love Sucker" and this song is played at a pretty fast pace as Slovak leads the way with a nice fast guitar riff. Kiedis yells the verse overtop and I like this harder main riff that is fairly heavy but still somehow funky. They jam through several quick verses with Flea playing some great bass throughout as Kiedis sings about a girl who is nothing but trouble, but she has a great body. Eventually we hear Kiedis proclaim he's "no chump love sucker" several times in increasing volume and it seems like a solo will erupt at the end, but it never happens. They build up to just fall right back into the main riff in an anti-climactic shift and after racing through another quick couple verses everyone shouts the name of the song a bunch to end this song that had a solid main riff, but they never really expanded on it. Track 10 is "Walkin' On Down The Road" and Flea kicks things off with a pretty cool bass riff before Slovak joins him with some complimentary nice guitar. Kiedis begins a fast verse but he sings it in a low voice that gives this song less of a party rager feel. The other band members echo all of Kiedis's lyrics in the chorus, giving it the feel of a group sing-along and Slovak gets in some nice guitar at the end before they return to the main riff. They jam through another solid verse and chorus before Slovak delivers another nice guitar solo. It's a very loose solo as Slovak just jams at his own pace but he plays some nice stuff and it leads nicely back into the chorus. After the chorus and a final verse Slovak plays the song out with some more breezy guitar playing. The next song is titled "Love Trilogy" and it has a quiet opening as Flea, Irons and Slovak all play some light and very quiet music. Kiedis sings quietly overtop and he sounds pretty good as he quietly raps along. After almost a minute of this they finally shift to a louder and more standard RHCP riff with Kiedis singing in his usual fast voice and Flea playing some more phenomenal funky bass. Slovak takes over with some nice guitar as Kiedis continues to sing about all the different things he loves and they nicely begin to slowly speed up this new riff. They do a great job at this slow progression of speed and towards the end they're going pretty fast and things sound pretty good! After they reach the pinnacle, they plunge off and slow things right down with a nice heavy shift! I love the slow and low guitar notes and they did a fantastic segue from the fast building riff to this crushing slow riff that closes out another strange but cool song. The album wraps up with "Organic Anti-Beat Box Band" and I know it's getting old by this point, but Flea plays another cool bass riff and Slovak plays some cool guitar to form yet another original funk-rock riff. We hear what sounds like a live crowd but it's just a party's worth of friends and fans that were there in the studio. After Kiedis sings the verse the whole band and all the other people sing the chorus together as we hear Hollywood said several times and it all ends with everyone shouting the name of the song. The fans and friends cheer as the band moves into the next verse and this track is the perfect example of the RHCP lifestyle as the party is literally happening during the recording of the party jam song! After another crowd-sung chorus Slovak delivers a pretty sweet guitar solo! It's very high up the guitar neck and sounds pretty good and it carries into the main riff seamlessly as we hear another verse. The crowd continues to pound out the chorus as the band spice things up a bit at the end before finally closing out this fitting end to this rager of an album.

That is the end of "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan" and I thought it was pretty good! Their last album "Freaky Styley" leaned a little too much towards the comedic side, and while this album still had a couple funny songs it was mostly (hard) rock songs. Hillel Slovak and Flea shine throughout the album with lots of great stuff and having original drummer Jack Irons back seemed to energize everyone. I think this album easily beats their debut and is their best album so far in the Red Hot Chili Peppers young career. Where will they go from here? I'll be there to find out!