July 9, 2002 - By The Way

Six days after my last release and three years since "Californication", Red Hot Chili Peppers released their eighth album "By The Way" on July 9, 2002. This album is different from any other Chili Peppers album as the band drift away from their funk-rock past and go a much more melodic route this time. This unsurprisingly went over well with the masses and somehow the Chili Peppers continue to get even more popular! Let's see what their latest has to offer!

The album kicks off with the title track and lead single "By The Way" and John Frusciante starts us off with a light guitar riff and Anthony Kiedis dives right in with a catchy and well sung chorus. Flea and Chad Smith join in at this point and as we've come to expect Flea is playing some pretty cool bass. Frusciante plays some interesting guitar while Kiedis sings a nice fast verse and the next chorus is with the full band: much louder but still very catchy. It's easy to ser why this was a succesful single: it's unique, groovy and very catchy! Flea's bass is phenomenal throughout and this was a great way ti get things started! Up next is another single titled "Universally Speaking" and it's got a slow, catchy drum beat by Smith and some soft, melodic guitars by Frusciante leading the way. Kiedis sings a solid verse to match the mood and he sounds pretty good when he goes higher. Frusciante throws in some pretty trippy keyboards at one point that add another interesting layer to things and he also closes out the song with a little guitar solo that isn't too flashy, but it fits the mood nicely and wraps things up very tidy. Track 3 is "This Is The Place" and Flea carries the pace with another pretty cool bass riff while Frusciante adds some light and perfectly complementing guitar. Kiedis sings another pretty catchy verse and even though this is a slower song things sound very smooth and silky solid. The chorus has some catchy guitar and some solid vocals and I'm surprised this song wasn't a single, it seems to check all the boxes and is really well done and also very accessible. Pretty cool tune! The next track was another of the album's five singles called "Dosed" and Frusciante plays a couple different guitar riffs: one slower lead riff that is melodic and pretty solid, but also a pretty fast rhythm guitar riff that sounds really cool keeping the pace. Flea and Smith form a solid rhythm section to match and Kiedis proceeds to sing a nice slow verse that matches the mood very nicely. There's even a third guitar riff mixed in as well and all these guitars sound pretty cool together. The chorus is super pop-y and melodic, but Kiedis does sound pretty good hitting some nice high notes. This song is so ridiculously smooth that you barely feel like it's over five minutes, a very smooth ride indeed. Track 5 is "Don't Forget Me" and Frusciante plays an interesting slow, stop-and-start guitar riff to drive this song along and Flea and Smith nicely complement it with a fine rhythm section. Kiedis sings nicely overtop and holds some nice long notes. Frusciante then adds some super fast and trippy guitar overtop and it sounds really dreamy and cool! It leads nicely into a loud chorus with Kiedis holding more long notes and after another cool dreamy round Frusciante delivers a solo in the same vein and it sounds pretty sweet! This is definitely not your funky Chili Peppers of the past, but they are absolutely killing it even in this new style. Up next is another single titled "The Zephyr Song" and Flea plays an interesting bass riff to keep the pace while Frusciante plays some light melodic guitar that sounds smooth and breezy. Kiedis sings a soft  smooth verse to match the mood and the chorus is very pop-y and accessible. After another smooth round Frusciante delivers a short "solo" that is really just a few good notes repeated several times, but it still sounds good. They perfectly nail the breezy vibe on this one and it's yet another no-brainer of a single. Track 7 is the last of the five singles "Can't Stop" and it would become a massive success, and it's easy to see why. After a slow build up Frusciante plays a super catchy and cool lead guitar riff, Smith adds a nice catchy drum beat, Flea of course provides some cool bass and Kiedis raps a long verse with some almost non-stop singing that sounds pretty good and pretty damn catchy. The chorus is more melodic and smooth, but still sounds solid as Kiedis sings in a smooth pop-y voice. After another super catchy round they shift into an almost reggae-esque new riff that is also very smooth and catchy, then they nicely bring it back to the catchy main riff as Frusciante is playing some cool stuff throughout this whole song. Everything sounds pretty good, just another really well done single! The next track is "I Could Die For You" and Frusciante plays some light guitar as well as some epic keyboards while Flea unsurprisingly plays some cool bass in the background. They're going all in on this lighter, melodic style once again and Kiedis sings a fittingly soft verse to match. It's solid for sure, but I do miss the high energy, funky goodness of the Chili Peppers of old. They lightly stick to the main drag on this one and eventually we reach the finish. Track 9 is "Midnight" and after a pretty epic intro with multiple synthesizers, they settle into a light and wispy main riff that is typically solid and melodic but also very light and fluffy. Kiedis sounds pretty good singing the light verse and the chorus is pretty catchy with Frusciante echoing Kiedis with some nice backing vocals. The strings-esque epic keyboards return towards the end of the song to make things sound even more elic as they continue to jam out the chorus several times. Up next is "Throw Away Your Television" and Flea starts us off with a phenomenal bass riff that is groovy and super catchy and Smith follows with a fantastic catchy drum beat. Kiedis then sings a nice verse that matches the beat perfectly and Frusciante completes the riff with some cool stop and start guitar, letting the rhythm section shine for the most part. Frusciante experiments with several different guitar styles on this song and they all sound pretty interesting, and all overtop such a fantastic backdrop. This includes a super trippy solo that is distorted and all over the place and sounds pretty damn sweet! Definitely one my favourites off the album, bring back the funk! Track 11 is "Cabron" and Frusciante plays a spectacular Latin-style riff that sounds really cool to lead this upbeat song. Kiedis sings a fast and pretty cool verse overtop and things sound pretty cool in another stylistic experimentation.The next track is "Tear" and it's got a really slow pace with some slow keyboards and guitar and Kiedis singing a slow, soft verse to match. After a couple breezy rounds Frusciante spices things up a bit with a short but cool light guitar solo, then they happily and slowly jam out the main riff. This song is decent for sure, but they are a little too content to lightly drift along. Flea spices up things some more with a little trumpet that is welcome and solid! Then once again it's right back to the slow main riff. Track 13 is "On Mercury" and it's got a much faster, almost ska-like main riff that sounds pretty catchy with Frusciante playing some nice fast guitar and Flea adding in the catchy horns. Kiedis sings a fast verse to nicely match the mood and the chorus is in the same vein with Flea and Frusciante both adding some catchy backing vocals. They stick to the main drag, but it's a pretty catchy and upbeat main riff at least! Up next is "Minor Thing" and Frusciante leads the way with a fast and pretty cool guitar riff and the rhythm section is perfectly suited and things sound pretty damn smooth once again. Kiedis sings another smooth and solid verse overtop and these guys are just pumping out the accessible music on this album! Kiedis raps at some points and he sounds pretty good and so does Flea's bass (the guitar is pretty cool throughout). Frusciante delivers an epic guitar solo and this is a pretty cool tune! Track 15 is "Warm Tape" and Frusciante plays some very high, synth-like guitars slowly while Flea keeps the pace with a quiet but solid bass riff. It sounds very interesting indeed and Kiedis sings a nice verse that has him singing quickly and then holding some notes. The chorus is super pop-y with Frusciante playing some light guitar and Kiedis singing a pop-y chorus and once again things sound decent, but very unlike your typical RHCP. The final song on this long album is "Venice Queen" and Frusciante plays a cool light guitar riff and then also adds some other cool guitar effects for a trippy and interesting main riff. The rest of the band forma nicely around him, including a catchy verse that fits the rhythm pretty nicely. After a couple minutes of this the mood drastically shifts as the pace picks up and Frusciante leads a new riff with a really cool and fast guitar riff. Kiedis sings a super catchy new verse overtop and things sound pretty damn smooth, they are very good at that! It's a pretty good way to wrap things up.

That is the end of "By The Way" and I thought it was a good album, but it was certainly a different album for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They really nailed this new breezy and melodic vibe, and John Frusciante is exploding with catchy and cool guitars, but my favourite songs on the album were the few that most resembled their funky past. I do think it's better than "Freaky Styley", "One Hot Minute" and their self-titled debut, but it's a close call with their best early funk album, and I don't think it surpasses "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan", so 5th place will have to do. Where will the Chili Peppers go from here?