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== Discography ==
== Discography ==
{{main|Red Hot Chili Peppers discography}}andrew
{{main|Red Hot Chili Peppers discography}}


== Videography ==
== Videography ==

Revision as of 23:26, 14 November 2006

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers are a Grammy Award-winning, four-piece rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983.

Regardless of the fact that they have experienced numerous line-up changes and personal problems, the band has successfully fused various elements of alternative rock, punk, funk, rap, heavy metal and psychedelic rock.

Their albums have, collectively, sold approximately 60 million copies worldwide. They also hold the records for most #1 modern rock hits (10), and most weeks spent atop that chart (76).

Band history

Early history

File:RHCP1986.jpg
A promotional flyer from 1986.

Red Hot Chili Peppers (originally Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem) were formed after what was supposed to be a one-time performance in 1983 by Fairfax High School alumni Michael "Flea" Balzary (bass), Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Jack Irons (drums) and Hillel Slovak (guitar). Later in that same year, after becoming a popular draw in the Los Angeles rock scene, they secured a record deal with EMI.

Irons and Slovak viewed the band as a side project, and left the Chili Peppers shortly before their self-titled debut to focus on their original band, What Is This?. Red Hot Chili Peppers, the band's 1984 debut album, was recorded with replacement members Jack Sherman on guitar and Cliff Martinez on drums. Produced by Gang of Four's Andy Gill, the album did not achieve commercial success. The ensuing tour did not fare much better, with internal fighting between Sherman and the rest of the band resulting in his departure, and Hillel Slovak returning.

Parliament-Funkadelic's George Clinton was hired to produce their second album, 1985's Freaky Styley. Martinéz was fired from the band soon after the release of the album, allowing the return of original drummer Jack Irons in early 1986. During this time, drug problems started to become prevalent with the band. At one point Anthony Kiedis left the band due to his heroin addiction, only to rejoin after getting clean. Hillel was also using heroin but managed to keep himself together and stay in the band.

Their next album became their first enter the Billboard Top 200, 1987's The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, was produced by Michael Beinhorn. This would be the only album to feature the four original members.

During the supporting tour, drug problems came to public light when Slovak relapsed; resulting in erratic behavior and botched performances. Shortly after the band returned from some performances in Europe on June 27, 1988, Slovak was found dead of a heroin overdose. Jack Irons left the band because of Slovak's death, going on to drum with Pearl Jam and Eleven.

Early success

File:RedHotChiliPeppersBloodSugarSexMagik.jpg
1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik

The band temporarily employed Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro and former P-Funk guitarist DeWayne “Blackbyrd” McKnight, before replacing them with Chad Smith and John Frusciante to record their next album. Mother's Milk was released in August 1989, and gave the band their first top modern rock hits with their tribute ballad to Slovak, "Knock Me Down" [1], and their cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground". The album reached #52 on the album charts, the best chart position the band had attained thus far.

In 1990, the group switched labels to Warner Brothers Records. Rick Rubin was hired to produce their fifth album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, which would go on to sell seven million copies in the United States alone. The album contained the singles "Give it Away" which won a Grammy award in 1992 for "Best Hard Rock Performance With Vocal", "Breaking the Girl", "Suck My Kiss", and "Under the Bridge", a poignant and popular ballad that helped widen the band's audience.[2] Blood Sugar Sex Magik was listed at number 310 on the Rolling Stone magazine list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and in 1992 it climbed all the way to # 3 on the U.S. album charts almost a year after its release.

Success and drug addiction were taking their toll on Frusciante, who abruptly quit the band during the BSSM tour in May of 1992.[3] After the band headlined Lollapalooza festival in 1992 with replacement guitarist Arik Marshall, and briefly with Jesse Tobias of the California based band Mother Tongue in 1993, former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro was brought in as a temporary member.

Dave Navarro first appeared with the band at Woodstock 1994, and a year later appeared on the album One Hot Minute. The album featured the familiar blend of funk, metal, and jazz, but this time showed increased hard rock and psychedelic influences. Although critically dismissed compared to their previous work, mostly due to the lack of Frusciante's more familiar style, the album was a commercial success, selling five million copies internationally and reaching double-platinum status in the United States. It remained on the chart for 55 weeks thereafter. [citation needed]

At the time of the album recording, Kiedis had gone back to using heroin, causing much tension amongst the band. Dave Navarro would be fired due to 'creative differences' in 1997.

Californication, By The Way

Californication, June 1999

In 1998, John Frusciante and Anthony Kiedis made amends after both completing drug rehab. The band reformed with their Mothers Milk line-up to release 1999's, Californication. It became a massive success, outselling Blood Sugar Sex Magik and introducing them to a new generation of fans. It is the band's best selling album to date with 15 millions units sold.

The album peaked at #3 in USA and produced three more modern rock hits: the Grammy-winning "Scar Tissue", "Otherside" and "Californication". It also made it onto the modern rock charts with "Around the World", "Road Trippin'" (UK single), and "Parallel Universe", which broke the Top 40 modern rock charts despite not being released as a single. Compared to their previous albums, Californication contains few rap-driven songs. The band went on a tour which lasted nearly two years and featured some of their largest shows, including a Moscow performance in front of 200,000 people and a performance at the controversial Woodstock 1999 festival. At Woodstock 99, the Red Hot Chili Peppers performed Fire by Jimi Hendrix as a tribute to the late rocker who performed at the original Woodstock. In 2001, they released their first concert DVD, Off The Map which was directed by longtime friend, Dick Rude, who also directed the music videos for Catholic School Girls Rule and Universally Speaking.

By the Way, July 2002

The band returned to the studio in early 2001 and released By the Way over a year later, on July 9, 2002. The album, at the time, was their most noteworthy chart debut (with over 700,000 copies sold in first week), emerging at #2 and producing hit singles such as: "By the Way", "The Zephyr Song" , "Can't Stop", "Dosed", and "Universally Speaking" which was only released in Europe as a single and video. It is the most subdued and submissive album they have ever generated, focusing primarily on melodic ballads as opposed to their classic style of rap-driven funk.

The Chili Peppers recorded two new songs, "Fortune Faded" and "Save the Population", for their Greatest Hits album released later that year. To the surprise of many fans, only two songs from By the Way were included in the compilation, Universally Speaking and By the Way. Much criticism was drawn from the absence of Can't Stop, which is considered one of the band's most popular songs. Flea reported minor tension circulating between him and John during the recording process. To the extent, that, following their "By the Way" tour, he was planning on leaving the band. The events that took place during that legendary 3 and a half year tour, however, forced him to change his mind.

In 2004, the group released their first ever full-length live album, Live in Hyde Park; recorded during their performances in Hyde Park, London, due to immensely high attendance rate. In the three evenings they performed, they accumulated an estimated 17 million dollars, making it the highest grossing concert at a single venue in history[1]. Two new songs were featured on the Album: "Rolling Sly Stone" and "Leverage of Space".

Recent events

Stadium Arcadium, May 2006

In 2006, they completed their ninth studio album, Stadium Arcadium. Although 38 songs were created with the intention to be released as 3 mini-albums spaced six months apart [4]it was released in May 2006 as a 28-track double album. It was their first album to debut at #1 on the US charts, where it stayed for two weeks, and debuted at number one in the UK Albums Chart and 25 other countries as well[citation needed]. In the album's first week, it sold 442,000 units in the United States alone, and over 1,100,000 worldwide, setting a personal record for one week sales. The record's first single "Dani California," was the band's fastest-selling single, topping the Modern Rock chart in the US, peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching #2 in the UK[2].In addition to "Dani California", "Tell Me Baby" reached Billboard's hot modern rock tracks in early July.[3] The songs Storm in a Teacup, Snow ((Hey Oh)), Tell Me Baby, Stadium Arcadium, If and Especially in Michigan have been featured on ESPN commercials for the 2006 X-Games.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are currently undertaking another year-and-a-half to two year long world tour in support of Stadium Arcadium. One of the many legs on this tour will be the band's touring the United States with Gnarls Barkley from mid January to March 2007.

In 2009, The Red Hot Chili Peppers will be eligible to enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [4]

Music style

Flea's bass style is an amalgamation of funk and blues, borrowing from artists such as Bootsy Collins of Parliament-Funkadelic and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. The groove-heavy, low-tuned melodies, composed through either normal finger style or slapping, have contributed to the Red Hot Chili Peppers' signature style. While Flea's slap bass style was prominent in earlier albums, later albums (post "Blood Sugar Sex Magik") have more melodic basslines.

The guitar styles of the guitarists that have recorded albums with the group share common traits, featuring a sharp, distorted sound with strong range. Replacement players appear to have tried to stay as close as possible to original guitarist Hillel Slovak's style with its heavy blues and funk elements. However, during his short time with the band, Dave Navarro focused on a style rooted in heavy metal, and progressive. Current guitarist John Frusciante brings a more melodic, textured, and deep sound.

Kiedis provides a range of vocal styles for RHCP songs, with his style of rapping and spoken verse (the latter being the primary characteristic of his vocals up to Blood Sugar Sex Magik) complemented with more traditional vocals have helped the band maintain a relatively consistent style.

Chad Smith, starting on the album Mother's Milk, creates rhythmic pocket grooves. He is most notably known for his extensive use of ghost notes and his ability to put his feeling into the drumset. Smith's work has been featured on many albums outside of the Chili Peppers', a testament to his skill. His cymbals are loud and expressive, which definitely contribute to the Red Hot Chili Peppers' sound.

  • The song "Johnny Kick a Hole in the Sky" from Mother's Milk is about the plight and affliction of the Native Americans, and this particular song made the public see Kiedis as of native-American heritage[citation needed], "I was born in a land, I don't think you understand god damn what I am. I'm a native of this place, Please don't kick me in my face, My race has been disgraced."
  • The song "Green Heaven" from the band's eponymous album reflects dissatisfaction with the government regarding its methods in dealing with social and political problems.
  • Drugs are a common theme in several of the band's songs, including "This Is the Place", "Dosed" and "Don't Forget Me", from the album By the Way. "Under the Bridge", from the album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, deals with Anthony Kiedis' personal experiences with drug addiction, whilst the song "Warped" from One Hot Minute is about a relapse Kiedis had following a potent dose of anaesthetic.
  • The character of Dani is mentioned in the songs "Dani California" and "By the Way". Kiedis has explained that this character embodies all the women from his past relationships.[citation needed] Anthony also says that Dani is mentioned in Californication when he sings 'a teenage bride with a baby inside'.
  • The song "Snow ((Hey Oh))" from Stadium Arcadium, refers to the metaphor of covering one's tracks and starting fresh with a clean slate, which Kiedis states in the album commentary of the special edition of Stadium Arcadium. It does not refer to cocaine abuse.

Line-up

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Current members

Former members

Former touring backing musicians

Trivia

  • The band is ranked #30 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
  • The band is referenced in the video game Tekken 4. In the Tekken force mini game, there are 5 ninjas that are harder to beat than the average ninja near the end of the game. They are named after the members (and former members) of the band: Anthony (Anthony Kiedis), Flea (Michael "Flea" Balzary), John (John Frusciante), Chad (Chad Smith), and Dave (Dave Navarro)
  • Mike Balzary (Flea) learned to play bass from former Chili Peppers guitarist Hillel Slovak.
  • Sam the beast is incredibly sexy! Sometimes the Peppers come to his house and kiss him!
  • The song "Dani California" is featured as the theme song in the Death Note movie.

Discography

Main article: Red Hot Chili Peppers discography

Videography

TV, film and other media

  • Band members Flea and Anthony Kiedis have been featured individually and together in many movies and television shows.[5] [6]
  • They performed 'Black-Eyed Blonde' in the 80's skateboard film Thrashin'.
  • The 1992 version of the band, with Arik Marshall standing in for Frusciante, appeared in an episode of The Simpsons titled "Krusty Gets Kancelled", in which Bart and Lisa helped Krusty save his career by showing a 'Krusty Komeback Special' featuring many celebrities [7]. They performed their song "Give it Away", although Krusty suggested that they change the song's lyric "What I got you gotta get it put it in you" to "What I'd like is I'd like to hug and kiss you", to which Flea and Marshall enthusiastically agree while Anthony Kiedis merely smiles at the suggestion. This can be perceived as a reference to the time when The Doors played on The Ed Sullivan Show. The band was told that, due to network censors, the lyric "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" from their song Light My Fire could not be sung on television. The band was asked to change the line; the band agreed, but later sang the original lyric anyway.
  • Through the band's career, many references have been made to the band Nirvana. "Tearjerker" from the album One Hot Minute, for example, is about Kiedis's reaction to Cobain's death. Also in the song Californication, Kiedis sings,"Cobain can you hear the spheres singing songs off station to station."
  • Anthony and Flea both appear in Johnny Cash's video, "God's Gonna Cut You Down."

References

Notes

  1. ^ VH1 biography
  2. ^ Grammy website
  3. ^ VH1 biography
  4. ^ Catucci, Nick. "Red Hot Chili Peppers: Stadium Arcadium" (review). Blender magazine, June 2006 (Issue 48), p. 146
  5. ^ Flea on IMDB
  6. ^ Anthony Kiedis on IMDB
  7. ^ RHCP on The Simpsons

Books

  • Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis with Larry Sloman. ISBN 0-7515-3566-4

See also

  • Unofficial Turkish Fan Forum
  • Official Band Myspace
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers lyrics
  • Anderman, Joan (October 1, 2006). "Red hot". The Boston Globe. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)


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