144. Red Hot Chili Peppers - californication

144.RHCPcalifornication,
originally uploaded by jrd550.

It almost seems like Kiedis' holler at the beginning of Around the World had been trapped since BSSM and he was finally able to get it out. If you skip One Hot Minute, this album feels like a continuation of BSSM right down to the design of disc. The band's sound has matured, venturing more into melodies and harmonizing than the rap/funk sound. What really shines on this album is Frusciante's playing and songwriting – the man is a genius. He makes Kiedis' bad vocals almost unnoticeable because you are too busy following him. Granted the Pepper's still know that their music needs to be somewhat commercial so there are the obvious singles but they aren’t exactly cookie cutter. Anyway it was nice to have John back.

8.5 out of 10