Red Hot Chili Peppers make their long awaited return with their first studio disc in 5 years, I'm With You. The follow up to 2006's masterful, two disc Stadium Arcadium finds the Cali funk-rockers still bringing their eclectic blend of rock and funk to a devoted audience that has stayed with them for the better half of 25 years. This new effort continues to build upon RHCP's legacy as one of the great American rock bands of our time.
The disc kicks off with "Monarchy of Roses" an energetic, bombastic tune that brings back the familiar vocals of frontman Anthony Kiedis who sounds superb and melds together his voice seamlessly with the avalanche of rhythms and guitar licks present at every turn. "Factory of Faith" starts out with a familiar bass lick from Flea, who has cemented his position as one of the top bassists in music today, and the song is pure and consistent all the way through with guitars and drums sounding sharp and poignant right up until the very end. "Ethiopia" is a funk laden, groove abundant track that is classic RHCP with melodic guitar riffs and high energy rhythms heightening the fun factor on this high energy track. "Annie Wants A Baby" brings down the kinetic energy a little bit, but still retains the rhythmic onslaught that was found on the prior tracks to a great degree. "Look Around" recalls the fun loving party vibe of RHCP's earlier records, and adds in a bit of nostalgic factor as well to an album that caters both to old and new Chili Peppers' fans. My favorite song off the disc is the album's blasting first single, "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie". If you're not dancing to this song from the get go, there is something seriously wrong with you. The song features Anthony's soaring vocals, incredible guitar riffs, and even some hints of cowbell heard at the beginning and the end of the song, a clever touch to a particularly well rounded track.
The disc second half starts off with "Did I Let You Know", a drum heavy track brought to you by drummer Chad Smith who brings a lot of rhythmic flavor to a richly melodic toned song. "Happiness Loves Company" starts off with a melodic piano refrain that seems to come out of nowhere, but melts in together quite well with the guitars and drums brought down to a certain comfort level. "Even You Brutus?" brings back that familiar piano that amps up the energy considerably and also does a great job on extenuating Anthony's vocals and giving the song some added depth musically. The disc gets ready to close out with "Meet Me at The Corner", a low energy, mid tempo rocker that gives you a little breather from all the raucous, high energy party music we've heard so far and enables you to relax and take notice of all the ambient rhythms that are present in great quantities here. The disc's finale "Dance, Dance, Dance" closes out everything with an ambient yet melodically active track that shows off RHCP's versatility and their ability to add elements of funk and dance into each and every composition they create. Red Hort Chili Peppers have been around for so long, and yet it's hard to classify what genre their music falls under. It's not quite alternative rock and it's not entirely funk rock but adds influences from all sorts of genres and is quite hard to classify what they fall under. One thing we do know is that they fall under a category that they've been under for quite some time now: rock and roll legends.
In retrospect, a solid and welcome return from Red Hot Chili Peppers, who have emerged from their hiatus stronger and picking up right where they left off, full of ambient party energy and ready to continue their reign as rock n' roll's preeminent party starters.
Album Score: 3.5/5
Track Listing:
- Monarchy of Roses
- Factory of Faith
- Brendan's Death Song
- Ethiopia
- Annie Wants A Baby
- Look Around
- The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie
- Did I Let You Know
- Goodbye Hooray
- Happiness Loves Company
- Police Station
- Even You Brutus?
- Meet Me At The Corner
- Dance, Dance, Dance
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