My brother and I have a joke that nothing quite makes us appreciate an older Red Hot Chili Peppers album like a brand new Chili Peppers album. When Stadium Arcadium came out, the lush harmonies and pop song structures on By the Way were a testament to a band that had gained it's focus after so many years being wild, funk sex machines. Similarly, when I'm With You hit the shelves five years ago with new guitarists Josh Klinghoffer, we suddenly noticed that there weren't as many valleys to skip over to hit all the peaks on Arcadium as we remembered there to be. And while The Getaway doesn't have me waxing nostalgic for I'm With You, it does help crystallize the band RHCP used to be, and what they've become.
The main difference between these two Klinghoffer efforts is that I'm With You was an album made by a band trying to realize the ambitions of its golden era and continue the boundary pushing trends it had set for itself with the California Trilogy (Californication, By the Way, and Stadium Arcadium). That record's flaws came about because a new guitar player meant a brand new band dynamic, and that band just wasn't capable of reaching the heights they hit with John Frusciante. The Getaway, on the other hand, is the sound of a band that has settled, in all senses of the word. Klinghoffer is a perfectly fine guitar player, but his playing lacks the sheer force of personality that Frusciante, Hillel Slovak, and even Dave Navarro brought to the table that could pull the core Anthony Kiedis/Flea duo out of their comfort zones. That's not to say that the band has regressed - those two have grown leaps and bounds as both people and musicians and it shows - but there's also the inescapable sense that the record is just the two of them making a Chili Pepper album because that's what they love to do and making the record was the only ambition they were interested in meeting.
Admittingly, that sense of joy helps the record immensely. All the songs here are exactly what you would expect the Chili Pepper's to be. For all my complaints about him, Klinghoffer is a solid support player that delivers guitar lines and riffs that slide in pretty well with Flea's bass lines, Anthony's melodies, and Chad Smith's perfect pocket grooves. This isn't the band trying to break open new musical and spiritual ground for it to walk on, but this a band who wants to make a record for those midnight beach parties or sunset drives down lonely highways. I guess there are worse things to become in old age.
Album Rating: B
Ramble: it definitely strikes me as I'm With You 2; more lowkey and some stylistic variance from their usual stuff (I guess disco-ish funk and piano-driven songs are here to stay). I do think The Getaway causes some reconsideration of I'm With You, because at the time the thought was that it was growing pains through incorporating Josh, but The Getaway's consitency with I'm With You confirms that no, this is just the band now.
ReplyDeleteI've learned to give new albums from bands I love the benefit of the doubt. After repeatedly initially rejecting and then growing to love RHCP's and QOTSA's new efforts, I think I'll give The Getaway time before coming to a decisive opinion about it. That being said, I can't help but feel The Getaway solid but forgettable, and Josh is the elephant in the room. As you say, he provides solid riffing and backing, but that's it. Like on I'm With You, there are moments where the song is clearly about to sore if only there were a guitar solo to propel the song forward. Instead, what we get is Josh riffing for a few bars without adding much of anything to the song (compare the "solos" on Ethiopia and Detroit to the solo on Can't Stop [easiest RHCP solo ever, remember?]). Some of the Chili Pepper's most iconic moments are John's rhythmically simplistic, melodically beautiful solos. Right now, it seems they're lacking that X factor that puts them over the top for me.
Which brings me to my next ranty point: I'm really fucking worried they'll go the way of Motion City Soundtrack for me. When MCS lost Tony, if you think about it, MCS did not lose a core member, technically. MCS's simple pop songwriting is their bread and butter, in my opinion, in the same way RCHP's bread and butter is the funk provided by Chad and Flea. But when MCS lost Tony, they lost the element that really pushed them over the top into something wonderful. I'm worried RHCP is the same way without John. I'm a fanatic enough that I like One Hot Minute, but I recognize that there was something lacking from that album, and there's something lacking from RHCP's latest two albums. I mean, Klinghoffer is obviously no scrub, like Dave Navarro was obviously no scrub, but idk, there just isn't the same magic. What songs will we come back to? At least there are some on I'm With You. Anyway, like I said, I'll give the benefit of the doubt and time.