RoxorFuxor said:
A lot of people mentioned the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I don't even think you can say they are the same band. They are NO where near what they use to be, I think they are pretty big sellouts. I usually don't care when people sell out as long as I still like their music, but since Blood Sugar Sex Magik I think I have only liked 2 of their songs. One Hot Minute seemed to be like they were trying to go back to their funk roots, but no one really liked it. I can honestly say I have listened to all of it, but Aeroplane is an awesome song.
bollocks. the chili peppers are one of the few bands that transitionned from underground to mainstream WITHOUT selling out. it sounds to me like you're pissed that they didn't just keep rehashing BSSM. i can't stand their new style but i wasn't really surprised to see them moving in that direction.
while it's true that if you listened to 'freaky styley' and 'californication' back to back you'd think they were two totally different bands they have followed a natural progression. especially if you looked into the personal side of the band a bit and especially john frusicante. first there was all the drug use early in the bands career and then the heroin overdose of their original guitarist, hillel slovak in 87.
once frusciante joined the band in 88 it was clear that they were changing directions a bit and experimenting with more styles you can hear it on tracks like 'knock me down', 'sexy mexican maid' and 'taste the pain'. the new blood in the band obviously changed their course a bit and keidis' battle with heroin became a lot more apparent in his lyrics. same applies to blood sugar sex magik, again more styles (even proper ballads) and more battles with his daemon.
'one hot minute' WAS a dark album. then again it was a dark time for everyone involved. dave navarro on guitar certainly played a huge part in the change in sound on that album. flea was going through an incredibly painful divorce, and keidis had at least one if not two serious motorcycle accidents. as for claiming they were trying to go back to their funk roots that just boggles me. navarro isn't a funk guitarist, he's said so himself... he can play it but he's not really it. that would and did change the feel and flow of the album.
frusciante felt constrained with the chili peppers early on which is one of the reasons he bailed in late 91 / early 92 on top of his growing problem with heroin. but even from his earliest solo stuff you can still hear a singer songwriter trying to be heard through all the smack. to my ears 'your pussy's glued to a building on fire' borrows the vocal melody from elton john's 'tiny dancer' almost to a T.
so it's not really that hard to conceive that upon frusicante's return to the chili peppers that the band would change focus yet again especially where all the members were finally clean in 98. frusciante has also gone on to say in interviews that he feels a lot more confident in his playing now and is more comfortable in bringing new ideas to the mix with the band. something he wasn't so apt to do when he first joined them back when he was 19.
so yeah. that's why i can't call the chili peppers sellouts even if i don't like the direction they've moved towards. **** they're all getting close to 40 now or past it (aside from frusciante). to keep pumping out variations of BSSM would have been to sell out for cash. they've progressed and been successful at it. the direction they were moving in has been clear since the late 80s.
now metallica on the other hand did sell out after justice.... they went from being thrash metal pioneers to a mainstream hard rock band after the death of a founding member (and a very obvious strong creative force)
