Very few bands have been able to maintain a level of cultural relevance over such a long period like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. 33 years after their incarnation in 1983, the Chili Peppers have released their eleventh LP, “The Getaway.”
The problem with maintaining cultural relevance is that the band has maintained equally high expectations in the process. People want to hear another drug-infused, introspective masterpiece like 1991’s “Under the Bridge”, or a made-for-radio jam like 2006’s “Dani California.” The fact is that the Chili Peppers are all out of those.
At the end of the day, three out of the band’s four members are over 50 years old. Their prime rocking days are behind them, so it is time for expectations to be tempered — especially after the disappointing 2011 effort “I’m With You.”
Now, with all that in mind and expectations adjusted, “The Getaway” is acceptable.
There is a feeling throughout the album that the band knows they did not quite have everything together on the last album. It’s time to make up for that and prove their true ability. There is more subtle funk and diversity of sound here than on the last album, as the Chili Peppers try to bring back the old while also maintaining their new, mature sound.
The album exploded out of the gates with first single “Dark Necessities,” which is the top track without question. Flea rocks his best bass line in a decade, and elsewhere they figure out how to include piano in a song without putting people to sleep — a skill they clearly forgot by the end of the album.
“Goodbye Angels” reintroduces a sense of urgency that has been missing from the Chili Peppers’ music recently, and the song’s buildup and epic instrumental outro put it just a tier below “Dark Necessities.”
Many of the remaining tracks, however, come close to greatness, but seem to be missing a little something. “Go Robot,” “Detroit” and “This Ticonderoga” all drag the listener in, but just cannot seem to close the deal. As much as the band members reach for the old Chili Pepper sound, they will not truly have it again.
The rest of the album does not even attempt to close the deal, from “I’m With You”-esque filler tracks to whatever it is that goes on in the last 10 minutes of the album.
In “Encore,” there is a final bright spot before the forgettable final two tracks. What first comes off as another bland, old-man-Anthony-Kiedis song slowly begins to hypnotize with the windows-down, head-nod worthy chorus of “I wanna listen to the radio / driving down Calexico Highway.”
When it’s all said and done, “The Getaway” is exactly what everyone should have expected — no “Blood Sugar Sex Magik,” but listenable, while retaining a semi-authentic Chili Peppers sound.
Unless lead singer Anthony Kiedis enters a “Benjamin Button”-esque phase of his life, this is what fans will get with the next album too. It is time for everyone to reign in their expectations and accept that the Red Hot Chili Peppers are becoming more mild.
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