The hearts of rock music fans worldwide sank three years ago when the Red Hot Chili Peppers officially announced their disbandment. Misfortune hit harder still when John Frusciante, undoubtedly one of the best living guitarists in the world, quit the band. Frusciante had quit the Chili Peppers previously in 1992, but later rejoined in 1998, and is absent from only one album. The loss of Frusciante and the subsequent announcement that Josh Klinghoffer, the Chili Peppers' new guitarist, had joined the band, left fans wondering what possibly could become of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The band name might be the same, but make no mistake, I'm With You, the Red Hot Chili Pepper's 10th studio album , makes it abundantly clear that this is a new band starting fresh.
Many components of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' sound still remain the same. The funky bass riffs of bassist Flea are as great as they've ever been, and Chad Smith's drumming is spot on. Anthony Kiedis brings back his iconic vocals, delivering quick melodic raps on some tracks while singing tender lyrics on others. All the funk, head banging rock and laid-back melodies of earlier Chili Peppers' albums remain. Truly, the real judge of I'm With You lies in Klinghoffer's guitar work. As much as I'm With You is yet another solid album in a long line of critically successful releases, it falls short simply in that it cannot recover from the loss of Frusciante.
What Frusciante brought to the Red Hot Chili Peppers was so much more than a typical lead guitar position. He provided the spark that created the sizable repertoire of Red Hot Chili Peppers hits. He gave the band its unforgettable hooks and power chords that stood out powerfully within the rest of their music. While Josh Klinghoffer's skill with a guitar is formidable, it seems overly apparent that he is holding back on the album, potentially not to overstep his position as the newest band member. It is supremely unfortunate that a band as hallowed as the Chili Peppers will never have the same borderline-perfection sound it used to have.
Still, I'm With You by no means is a weak album. The opening track, "Monarchy of Roses," starts off rough, as if distilling the muck accrued by the hiatus, and then quickly explodes back into the iconic sound unmistakably known to the Chili Peppers. Any listener, Chili Peppers fan or not, will have trouble not dancing to Flea's toe-tapping bass line in "Factory of Faith" or feeling moved by "Brendan's Death Song," a melancholy burial hymn that dances between somber sounds and feelings of stoic optimism. "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie," the first single, is perhaps the most iconic song of the album, combining Kiedis' somewhat nonsensical lyrics with the steady music of the band that brings together the other songs on the album cohesively as a unit.
Every song on the album I'm With You deserves attention. Yet again, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have succeeded in making an impressive album that lives up to their six Grammy award-winning legacy. If you've ever enjoyed listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers since the band came out with Blood Sugar Sex Magik in 1991, cherish the album as yet another strong collection of songs by one of America's most successful contemporary rock bands. Just don't expect it to sound the same now that Frusciante is no longer part of the equation.
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