12 replies to this topic

[lolz9989]

Yes, John's solo work is entirely underrated and underappreciated, but even amongst John's albums there lie some songs which even seem to go unnoticed by many solo-album fans.

I propose that the entire "Inside of Emptiness" album is criminally underrated aside from Look On's guitar solo (all anyone talks about is that darn solo, and ignores the other 4 minutes of the song + heartfelt lyrics documenting John's tragic mid-90's life), and I can't believe What I Saw hasn't blown anyone else's mind; it's the perfect marriage between John's style and Cobain's style, it catchy, and rocks hard. Also, every Ataxia song besides The Sides and Dust seems to get kicked to the curb... yeah its spacey and some may find Ataxia boring and repetitive (like the guys on GameFAQs), but just give it a chance because I'm sure they made it that way on purpose (and people are just listening to it with the wrong mindset, expecting it to be like RHCP). Furthermore, people like to slam "Smile From The Streets", and while I can see where they're coming from, I can't imagine anyone listening to I'm Always and not feeling anything in their soul; that song is just magical, and the wacky stream-of-consciousness lyrics ("I paddle through the clouds in my oversized canoe but I'm always on your side", "my fish needs to thrive") were a perfect catalyst for John's emotional, bittersweet vocals.

Now to the RHCP side of things...

This Velvet Glove. Oh my, This Velvet Glove. This song changed my life. I mean, Otherside's music video is what got me interested in RHCP back in 2000, but the enchanting guitarwork, vocals, and lyrical imagery of This Velvet Glove grabbed me by the throat and have never let go since. I can't believe how this song slips under the radar for so many unfortunate people. This song is the standard by which I measure all other songs by all other artists. This song is a slice of pure beauty and soul engraved into that red Californication disc. There are only a few other songs I've heard which come close to the feeling of TVG, including Alice In Chains' Nutshell, A Perfect Circle's 3 Libras, and perhaps Nick Drake's Riverman to a lesser extent. This song has John's soulful style written all over it, and his name even gets mentioned in the lyrics by Anthony. This song illustates themes such as loneliness, self sacrifice, and love in it's purest form. While its catchy enough to be a radio single, I'm kinda glad it was never released as one because it is a truly special gem, a reward for those who listened to Californication in it's entirety instead of just the famous radio hits. This is the song that made me a John and RHCP fan. All those other albums I bought? John and Anthony, you can thank This Velvet Glove for those sales. This is the song that reminds me that life is worth living despite the pain. This is my favorite song of all time.

Another great, underappreciated song on that album is Easily. It has easily (hohoho) one of John's most beautiful guitar solos ever, powerful drumming by Chad, and Anthony at his peak, both lyrically and vocally (Flea of course is great as usual too). The song is extremely catchy, and melds both the funky and melodic sides together without the need for Anthony's rapping. I can't believe this song isn't more well-known.

Minor Thing has some great emotive guitarwork by John, and awesome vocals by Anthony. The lyrics don't make alot of sense, but you can tell the song has a postive message to it ("any problem you have is just a minor thing in the long run" or something along those lines). Some guys on GameFAQs said this was the worst song on By The Way, but I respectfully disagree. Lesser bands would kill for a song half this good.

I actually think I Could Have Lied is the best song on BSSM... please don't kill me

Edit: Quixoticelixer and Bicycle Song will sadly never get the love they deserve because they were kept off of their respective albums, and are only available as iTunes downloads. Also, I read that the band didn't like Bunker Hill for some reason, so they scrapped it... I bet Justin Bieber couldn't make a song half as beautiful as Bunker Hill if his life depended on it.

Which John/RHCP songs do you feel deserve more attention and praise?

[ryanliamg]

that's why we are here. doesn't it suck that more people don't recognize john's beauty?

i think i could've lied is the best song of BSSM too. i'm sure many do. for months and months that song had me hypnotized. all these songs have had big periods of time as my favorite song (some longer than other): californication, scar tissue, can't stop, this is the place, can't stop, venice queen, savior, this velvet glove, song that made us what we are today, lyon 6.6.06, save the population, time, and bunker hill.
some of his solo songs that stick out to me: dying song, whole "DC EP", unreachable, with love, time is nothing, scratches, as can be, my smile is a rifle, skin blues, untitled #2, 4, 6 and 7, 11. pretty much all of shadows collide with people but these stick out to me as i'm writing this: regret, every person, failure 33 object (especially going right into)-song to sing when i'm lonely, time goes back, cut out, 23 go in to end. i love "a sphere in the heart of silence". ramparts, representing, the will to death.

these are just my fav's not that they all deserve more attention.

[brummieapril]

^^Agree with DCEP
Other John songs off the top of my head would be; A Name, Untitled #1 & 2, Curtains (the song, not album - stunningly beautiful), Ramparts (sadly overshadowed by Murderers but one of my most favourite John songs), Invisible Movement and, more recently, After The Ending (overlooked by most when discussing The Empyrean but a very beautiful song and one of his best album closures). Oh yeah and Three Thoughts, I Go Through These Walls, Innerstate Sex and Beat Down from the Internet album

RHCP - Well, I'm not much of an authority on this tbh but it seems to me that tons of the bands fans dislike the BTW album, whereas I think it's their best. So probably Midnight, the studio version of Venice Queen and the guitar parts of Cabron.

[little donny]

ten to butter blood voodoo resonates deeply with me today.

[anachronism]

Okay, Californication is the 2nd best album ever made, right behind Led Zeppelin IV. The only song on that that isn't spectacular is Porcelain. (Yes, This Velvet Glove is one of the best songs on there, too. Same with Parallel Universe.) And I maintain that Scar Tissue is the best RHCP song out there.

I Could Have Lied is one of the best RHCP songs, regardless of album.

Going Inside by John Frusciante is horribly under-appreciated. There aren't many songs that address the themes he brings up there, and the instrumentals fit the bill perfectly.

[goofyrat]

the afterglow, when that guitar kicks in its one of the funkiest grooves you will ever hear

[ryanliamg]

i love porcelain.

[Paddeh]

Oh man, I've agreed with pretty much everything said on this topic and more. Another from Ataxia is one of my favourite chill out songs going; it displays perfectly John's ability to just sit back for most of a song and then come out of no where. I'm also massive fan of Dying song, admittedly it's a pretty morbid thought, but it's the perfect song for a funeral; the lyrics are thoroughly up lifting while still recognising the separation caused by death. This Velvet Glove and I Could Have Lied are fantastic tracks, and have spent many nights on repeat when I've been up all night trying to not do work.

I first got into RHCP in 2000 too, from the video to Otherside no less! I was in Spain, and on the second day there of a 4 week vacation, I contracted food poison and was basically bed bound. The only English language channel available was some music channel that played Otherside non-stop. I couldn't have been happier and I've been a massive fan since. The video genuinely altered my interest in music for the better as I was only 14 at the time, and hadn't really been exposed to anything of quality yet. Thank god for that dose of food poisoning

[Michaela]

I love Dying song...it's so beautiful that it is not even depressing.I could have lied is one of my favourite songs;to me the whole BSSM album is pretty underrated by the new stuff fans.Oh,and I add Outside space to the underrated ones, too.

[anachronism]

ryanliamg, on 26 March 2011 - 06:32 PM, said:

i love porcelain.

It's a good song, but it's a terrible fit for that album, and the instrumentals are a little lackluster. I think it'd've been better if it stayed a poem, 'cause it'd've been a great poem.

[ryanliamg]

i like that it's not the same tone as all the other songs on the album.

[Iva]

In today's world, it's hard to call anything underrated, given what kind of things are overrated. We pretty much have access to all the music we want, from all around the world, nobody actually has to force anything on us and we can pick what we like.

That said, most people don't do so and they end up listening to whatever is most popular now, either because they have no time to get into it/don't want to get into it or because they want to be accepted by those around them, be hip, popular or whatever.

I wouldn't say anything John's ever done is underrated, just mostly non-commercial. Then again, compared to many artists he is super-commercial, just think about it.

[Michael Lynskey]

"More" off of Smile from the Streets has to be one of my favourites, and severely underrated Frusciante tracks