Mike D.

brummieapril, on 31 August 2011 - 12:14 PM, said:

Thanks for the kind words. Sorry to respond so long after the fact, but I have been incredibly busy and have only signed in today to read the threads.

I see your point, and thought about it myself during my first listens to the new album. Did they bury Josh as either (a) a newbie, or ( a new man stepping into John's shadow? Was his parts "hidden?" In this vein of questioning, I would have to say no. I also noticed a lot more bass here; but go back and listen to STADIUM ARCADIUM--many songs start with bass, or are carried by bass-dominated riffs. Is it commercial? Of course it is; but so were the albums John were on, more or less. But I don't see it as a sell-out, at all.

I had the good fortune to be given an advance copy of the new CD a little over a week ago (yes, it is a legitimate one), and, after having spent those days listening to the new CD repeatedly, I am happily surprised to report that I really, really like the new album. I was always more of a Frusciante than a Peppers fan, so once he left I was extremely skeptical that I would like the band at all, anymore. I thought ONE HOT MINUTE was a disaster, and felt that I'M WITH YOU had the potential to continue that trend.

I have been a musician (primarily a guitar player) for twenty-five years, and I am very picky about what I think is good music and what is not. Obviously a term like "good music" is completely subjective, so I can only speak for my own ears, as it were. I was able to go into this album without expecting Klinghoffer to be like Frusciante or to even mimic his style (which would have been worse than if it simply flat-out sucked; there is nothing I loathe more than musical plagiarism). After the first listen I was underwhelmed. But apparently this was one of those albums which grows on my over the course of multiple listens--by the third or so I was already mentally checking favorites. After several listens I loved eight of the fourteen tracks; after more listens it is closer to eleven or twelve of fourteen.

I noticed a previous poster lamented a lack of melody on the album, which struck me by surprise--to me it was the numerous melodies throughout that hooked me and kept me coming back. (And no offense at all to that poster; again, opinions regarding such things are always subjective.) In my humble opinion Kiedis and Klinghoffer, after only one outing, are already complimenting each other wonderfully in the melody department. The chorus of such songs as FACTORY OF FAITH and POLICE STATION are only two example which immediately come to mind of this.

I could go track by track, but such an analysis would be tedious in an already too-long post. Suffice it to say I am happy and relieved to like this album. There are many great songs, a few good ones, and a few that I don't mind skipping (namely the melodically-bland ballad BRENDEN'S DEATH SONG and the milquetoast follow-up, ETHIOPIA, along with the obligatory high-speed GOODBYE, HOORAY). But even my favorite Peppers albums with Frusciante had a few throw-away songs, so I won't indict them for having a few here. Initially EVEN YOU BRUTUS? sounded as if Eminem was in the studio beside the Peppers simultaneously during recording and somehow inadvertently ended up on the Peppers' album, but it, like a few others I didn't initially like, has grown on me.

Much has and will be made comparing Klinghoffer to Frusciante, which, in my estimation, is an unfair comparison. No one in the Peppers or Frusciante camp has, to my knowledge, claimed that Klinghoffer would be a carbon-copy of Frusciante. I personally would have been disappointed if he had turned out to be. Comparing the two would be like comparing Eric Clapton with, say, Kirk Hammett--both are great musicians, both with their own distinct style and approach to song-writing and guitar playing. To say one is better than the other is less a matter of comparison and more a matter of personal preference and perhaps even a little regret. No one will miss Frusciante in the Peppers more than me; but Klinghoffer, in my opinion, handles his first outing with an extremely major label band just fine. He fits the band, knows a melody when he writes one (again, sorry to the poster who disagreed; no offense!), and is finding his place well.

In an interview with Frusciante, he and Klinghoffer were talking about the choice for the subdued BEFORE THE BEGINNING which opens THE EMPYREAN (perhaps Iva or someone can provide the source; forgive me, but it eludes me right now, but it is in the same interview with the forty-minute jam). I remember that both men agreed that the subdued opener was the best choice--and I agree--and went on to say that it was picked because it was not intrusive, that it allowed the listener to come to the music instead of the music forcing itself onto the listener. I nodded as I read that portion of the interview, in full agreement; and, hearing all of the negative statements regarding Klinghoffer's playing, etc. I cannot help but wonder (speculate) that perhaps he has taken the same approach to the new Peppers album. To come out on his first album with them, guns blazing and cocksure, would most likely have drawn as much--or more--criticism than his subdued approach has. In other words, he is damned if do or don't, and I am sure he was fully aware of this when he agreed to step in as guitarist, when they were writing the material for the album, and when they were in the studio. I don't know if Klinghoffer is capable of the same sort of blazing guitar playing as Frusciante produced, but that is no matter because neither does anyone else. If he isn't that is okay with me--he is a very capable player and songwriter, regardless.

So will you like the new album? Well, it depends--after all, these things are always... subjective.