After almost four years since their last studio album, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, or RHCP, have released a massive double-album, “Stadium Arcadium,” which is well worth the wait. Stadium begins where “By The Way” (2002) ended. And depending on what kind of RHCP fan you are, you may love this album or hate it. If you enjoy the old Eighties and early Nineties RHCP, then this may not be the album for you, even though there are some glimpses of hyper-funk brilliance in the album that you may be accustomed to. If you’ve enjoyed the RHCP more since “Californication” (1999), this is the album you’ve been waiting those long four years for.
With their age (most members are now in their forties, and the band has been around for twenty-three years), it is only natural to assume that the RHCP would slow down. Although they’ve slowed down a little bit, they are still rocking as if it was 1989 in their own way.
The first song that introduces us to “Stadium” is “Dani California,” which is about a character launched in “By The Way.” This song is a three and a half-minute summary of RHCP’s career. It features everything from slow, clean guitar and melodic, soft vocals to screeching guitar, thunderous drumming, and pounding bass lines. This not only speaks for the band’s career, but also the entire double-album.
Unfortunately, this may be the album’s downfall. It doesn’t seem as much of a step forward as we’d expect after four years. I’m not saying the album is bad, because it actually could be the best album we see come out all year, but I am saying that I expected a little more.
A double-disc album is very hard to do, and some can fall flat on their faces in the process, but the RHCP pull it off very nicely. The album can get a little boring if you try listening to the more than two hours of music all at once, but even “Braveheart” and “Saving Private Ryan” got boring too, right?
Overall, it is a great album that just about everyone will love, because it has so many different tastes of music to offer. Because of this, I give this album 3.75/4.00 guitar picks. It almost got the perfect rating, but as I said, I expected just a hair more than they gave us.
I highly recommend purchasing this album and rocking out to it. The boys may be getting older, but they can still rock with their socks out, and they already have me waiting eagerly for their next album, even if it takes another four years.