I am unequivocally in love with this album. This is saying a lot, because I can be flighty when it comes to love, particularly when it\u2019s something as important as albums. But one listen through, I\u2019m With You<\/i> had already secured a spot in my top 10 of the year. Ten listens later, it\u2019s a top contender for best album of the year. It\u2019s strange, because my expectations for the disc were pretty minimal. The last Red Hot Chili Peppers album, 2006\u2019s Stadium Arcadium, <\/i>was undoubtedly solid, but double albums are always a tough thing. But casting a bigger blow to the fate of the Chili Peppers was guitarist John Frusciante\u2019s departure in 2007. Frusciante\u2019s guitar sound is legendary, pure and distinctive and raw, and before listening to I\u2019m With You, <\/i>I would have said that any line-up without him would be noticeably lacking. <\/p>\n
But now I\u2019m eating my words. I\u2019m With You<\/i> is the tightest, most resonant \u2013 dare I say best \u2013 album in the RHCP\u2019s storied career. From the ferocious guitar and drum assault that opens with \u201cMonarchy Of Roses,\u201d followed by Anthony Kiedis\u2019 murky vocals and signature wordplay, the disc will hook you in the band\u2019s funky, melodic universe. It\u2019s a great opener, setting the stage for what\u2019s to come \u2013 seamless tonal shifts, the fierce interplay between Flea\u2019s bass, Chad Smith\u2019s drumming, and new addition Josh Klinghoffer on guitars.\u00a0 Frusciante\u2019s departure is only felt in the sense that the guitar riffs are no longer the huge, dominating force of the band\u2019s sound.\u00a0 But somehow, that turns out to be the perfect thing.\u00a0 All four members sound wonderfully in sync, vibing off each other and creating a disc that\u2019s greater than the sum of its parts. It makes every note sound vital and urgent. <\/p>\n
These days, it tends to be tough for me to find an album where every track is truly top-notch. I\u2019m With You <\/i>does just that. \u201cFactory Of Faith\u201d is a stomping rocker with swirls of guitar, \u201cEthiopia\u201d has a tongue-in-cheek flair to it that reminds me of early RHCP, paired with a soaring, gorgeous refrain (\u201cTell my boy I love him so \/ Tell him so he knows\u201d), and first single \u201cAdventures Of Rain Dance Maggie\u201d manages to make a line like \u201cTick-tock I want to rock you like the eighties \/ Cock-blocking isn\u2019t allowed\u201d sound charming and catchy. <\/p>\n
But the absolute standout of the album is \u201cBrendan\u2019s Death Song.\u201d I\u2019d say it\u2019s the best song the Chili Peppers have recorded since \u201cUnder The Bridge, and it\u2019s destined to be a high point of their career. Dedicated to longtime friend of the band Brendan Mullen of The Masque, this cut is truly stunning, morphing from a mellow, heartfelt ballad to a full-out cacophony of sound. It\u2019s part death march, part buoyant celebration of life, and every line is just achingly beautiful. Strangely, though, the moment that I find most amazing and haunting is a wordless one \u2013 during the bridge, as the instrumentation crashes and gallops around him, Kiedis repeatedly cries \u201cYeah, yeah!,\u201d his voice capturing the gamut of emotion that emblemizes this song. I can\u2019t praise \u201cBrendan\u2019s Death Song\u201d enough, so just give it a listen for yourself!<\/p>\n
When speaking about this album, the band repeatedly made statements that the new lineup of the Chili Peppers was a whole new start for the band, and that really comes through on the music here. There are elements of vintage Chili Peppers, from the signature alliterative funkiness of Kiedis\u2019 lyrics, to the raw, propulsive instrumentation. But there\u2019s also a feeling of newness to I\u2019m With You, <\/i>the sense that the four members came together and really fleshed out their collective vision. From the toe-tapping pep of \u201cHappiness Loves Company\u201d (hope this one ends up being the second single) to the lyrical depth of \u201cPolice Station\u201d (the Chili Peppers have always been excellent at carving out visceral tales of flawed characters), there\u2019s something that will draw everyone into this release<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n I suppose it\u2019s clear by now that I adore this album. It feels familiar and fresh all at the same time. Each time I spin it, I find some new track that I\u2019m in love with, some new depth to a song that I didn\u2019t notice the first time around. Let I\u2019m With You <\/i>do the same for you, and I can assure you won\u2019t regret it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":30747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5857],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-42422","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-red-hot-chili-peppers","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42422"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42422"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}