Greatest Hits

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Red Hot Chili Peppers

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Since I bought their 2002 album "By The Way," the Red Hot Chili Peppers have gone on to become one of my all-time favourite bands. Since then I have bought "Californication," "One Hot Minute," "Blood Sugar Sex Magik," "Mother's Milk" and this latest release, "Greatest Hits." At some point I plan on buying their entire back catalogue of albums, because to me they are so much more than just your typical rock band. Music is their lives and you can definitely tell on the songs they put out - the sheer funk, the brash and out-there vocals and the odd lyrics make them stand out from the crowd. They're also one of the biggest selling groups in history and fame doesn't seem to have affected them. Anthony Kiedis is pretty much a rock icon and deservedly so. He isn't the only talent on show though.

You have the fantastic Flea, John Frusciante and Chad Smith. These four men are all different in their ways and possess beautiful musical qualities. Flea says that their backgrounds are from four completely different corners of the globe, and when they come together and make this music, it just click and feels right. Now some fans might say that the Chilis messed up in releasing this greatest hits album in the fall of 2003, but I think it was a wise move to allow newcomers to their music to round up on the past decade. True, the album focuses mainly on material from albums such as Californication and BSSM, but this is no bad thing.

The album opens with two really fantastic songs, both from the same album. The first is "Under The Bridge," and is definitely the song that made the Chilis real stars, allowing them to appeal to a mass worldwide audience. The second is "Give It Away," the funk-laden rocker that became a true anthem. We're then brought up to the relative present with two cuts from 1999 - "Californication" is one of the band's greatest songs ever and has a stunning video to accompany it. The guitars and the vocals along with the lyrics just click and they completely nail it. Classic song. The second is "Scar Tissue" which is a much more laid-back, chilled out song. The guitar on this song is most memorable because it's just so beautiful. You really could listen to this song for many decades to come, and I'm sure I will be. "Soul To Squeeze" is another fantastic song, but I'm not sure which album it was taken from as it's not on any of the studio albums that I own by the group. The guitar is very evocative on this song and the chorus is very melancholy. Just relax and chill.

"Otherside" is a heartbreaking song taken from the Californication album and another highlight from their career. I wish "Get On Top" was on this album, even thought it wasn't released as a single because sometimes I feel that it's a song that everyone in the world should hear. It's just too good to pass by! "Suck My Kiss" is taken from the BSSM album and became a big funky classic. With its brash guitars and drums, along with Kiedis' suggestive lyrical content, it's a true anthem from the Chili camp. "By The Way" follows up and was the lead single from the 2002 album of the same name. The song was a massive hit all over the world, and rightly so. It saw the band mellowing a little bit, but with some rocking sections inbetween the choruses. "Parallel Universe" is an almost sneaky song that gradually creeps in on you, like as if you're sleeping. The guitar is very fast-paced and it instantly became one of my favourites from the Californication album when I first heard it.

"Breaking The Girl" from the BSSM album is a very outrageous song with loud-vocal verses and a very harmonised chorus that really stands out as a Chili Peppers classic. "My Friends" is another really brilliant song and the only cut to feature here from the underrated 1995 album One Hot Minute. "Higher Ground" is taken from 1989's Mother's Milk and the only song here to feature so. It's an average song, and shows the band in early development stages. The promise and spark is there, but it would take following albums to tune their craft well enough. "Universally Speaking" from the By The Way album is the only song I feel shouldn't be on this album, because it's just too poppy. It's a good song, but "The Zephyr Song" or "Can't Stop" would have been more appropriate. "Road Trippin'" closed the Californication album in fine style with its ambiguous and ominous style and works well here, before the two new songs play...

OVERALL GRADE: 8/10

The first of the new songs is the beautiful "Fortune Faded" which sounds a bit like it should have been on the By The Way album. The guitar stands out here very well as does the chorus. This is followed by "Save The Population," the latest song from the band which isn't as good as its predecessor, but still worthy on a compilation by perhaps the most consistent rock band of the past 20 years. What you have on offer here is just a brief selection of some of the Chili Peppers greatest - and definitely most popular - music recorded. To compile all the greatest music from the band would take something like a double disc or perhaps even a triple box set. Since that isn't going to happen any time soon, you'll have to settle for this. Enjoy.

I'm not a huge Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, but I have enjoyed their music over the years. With all of the band's releases and familiar hits, I knew it would be a matter of time, if not years, before they would finally come out with a greatest hits album. And they have, with this release.

I first learned about this Cd through a t.v. advertisement. As the person narrating finished running through the tracks, I realized that "Can't Stop," "Around The World," and "The Zephyr Song," weren't mentioned. Thinking it must be some kind of mistake on my part, and hoping that it was, I went online and scrolled through the tracks, and to much disbelief and dismay, there was no mistake.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers had finally managed to come out with a classic, greatest hits album, and like so many other bands when it comes to greatest hits Cd's, had managed to leave out at least three of their greatest songs. Not only did the Chili Peppers leave out these classics, but they introduce to the public two new songs, "Fortune Faded," and "Save The Population," one of which actually belongs on this Cd (Fortune Faded). The band completely dumped three classics that helped keep them at the top of their game, to introduce new material on the album. Why they did this and why other bands do the same thing, I'll never, ever understand.

As you can tell, I'm dissapointed and confused about this Cd, the chosen tracks, the absence of "certain" songs. Why do bands leave out 1 or 2 great hits on greatest hits albums? Do they forget about them? Maybe the members of these bands aren't as fond about them as the rest of the country.

Anyway, If you're a Peppers fan, you can get most of their great hits on this Cd. But for myself, I can't get this cd and live with the fact that those tracks are missing from the album. I give this release a three out of a possible five stars for the amount of great hits this Cd contains. However, this album misses out on what would have been two more stars for the fact that those tracks I mentioned were missing.