Stadium Arcadium: A new look at the Red Hot Chili Peppers

"Stadium Arcadium"
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Reviewed by Emily Rose

After the second hour of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' new album, "Stadium Arcadium," one cannot help but realize that the band has found their permanent niche in the music industry. A band that has always been known for it's fluctuation between eighties punk, through nineties grunge, and all the way back to sixties pop and classic funk surprises their fans, and dumbfounds their critics, with the new venture.
The box set is twenty-eight songs long, and is packed with innovative tunes never expected from the band that once shouted to International youth, "give it away now." The band seems to have traded its in-your-face lyrics, which frankly never really made sense, for more subtle and bittersweet riffs and heartfelt verse. This is not to say that the Red Hot Chili Pepper's are overdue for a change. In fact, the opposite is revealed through this album. "Stadium Arcadium" makes even the most die-hard Peppers fans realize that they have always been changing and reforming their style. However, it is my belief, that the Peppers have finally found the groove that is completely their own and totally effective in showing what each band member is capable of doing. For example, the second song on disk one, entitled, "Snow" is a testament to the unity the band holds. John Frusciante begins with a complex and hypnotic guitar riff and the sound is morphed into a beautiful compilation when the entrances of Flea on bass guitar, Chad Smith on drums, and of course, Anthony Kiedis' vocals take place.
The fans of Red Hot Chili Pepper's more bumping, hip-hop inspired, rock will not be disappointed either. Tunes like "Hump de Bump" and "Charlie" echo back to Jimi Hendrix vocals and show off Flea's guruesk presence with his bass, something that was neglected in previous albums like By The Way.
Of course, as with any two disk album, there are occasional songs that are not up to par with the rest of the album. In this reviewer’s opinion, two of those songs were released as singles over the last year. "Dani California" and "Tell Me Baby" are two of the least innovative songs on the entire album. Maybe the Peppers thought it would be necessary to release to songs that are extremely similar to their previous albums before shocking their fans. However, I think this was a mistake that might have cost them sales, even though "Dani California" has been in the top ten internationally for who knows how long.
My advice is, get this album. It has appeal to every kind of music fan. It is also refreshing to see an older band still staying afloat in this ever-changing music industry.