New Chili Peppers?

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

These guys were such a huge band for me when I first got into discovering music, so I'll always give them a shot. Stadium Arcadium was a brilliant album hidden in way too much filler. Losing John was a pretty big deal, so I'm surprised to like their new one as much as I do. Comes out next week but it's out there if you know how to find it. It's still got plenty of filler, but it's a (mostly) consistent full album listen with some definite highlights. Brendan's Death Song and Factory of Faith are especially great.

 

Anyone else still care about them?

[ChicagoPepper]

It's also streaming for free on iTunes right now.

 

I'll always give them a shot too. I don't find their recent stuff to be bad at all, in fact I like the added attention they've given to production on recent albums.

 

Haven't given this too close of a listen yet, but John's absence is immediately noticeable.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

See, I disagree there. It is noticeable as in this album is way less guitar-centric than Stadium, but it feels like a conscious choice. What Josh adds on guitar is nice enough, and the changed focus to bass and some electronics is even nicer. I think the "John's absence" angle is easy to ignore if you just take it as a Chili Peppers album, and not their first in a long time without John. And besides, I'd much rather have this than an album where they clearly tried to make Josh become John so his absence couldn't be felt. Josh is a really talented dude, and it feels like they let him do his own thing here instead of replicating what John would do.

 

In short, I'm pleasantly surprised at how they handled losing John.