Multi Grammy Award winning, critically praised, commercially successful – the monumental double album Stadium Arcadium by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers is somehow 20 years old this weekend. The culmination of everything the Chilli Peppers represented up to this point in their career, there are so many adjectives one could use to describe this record – ambitious, unwieldy, epic, dynamic, experimental, bloated, generous, confident, bombastic – and it is filled with extended moments of brilliance that attest to the spirit of collaborative songwriting that went into its production.
A celebration of the band’s past and a prophetic road map for much of what came after, Stadium Arcadium feels like a ‘best of’ album composed entirely of brand new songs. If this sounds somewhat dismissive, that’s not the intention. The album is like a mirror that reflects the very best aspects of this band and the unmistakable fingerprints of each and every member can be found across the breadth of this 28 song, 122 minute odyssey, in what proves to be the perfect distillation of everything that comes to mind when one thinks of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
John Frusciante’s guitar is flashier than on earlier records – an influence from his time spent hanging with progressive rock band The Mars Volta – favouring big heavy riffs and wholeheartedly embracing more layered guitars for the first time since 1989’s Mother’s Milk. The album is also rich with memorable solos, with standout moments coming in Dani California, She’s Only 18, Readymade, Turn It Again, though my personal favourite has to be Hey – a controlled and deliberate solo rich with reverb and subtle distortion that creates such a beautifully sleazy, psychedelic and bluesy kind of mood.
Flea’s bass feels more melodic with a warmer tone that complements Frusciante’s guitar beautifully. Perhaps less memorable than some of his work on earlier albums, but as a part of a greater whole, it works incredibly well. Chad Smith’s drums are the bedrock upon which all else is built and his playing is typically powerful and intricate as ever. Vocally, Anthony Kiedis displays more range and confidence, especially in the softer, more balladic tracks, feeling more natural and less affected than he often has in the past.
RHCP albums have always been the perfect music for summer to me. There’s a kind of warmth and vibrancy to their songs, a reckless and unbounded energy that has always seemed perfectly analogous to the freedom and hopefulness of the summer months, and Stadium Arcadium is no exception. It feels like the slow drift into hazy summer nights – relaxed, upbeat, fun and playful, but also content to chill out, to soak up the easy vibes and reminisce with good company.
Written and recorded over the course of almost 2 years, the album is a lyrical and musical testament to the various relationships the band members were involved in at the time of its conception, and this energy had a profound influence on the writing process, translating beautifully to the finished product.
Nowhere is this more clear than in tracks like Wet Sand and Hard To Concentrate, bringing to mind older cuts like Road Trippin’ and my personal favourite RHCP song Dosed. Most notable though is If, possibly the most genuinely tender and heartfelt ballad the band has ever written (“and if I saw the sun fall down, I’d pick it up and make a crown, one that was a perfect fit for you”,) and a perfect example of a more mature and considered lyrical approach – “we could find a place to stay, a secret little hideaway, spend a little time inside of you” is a far cry from “I want to party on your pussy, baby” from the The Uplift Mofo Party Plan era.
In many ways the album feels like the natural continuation of By The Way’s more thoughtful, tempered and contemplative sound, but interspersed with a knowing look back at their freewheeling and fun loving past. From the classic funk rock of Hump de Bump and Storm In A Teacup, to the aforementioned intimate ballads, the pop tinged melodies such as Tell Me Baby, and the stadium friendly rock anthems like Dani California, the result is an album that straddles a broad range of sounds and influences and sees the welcome return of a more funk tinged sound that has been an integral part of RHCP since their inception in the early 80s.
Seemingly inevitable for a double album of such length, not everything is a standout, but one thing I found upon listening to this record in full for the first time in roughly 15 years was just how I felt surprisingly little urge to skip tracks. The album feels more cohesive than other RHCP records, conceived as a whole and with a more unified sound. Sure, it has its fair share of less immediate tracks, and there are certainly a few misses and forgettable songs scattered throughout – Slow Cheetah, Make You Feel Better, and So Much I feel a bit throw away – but as a whole it works incredibly well, and every song at the very least offers something worth listening out for.
I do have to make special note of Death Of A Martian. It is such a strange song filled with a cascade of meaningless, gibberish lyrics that unexpectedly transitions into a stream of consciousness spoken word outro. That lyrics such as “disappeared, no trace, musky tears, suitcase, the down turn brave little burn cub bear careless turnip snare rampages” can be delivered in such a serious, straight-faced tone only adds to the bizarre charm of this weird little track. It also closes out the album with perhaps my favourite lyric on the entire record – “Get your broom and sweep echoes of yesternight’s fallen freckles away.” Beautiful nonsense.
Stadium Arcadium was the last Frusciante record (well at least until his second comeback in 2022) since his return with Californication, and along with By The Way it completes a trilogy of iconic albums that arguably make up Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ most creative and acclaimed era. 20 years later, it is well worth revisiting.