Californication

Meh

I got tormented with the RHCP over the years and especially "Californication". It is a good song but overplayed. The rest of the album seems mediocre. I don't even dislike the band but if I have to listen to them I go for their earlier funk rock albums which just have a certain character. This one here? Fine but not very spectacular and one of the albums that don't need to be on the list.

This is a mess. Great musicians, but everything else is terrible - vocals, lyrics, songs, production. RHCP found a sound - based largely on Flea's unique talents - that makes them stand out. But this is just a lame milking of that cred - no spark.

Around the World Scar Tissue Otherside Californication Road Trippin'

First thought was “ugh I hate this band”; then they fool you for the first half dozen or so tracks and you’re like “wow this is good, some musicality, some decent content” and then bam, they revert to form and the whining thrashing BS is back.

there’s only so much anthony kiedis i can take… 2.5

#371. Hey guys, did you know they were from California? 2/5: Road Trippin was good. The rest you can have

I used to like a lot of these songs, over time however RHCP have grown stale and repetitive for me. Pick another state to sing about and maybe I’ll come back to them.

Loud and boring.

An incredible guitarist and bassist getting dragged down by one of the worst vocalists known to man. Less music made by paedophiles please!

2.5 So much better than their earlier album and a solid start but a painful end

Frusciante’s return is appreciated but it’s not really until the next album where things click. But really nothing can save this album. Really the second half is barely worth listening to and as much as I love Otherside… woof.

boo

Enjoyed when I was younger, still know a lot of the words. Fun to sing but ultimately not my jam these days

Very tight band who can lay down some funky grooves...but on a deeper level this music does not speak to me at all. It quickly became very tedious. Sorry, not my jam...

I never really got into the Chilis. Still don't love them, but no special reason why. It's a pretty accomplished album, just doesn't do it for me.

2.5

Interesting fact, when you use Apple Music Karaoke feature that isolates the music, the RHCP sound amazing, the music is really good. However once you add the vocals it all takes a nose dive. Don’t like the voice and the lyrics are all too often laughable. Never really enjoyed the band and don’t ever listen to them, listening to this was tough….

Er staan wat hits op, het klinkt bekend en is uit 'onze tijd'. Maar sorry, sorry, sorry, ik vind dit geen prettig luisterbare muziek. Veel nummers zijn voor mij het muzikale equivalent van iemand die in je oor staat te schreeuwen. Of van een gortdroog beschuitje dat je zonder beleg op moet eten. Misschien zijn dit wel mijn Beatles: ik snap de hype niet.

I wanna hate on this album, but man, have you heard John Fruiscante sing backing vocals?

They pick their singles well, and they write some catchy musical phrases. Most typically, the guitar particularly stands out, and the whole band really plays well together. But I just can't get over this apparent man-child who can't stop rap yell-rapping at me. Man is his vocal delivery obnoxious when he doesn't just sing. When he does sing, it's nice. But most often, I can't wait to move on.

2.5☆/5 08.06.2024

mmmh kiedis schwirig. intrumentals cool. finds mit de ziit streng und langwilig. schlusslied cute. aber sorry leider es zwei. sorry sorry chili pepper fanz

Not as good as I wanted it to be, the only track I've heard from this album is Californication and I've always loved that track, I was genuinely hoping that there was more of the same on it but it seems to have missed The Mark a bit

I liked Scar Tissue and Around The World. I gave up during Easily. I don't think this album is for me.

annoying (derogatory)

Never liked this album.

I was a huge RHCP fan when I was in high school (1992 - '95). I enjoyed every album up through Blood Sugar Sex Magik (some more than others, Freaky Styley, Uplift Mofo, Mother's Milk). I don't know if it was the drugs, or what, but man did they turn to garbage. Clearly I don't want them to start doing heroin again, but dude....

It's not... BAD, it just kind of washes over me a bit. I think the vocal style has aged quite badly. 2.5

Got a few tracks in and got busy but don’t really plan to start it up again. Not a Chilis guy

Not a bad record just not my thing

The last great album that I enjoyed from RHCP was BLOOD SUGAR SEX MAGIK released in 1991, so CALIFORNICATION is not one of my favorite Red Hot Chili Pepper albums. I didn't really enjoy any of the songs on this album. I remember not enjoying any of the singles when the album came out in 1999 and that hasn't changed with the passage of time. The mix and the production leaves a lot to be desired. This album doesn't bring any of the magic of BLOOD SUGAR SEX MAGIK where it felt the band had discovered a new vibe. It feels like a cynical rehash of "Under the Bridge" from that album over and over and over intermixed with cringey lyrics like "do you smell like a girl when you smile?" I wish that the electronic producer path had worked out because I would have liked to have heard that album. I can imagine that being something that I had not already heard a billion times with RHCP. They would eventually take the path previously not taken with the release of BY THE WAY, so perhaps I am being too harsh. And perhaps Frusciante's reintegration into the band really did require doing an album of 15 songs that really doesn't move the band or their sound forward. But at the end of the day we are left with an album that is way too long and cannot maintain its vibrancy throughout. I couldn't even find the hits that are supposed to litter the first half of the album and I am someone who enjoys a lot of the RHCP catalog from the early eighties right up through BSSM. This was definitely NOT an album that everyone needs to hear before they die. Even Flea, as recently as 2023, thinks that BLOOD SUGAR SEX MAGIK is their best album. That is the album that should be on here. I won't be listening to this album again.

Californication and Scar Tissue get this to 2 stars or D+ but that is where it stops.

this album pissed me off

There are few bands as overplayed as RHCP. I would probably like them better is the major radio stations didn’t have them on hourly rotation, I didn’t hear them in grocery stores and I wasn’t inundated by their SoCal sound non-stop. But let’s be honest, they put lightning in a bottle with Sex Drugs Sugar Magic in 1991, and retained that formula all the way up to Stadium Arcadium, and then went back to it later. Rarely do I hear a RHCP song that doesn’t song like every other RHCP songs. To their credit, they produce it, someone else plays it, and they are making $ hand-over-fist. On this album I enjoyed hearing the non-radio songs like Get On Top, Right on Time and Savior. However, if I want to listen to them, I’ll just turn on the radio or go buy a cucumber and wait five minutes….

Some songs were not complete garbage.

Just not that good

Lot of songs that still get steady play on the radio. The deeper cuts don't do anything for me. I don't think it's their best work, musically or lyrically, and I'm not much of a fan to start.

One of the premiere Uncool bands. First half of this really had me thinking I was gonna become a RHCP convert, then it just kept going.

Was really excited for this & expected to love it but I unfortunately did not find the music particularly fun or interesting

They got too popular.

Pol vibe. Couple of hits but bit dergy

Probably a 3 but man's a ?nonce

This album and band haven't aged well. The musicians are skilled but the funkiness of earlier albums sound flat here. The lyrics are nonsensical even when they're trying to be deep. This album also brings back some not so great memories as the late 90s weren't the best time for me.

RHCP are just not a band I've clicked with. They have written some great songs but also a LOT of tripe. They are overrated and this album proves it

Music for moms

A slog to get through, I really, really, *really* don't like RHCP as a whole.

Can't stand the singer but this still has plenty of earworms.

The most talented group of musicians putting out the least great music I could ever think of. Way too much filler on this one.

A band that gets progressively worse with every album they release. Pretty bored of them now.

You should be embarrassed and ashamed if you listen to this and enjoy it.

Good music with utter lyrical nonsense.

great band with a bad singer. the title track is iconic, and had higher expectations for the rest, but the singing and lyrics are rough and the second half of the album really falls off. thought it would be getting a 3 until the second half devolved into mostly noise

This sounds so bad. I used to love these songs. You can hear the audio clipping. It's insane. Too bad. Could have been the best Chili Peppers album. Maybe. But Idk it's pretty bloated and I can't really stand it anyway.

Can any album truly claim to be ruined by a terrible *master,* other than Californication? I can’t think of one. I think this is a famous example, but I’ve never heard it before so I didn’t know if I should expect something quite subtle that’s been overblown by audio nerds such as myself. No! It’s unlistenable! Everything sounds AWFUL. That’s pretty harsh. It’s just unfortunate. The music sounds like a a bug that's been smooshed against the glass window of a moving car. For absolutely no good reason! It’s oppressive. They didn’t need to suck the life out of it like that. These are musicians, producers, engineers who spent years of their life on their craft, on tone, on the art of recording. For it to come to this?? “Scar Tissue,” that’s a pretty good song, I just can’t listen to it now that I’ve heard the master. Can’t un-hear. I feel like my ears are getting chopped off by a kitchen knife. Some tracks (“Get On Top”) I can literally hear the digital clipping. There’s only one moment on the entire album that doesn’t sound destroyed by a mastering engineer: the first minute of “Californication.” I can actually hear… drums! And maybe “Porcelain,” as well. The insane compression sounds like kind of a choice on a quieter, jazz-brushed ballad. Ah, now I get it. *this* is the tipping point, whose swift reactions lead to analog-vs-digital, vinyl fetishism, audiophile USB cables. I can see the original sin that set off the chain reaction of nonsense. I am, happily, no audiophile. I have done the double blind test between uncompressed files and 128kbps mp3, and, with a couple exceptions, performed slightly better than random. But I feel like I have a pretty good ear for tone. And the tone of this album is… so bad. So maybe that’s why on this list? Historically significant for its audio awful-ness? I read about this being a bad master, ugh, years ago, I thought those people were just old men yelling at clouds. Old man, look at my life, I’m a lot like you... 2/5 (Open to re-reviewing if this is ever remastered)

Partly heard before Saved 5/15 Top track: Californication

Years ago a dear friend of mine said something dismissive and cutting about the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I never minded them on the radio, so I asked her for more specifics. She couldn't elucidate what she meant, but after listening to this full album I totally get it. The singles on this will be on Southern California radio for the rest of time, but as an album this just doesn't really come together.

It's OK, some good tracks, but not something I'd listen to much

This album proved 3 things to me: 1. The '90s were a decade of excess that ultimately harmed American society in ways that can still be felt today. This album is an excellent example. While this critique isn't really the album's fault directly, it's still a clear product of its time that can be used as a clear sign of trouble to come. 2. The Loudness Wars ruined music, but at least they started out with the worst offender first and got it out of the way. When the levels clip, these songs become almost unlistenable, even at a low volume. Why is the bass rattling? Why are soft guitar licks mind-numbing? Why do the cymbals sound like static? A remaster would fix this a lot, but then we'd still be faced with Point 3. 3. RHCP are burdened by the Prog Rock Band Dilemma™️. They're so talented that they struggle to hold it together 90% of the time. Like a gym rat who can't help but flex his arms when he's flirting with a girl at the bar while talking about the Joe Rogen Podcast – your muscles won't cover up your gross personality, no matter how impressive they are. Also like a gym bro, the RHCP are sexiest when they're just sitting there looking pretty. The ✨soft✨ songs like "Scar Tissue," "Otherside," "Californication," and "Porcelain" all stand the test of time, and while they do have small moments where you see through the sweetness and get the obnoxious musical jerk-offs, it's nowhere near as mind-numbingly insufferable to sit through as "Parallel Universe," "Get on Top," "I Like Dirt," or "Purple Stain." Normally, the juxtaposition of the annoying noodling songs with the pop crossover cuts would annoy me, but here, the latter serve as a much-needed breath of fresh air, especially on an album so long and exhausting. Hell, this album starts to overstay its welcome the instant Kiedis sings, "Ding, dang, dong, dong, deng, deng, dong, dong, ding, dang," with full sincerity. In fact, Kiedis sings some of the most stupid, inane lyrics I've ever heard. His lyrics are almost more annoying than the flashy playing, honestly. This album is maybe the beginning of the end for rock music as popular culture. I think it should be included in the book not because it's essential listening, but because it's a sign of the end. Sure, it was insanely popular at the time, but that popularity is a Faustian curse. Few other pure rock albums since have gone on to achieve Californication's level of success, and all the other examples I can think of are more niche, or equally braindead. In a way, this was the future RHCP's vision of music always predicted, adding too much rock to soul/funk and adding too much groove to rock to the point where neither sound reflected its point of origin when they played it. When you do that, you essentially kill the genre you're trying to actually exist within. And while RHCP aren't the only suspects in the murder of the genre (U2, Coldplay, even Gorillaz and the White Stripes, or arguably Arctic Monkeys and Imagine Dragons today, who are both trying to raise Rockism from its hospice care deathbed), this album encapsulates all the red flags into one time capsule. Californication is mostly a so-chaotic-it's-forgettable slog of tracks freshened up by a handful of decent gold nuggets of moderate value. But this is not the gold rush, it's the bottom of the barrel, and the only reason we're holding onto the nuggets here as a culture is because they're some of the last ones we'll ever see.

First try - I stopped after the first song, just wasn't feeling it. Second try, made it through. There is some good stuff on this, but there's more NOT good stuff. So - glad to have listened, but ...

If you want the best song ever written about fingering a woman while she's on her period, you've come to the right place. They get John Fruschante back for this album -- to little effect. Sure, you've got Flea's bouncy bass and songs about how great California is and how sex is awesome, and look at us we used to wear socks on our cocks but now we're grown up and do deep songs like "Get on Top." The hits are all frontloaded here. I forgot how ubiquitous the Peppers were there for awhile -- but if they're going to feed us a RHCP album, why not at least Blood Sugar Sex Magik instead of this overproduced mess. Scar Tissue is still one of the best songs they've written, tho.

I understand this album was made in 1999, but the compression here is god awful. For how much Chad uses the cymbals, it should be so much better. Instead it sounds like he's using tiny little finger cymbals the entire album. It comes off as super cheap. Other than that, it's groovy, it's the chili peppers, it's pretty good. Favorites were Scar Tissue and Purple Stain.

Cool then, meh now. IMO.

This is bad

Totally fine album. I think with a lot of the RHCP is that they were so overplayed in the 90-00s that it took away the magic.

Dog shit vocals over super tight playing. Produced to within an inch of its life. I imagine lots of high fiving gong down at the mix sessions between browsing yacht brochures. And god it’s so lonnnnnng. Pure torture. That noise was me whooping loud when it finished. I will never ever listen to this ever again. Never.

ogolnie slaby, ale ma Californication i Otherside czyli spektakularne klasyki

Shame the members are a bunch of scumbags, especially Kiedis.

Oh, RHCP. The fact that you occasionally throw an undeniably good song every now and then makes me dislike you more. For every Scar Tissue and Porcelain (I admittedly prefer the ballads) there’s I Like Dirt, Around the World or Right On Time. I want to like you more, if you did more Under the Bridgeses and Breaking the Girlseses I’d be in your corner. But alas. At least we have Flea’s acting credits.

Slow songs are somewhat catchy with meh vocals, and funkier ones are very annoying. Did not like the inferior ‘Around The World’ on this list, ‘Get On Top’, or any of the funky songs that played after I stopped paying attention. Yeah, I don’t know why this band is so popular.

Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Californication" has its moments, notably with the engaging "The Velvet Glove" and the title track, which stand out for their compelling guitar work and rhythmic flair. These tracks briefly capture the band's celebrated fusion of rock with elements of funk and punk. However, the album largely disappoints, bogged down by filler content that fails to match the energy or creativity of its few highlights. The latter part of the album, in particular, suffers from a lack of direction and coherence, reminiscent of Adam Sandler's comedic musical sketches on "Saturday Night Live," but without the intentional humor. Overall, "Californication" falls short of expectations, offering a handful of engaging moments amidst a sea of mediocrity. It's a reminder of the band's potential, yet hardly a compelling album.

I’m going to be that guy. Their earlier stuff was better. WAY better.

hoo man, I thought I was neutral to mildly positive on RHCP, was never sad to hear one of their songs come up randomly, but holy moly they become grating *fast* when listening straight through an album. I think it might be kind of a meme to give mild credit to Flea while criticizing the rest of the band, but yeah the bass is usually very good, even when the full songs are mostly mediocre.

Nah, I really don't like these guys. Never did.

I love RHCP up to Blood Sugar Sex Magic. I mean, there are a couple of songs on this that I can tolerate but for me, this album is the beginning of all of their albums that sound identical.

Slightly better than yesterday.

Idgaf about this band.

First time hearing the album in full. It was not really my thing, but I did like most of the bass lines

Els RHCP són la definició de mid. Mai entendré com han tingut tant d'èxit, la seva música em sembla perfecte per ser música d'ascensor (amb 3 o 4 excepcions). Aquest àlbum no difereix gaire del que espero d'ells Lorenzo expected rating: 3

Too headbanging for me. I liked the popular songs I'm familiar with but the rest sounded too similar and grating to my nerves.

Maybe the most overrated album in the world. 15 songs whereof 3 are decent and 1 is great (Otherside). After the title track, there are 8 tracks of nothing before Roadtrippin’ ends the album on a high. And don’t get me started on the lifeless production…

It's 1999 all over again. "Around the World" starts strong until it hits the first chorus and you realize what Red Hot Chili Peppers are now: an adult contemporary band. Surprisingly, I already know 5 of these songs pretty well. "Parallel Universe" is probably the one I remember most fondly. I like the anxious guitar part in the verses. Otherwise, it's a big bowl of "meh."

Some of their slower songs almost approach a melody, but after listening to this album I can't remember a single tune I could whistle. And their up-tempo songs give me a headache. Wasted talent...

How many different ways can you try and rhyme "California"? Gave up around the mid point. JF is a monster on guitar and Flea plays some great bass lines on this album, but RHCP are not for me.

Not for me. Real lack of variation in the song compositions.

some bangers, some mysogyny

Honestly, this is one of the most underwhelming listening experiences I've subjected myself to. This is my third listen now, and it's as boring, tasteless, and bland as I remember. The only good thing in these songs is the basslines, the rest is all very basic "funk rock" that's a pastiche of better musicians like Prince, Sly & the Family Stone, etc. The lyricism is downright awkward with a barely functioning rhyme scheme, and the songs drag.

This album made my shoulder feel a little weird

A few nostalgic songs for me, but overall this was the beginning of me kinda losing interest in RHCP. I liked One Hot Minute better and BSSM *much* better.

Even though I'm very familiar with their radio hits, this was my first time listening to a complete album from the RHCP. The hits are well deserved, and about 10x better than most of the other content on the album. One stand-out for me among the non-hit tracks was, "I Like Dirt." It's childish drivel (aka devilishly fun!), dripping with innuendo, but it brings the funk! I was surprised by how flat the recording sounds. It makes me think back to the sound of Simon and Garfunkle's Bridge Over Troubled Water, it's like they intentionally went out of their way to push the mid-tones and dampen the bass. The over-all effect probably provides extra airspace to hear the lyrics more clearly so it might be the correct call from an engineering standpoint, but it does make me want to play some tracks on a cheaper sound system with the EQ "boost" button enabled that pushes up the bottom and top frequencies. It's clear that these guys are skilled musicians that have left a distinctive and permanent fingerprint in the annals of musical history. However, this album perhaps just wasn't for me, as the sum of individual parts seem to be greater than the sum of the whole piece. Tracks I enjoyed: 3, 4, 6, 10, 15. I'll gladly keep these tracks on a greatest hits rotation, but I cannot in good conscious rate this complete album any more than a 2

Meh. Underwhelming

I think I just don't like Anthony Kiedis. Too goofy on top of otherwise ok music

Ugh. This was massive wasn't it? Absolutely HUGE. Snare + slap bass + nonsense "oooby lass too bingy bingy bong boo" lyric (bonus star for Scar Tissue though)

The songs with rapping fucking suck and for the rest theres a few cool tracks but overall its just kinda boring. Also the production on this album is really not good.

This was not bad, but I think there are some pretty throwaway songs.

57 minutes of the same song

The beginning of the album was quite decent, but the entire second half made me want to boil lead and pour it down my throat.

Ugh... 2.5/5

Didn't like it then, don't like it now. Infantile name and the most overrated album of all time.

I remember liking this album when it came out. It seemed like the most cohesive and sophisticated album by the band. It seemed to marry their style with the grunge and alternative scene more than their previous albums. Even had little hints at nu metal. But listening to it now it feels extremely silly and incredibly cheesy. No wonder I listened to it heavily for a while and then forgot it for 23 years while Blood Sugar Sex magic and The Uplift Mofo Plan, however rarely, continue to reach my ears.

someone tell kiedis to shut up so we can listen to the ones with talent

Pretty mild listening in 2023. Enjoyed the odd track but I much prefer RHCP from their Blood Sugar, One Hot Minute days. 4/10

2/5. There are some popular songs on here but I wouldn't say I necessarily enjoy them. There are a few that rock but others are just annoying or boring. I don't know, this one dragged on and I stopped paying attention halfway through. The bassist is what drives this album through each song and the highlight overall. Other than that, most sound too similar to be exciting.

I think I liked it better 24 years ago. My taste has evolved since then.

Meh, pretty repetitive

I really wanted to like it. To like them. It’s just…not there.

Nou, ik ken hier toch best wel veel singles van. Ben benieuwd! Around the world klinkt heel erg als andere nummers van ze. Overigens zingt ie nou bing beng bing bong rond 2:40? Wtf hahaha Scar Tissue en Other side vind ik wel echt een stuk beter dan de hardere nummers die daarvoor staan. Vooral Parallel Universe vind ik echt herrie. De rustigere nummers zijn mooi, maar er staat echt een hoop herrie op dit album zeg. De tering... De hits (Scar Tissue, Other Side, Californication en Road trippin) zijn qua kwaliteit zo bizar veel hoger dan de rest op het album. Het is niet lastig te raden waarom het de hits zijn. Ik vind de rest namelijk echt niet best. Teksten zijn meh, Shoutout bing beng bong, muzikaal is het vooral heel veel gitaar en ik kan me niet aan de impressie onttrekken dat de microfoon niet goed heeft gewerkt ofzo tijdens de opnames? Misschien wel zodat we de teksten niet horen, weet ik veel. FAVO: Other side, californication, Road trippin

this was the longest hour of my life…too much ~california~ and only 2 good songs.

meh fav songs were scar tissue and saviour vocals were kinda annoying and lyrics were kinda dumb

im drunk ive eaten a lot of oysters well not really but ive drank a bottle of prosecco and many spirit samples and a bit of ale im on the train from ayr and this mince and onion pie has just revived me i have travelled through time and space for 13.7 billion years to be here. i have had many faces and had many names. i can be found in the wind, in the trees, and in the earth below your feet. through gods will i am here before you now, and i have one simple message to bear: please know that the chillies suck particularly terrible highlights: - otherside - the "right on" on get on top - get on top - pat finnerty does a whole video on californication so i dont have to say anything about that - i like dirt i like dirt

Not much here beyond Scar Tissue, Otherside & Californication. It also feels pretty dated somehow.

Some well constructed songs and melodies but the mixing is so ass this is gonna have to be a 2

Sometimes they have moments of brilliance and then they always manage to ruin it for me. I like the album cover

Was better than i thought altough this is a band past their peak woth power of blood sugar all but gone. Still a few humourous numbers and the odd swagger of funk tinged la rock. But overall cant help but to compare and lament the loss of a band i love so much, to me this album altough ok is just a pale shadow.

Always struggled to enjoy RHCP. This hasn't done anything to change that.

Did not finish. Just wasn’t my genera and my attention drifter after the title track.

I've always enjoyed some singles from RHCP, but a full album is testing for me. It especially doesn't help that the people who mixed this album were tragically deaf, I had to half the volume on my system before I could listen to it, and even then it was often overpowering. Great singles like Scar Tissue and Otherside make the first half of the album enjoyable enough, but man does it drag on after that. An hour of music shouldn't feel this long.

One nation! Inflation! Dubba dubba dubba dubba constipation!

i hope the Seinfeld theme guy gets royalties

Ding dong ding dang indeed. Pros: Flea can play the Bass. Cons: Anthony Kiedis' awful voice and attempts at rap.

Thus band massively suck. Overrated massively. American white boy funk rock really pisses me off. 2.

Decent musicianship but Kiedis can get tiring. Not every song feels like a fleshed out idea, just the band making RHCP noises.

Nice flow, but overrated in general. The funky sound of the album has worn out by excessive air play of some songs on the radio, notably Otherside and Californication. Even the ballads don’t really stand out against the other songs, so the overall impression is quite unexciting. Mastering is also not good with way too much emphasis on treble and missing bass fundamentals.

Ég er alveg 50/50 með þessa plötu. Þolanleg að meðaltali.

The puerile lyrics and their wanky delivery made me feel even angrier when I was trying to find my work pass, convinced that it had been put on a container ship. Don’t fucking ask. Once I’d calmed down, I observed that this record is competently executed soft rock with annoying vocals and some tepidly adventurous instrument sounds and quasi-proggy song structures. Isn’t it funny that Kiedis sometimes inserts nonsense just to balance a line with rhyme? Writing this as I hear a ‘bow wow wow’, but also remembering the ‘ding ding, dong dong, ding ding, dong dong, ding ding’ in the opening track that he sings suspiciously like the racist parodies of Hindi and Urdu that I remember from playgrounds of my childhood. I admire his streamlining of the time consuming process of writing! And perhaps this shortcut is preferable to his writing: I’ve just looked up the lyrics to ‘Get On Top’. Thanks, Ass Killah Tony. Overlong. Had this on while working, forgot I was listening to music rather than office noise, was surprised that it had not started on a second playthrough when I check the App. Don’t like it, but no 1.

Ssmo zbog Frusciantea 2, inace 1

not my type

I do not want Anthony Kiedis near a microphone! I do not want his rapping, his singing, his riffing, anything! Maybe the Red Hots wrote a few good songs, but I cannot tolerate nearly an hour of them. It's evident from the opening track, they're not that good. My huge problem is that they consistently show promise and decent ideas, that are then marred by just the worst possible choices. Around the World has an excellent chorus that gets ruined by the goddamn "Ding ding, dong dong, ding ding, dong dong, ding ding" like come on man. I know people also dislike Rick Rubin's mixing à la the loudness war. This is best exemplified by clipping being found on the album (you can see the blocky waveforms for yourself if you google "californiacation loudness"), leading to many songs lacking the proper dynamic range that they deserve. I, personally, do not mind as much as others might, but ideally an album should be mixed properly for the best possible listening experience. It's slightly better than Blood Sugar Sex Magik, in that it doesn't get on my nerves as much and also isn't as long.

Bland, repetitive and poorly produced with awful lyrics. As someone who doesn't typically pay too much attention to lyrics, when I do notice them and they negatively impact my enjoyment of the music it's a huge negative.

I mean it's better than I remembered but the hits are so overplayed that it just kinda makes it hard. 2 stars

2/5 Having listened to it once, I have no desire to listen to it again. Not that I could say that it was bad, just not at all suited to my personal taste. Too many songs sounded like they were designed for an over-caffeinated Canadian goose - loud, repetitive, monotonous staccato of honking/singing.

I find this album really boring and somewhat reparative. I like Road Trippin' though as a album closer.

It all sounds the same and doesn't touch me at all.

RHCP got stuck in a paradox, I think. Who could have predicted that these knuckleheads would make it into the 90s, let alone a new century? When you’re around that long, you have to evolve. But you can’t totally leave behind your identity. Well the core of this band’s charm doesn’t look good on a bunch of guys turning 40. And what exactly does barely clever raunch evolve into? As this record shows, definitely not wisdom. They used up whatever they had on Blood Sugar Sex Magic. In my dream, they made a deal with John Frusciante in the middle of the Blood Sugar Sex Magic tour that they would go out on top if he would just cheer up for a minute. They played a last triumphant show with Nirvana and Pearl Jam in support (look it up), gave each other a big hug, and called it a day. Through many twists and turns they all found their way back to each other and today they run a garden center together in Torrence. They look their age and they never ever mention that they were once a band.

Oh dear. Rhcp have some great singles, but this is pretty awful as albums go. Emit Remmus (summer time backwards) an atrocious piece of shite written after Tony Kletus had an affair with Mel C from the Soice girls, made me want to rip my ears off. The lyrics are some of the worst I've ever heard. 'Though I know that every river bends Time to say hello to snow on the Thames What could be wetter than An English girl American man' Damn that's bad. Sure Californication and Scar Tissue are pretty great, but there are a lot of crimes to get past for the few good deeds.

Overrated… never understood the hype about Red Hot Chili Peppers and this album. Decent rock, but not really more than that

PREFS : Parallel Universe, Scar Tissue, Otherside, This Velvet Glove, Road Trippin' MOINS PREF : Purple Stain

I'm getting this outta the way first, because it's the first thing I thought after groaning upon seeing this album's picture this morning: there's not going to be a situation - now, nor looking forward into the future for 100 years (yes I am living that long) - where i'm not going to wish Anthony Kiedis was never a singer and I'd never heard of him. Just.the.worst. <Ok? are you done?> Yeah yeah I'm done, and it's a shame. Because the rest of this band is so good - in musicianship, creativity, spontaneity. It's frustrating because this band came so far from their first few albums - the music on this album from song to song is incredibly diverse - some beautiful and subtle moods in "Scar Tissue" - great rock songwriting and arrangements all around from "Around The World" to the funky "Get On Top" - but a song like "Right On Time" is a perfect example of what I can't listen to. I'd heard the big singles for years on the radio but never put on this album in full and in doing so today...discovered that this is one of the handful of worst-sounding / poorly mixed records I've ever heard from a major band. The mixes range from either not-great to just bad; e.g. Parallel Universe - what the hell happened to any low end on this song. So much of that song - and most of the others - is compressed within an inch of destruction - becoming really tiring on the ears pretty damn quickly. And holy crap - everything is just so damn "hot" and distorted - pops and crackles galore on every single song and seems to get worse as the album goes on - it all does a huge disservice to the music. I'll put the blame on producer Rick Rubin here even if he didn't mix it himself; ffs give us back *dynamics* in rock music - this was a dogshit job. A lot of what I love about this 1001 albums exercise is to challenge you (me) to revisit any preconceived notions about acts, good and bad. RHCP is one I've come closer to liking because of the music, but they'll never be a favourite because of well.... and damn a remix of this album is goddamn necessary. 5/10 2 stars.

It's not that it's especially bad. I just can't stand it, mostly because of the singer's annoying voice and the cringy effects he tries to make with it. The only thing I enjoyed was the bass.

2 very great songs that became classics and 13 others that I don't care about. The album is pretty boring and it sounds surprisingly bad.

Guitar heavy album. Reminds me of 2pac and early hip hop stuff, but coming from rock side. Anthony Kiedis’ voice is very carefree. Very expressive in an assured fashion. The guitar (John Frusciante) is the redeeming quality of the album because otherwise the hooks in the songs are pretty weak. The lyrics don’t always make sense and work. He does have a distinct voice. It’s imposing in a good way. In a way I could tell they are inspired by the Smiths in the way the music just carries on in the background and Anthoy just carries on singing on a different wave (Emit Remmus). The bass on this album is also a work of art. The guitar and base have incredible harmony and coordination. The album does flow very quick. Always something happening. The album also shows you where rock music has stagnated right before The Strokes came to change everything. The lyrics are straight up absurd sometimes. Overall I feel like they are trying to get something going but this is ultimately their creative limit in this particular style. Only at about 4 or 5 times in the album does it all click together. yea its weird how even though they have a very workable voice, a great guitar and bass they still cant grab me. californication the highest rated song at 7.5. this is definitely an album to play on backgroun when driving someone around. but its barely even good enough for that.

This album sounded way too generic. It had a few good songs and the band's chemistry is good but overall this album was quite boring. My rating: 5/10 Need to be on this list: 7/10

No thanks. I'm surprised one RHCP album is in the greatest 1001 albums ever, but two???

The hits were still ok, but the rest of the album really drags on. The biggest issue is how it was mixed. It's just all middle with no low or high end. Also, can we all agree that RHCP lyrics are just bad. Literal nonsense.

Hard pass on anything after One Hot Minute.

I thought I was a Red Hot Chili Peppers fan. Turns out, I only like their hits. Outside of the popular songs, this album SUCKS!!!!! I do not recommend people listen to this album. RHCP is not an album band. The only positives of this album is that the lead singer knows how to use his voice as an intrument. Lyrics do not matter to RHCP, but vibes do. Best Songs: Around the World, Scar Tissue, Otherside, Californication Worst Songs: Get on Top, Easily, I Like Dirt, Emit Remmus, Purple Stain

A few great singles, but overall the album is underwhelming and a bit annoying at times.

Parallel Universe, Scar Tissue, Otherside, Porcelain

"CALIFORNIA CALI CALI FORNIA CALIFORNIA CALI CALI FORNIA IT'S CALLLLLIFFOOORNIA CALIFORNIA DA NANG DA NANG DA NANG DA NANGNENG NENG NENG" Every single RHCP ever

I really tried my best to be objective with this album but fuck me the Red Hot Chilli Peppers are just the lamest fucking band around. I don’t care what anyone says, this band caters to two audiences with their tactless brand of dumbass dad rock: bank managers/ insurance brokers who let loose to Californication after a hard day at the office; and (worst of all) musicians whose fixation on Frusciante and Flea’s undoubted technical abilities completely obfuscates from the inanity of the music they produce. Oh, and kids. Kids for whom a shirtless Anthony Kiedis flailing around like a jackass is the coolest thing ever before developing a thing called self-awareness. Truth is, I was one of those kids and I adored RHCP for a brief period of my adolescence. But looking back I see them for what they are: painfully safe, totally uninspired fm rock. This album does nothing to change that fact. While I would even go so far as to say a couple of these tracks actually grew on me, the majority of this album is just so generic that no amount of intricate guitar work or flappy slappy bass guitar can make up for its shortcomings. Frusciante and Flea would probably flourish in another band (the former’s first solo album emphasises that point). But here they just play it so safe and, to their credit, they sold plenty of records. But I was astonished to see how little criticism emerged in the reviews of this asinine jabroni douche rock. Whatever semblance of innovation this group may have had as a rapid-fire punk/funk outfit had long vanished by this stage in their career. I do dig the artwork though, and “Parallel Universe” was a pleasant surprise. So it’s two stars. But fuck this band.

So many hits in the first part of the album! Overall: really good songs peaking through bad songs. Makes it a bad album for me. Underwhelming. Should have been an 8 song album and would have been perfect.

yeah, nah, i'm just not into these guys. mostly, i think i just don't like Anthony Keidis, even though he actually has a pretty good gift for melody. but i just can't stand the way he sings. At least they try different sounds and a few approaches to songs. i don't hate them the way i hate Limp Bizkit. but they're just not my jam. also that album cover is pretty bad.

I first heard Red Hot Chili Peppers when Mother's Milk came out. Thought it was such a cool new sound and groove. Always considered myself a Red Hot Chili Peppers fan. Always found it curious that my musician husband didn't love them. But with this album...I really struggled to get through it. Blah. Meh. I wish I gave Fela a 3 because this is most definitely a 2 of me.

I love Blood Sugar Sex Magik and even some moments on One Hot Minute but this just sounds like laztly garbage in comparison. I thought so at the time it came out, even stand out track Scar Tissue sounds by the numbers

I’m with the writers of the good place

Not my favorite RHCP album, decent and well-produced but I thought their earlier stuff was way more fun.

Not really a chili peppers fan and this album definitely has a number of their typical songs that reminded me of why. The last song on the album I’d never heard before and found lovely though.

Flea’s talent is wasted. He deserves a better band.

man, kiedis is such a terrible lyricist

I put off listening to this one for weeks because I don't enjoy the RHCP, but this wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting.

2.9 - "Is Anthony Kiedis going to ruin this song, too?" That's the question that came up again and again listening to this record. I'm baffled as to why they keep him around. The interplay between Flea's bass and Frusciante's guitar is stellar as ever, especially on tracks like "Parallel Universe." And as with other RHCP records I've listened to, I do actually like a couple songs: "Scar Tissue" and "Porcelain." But on other tracks like "Around the World" and "Get on Top", Kiedis is like a shit-flinging gorilla. Probably the worst offense is "Purple Stain", in which he describes fingering a woman on her period (WTF?!). The backing band is the only thing buttressing Kiedis from tumbling head-first into the gutter.

Some great tracks but I've never been a huge fan

How odd. After Bloog Sugar Sex Magik I was almost reluctant to play this. The first tracks did nothing to reassure me. Then scar tissue came on and it was a genuine reaction of "oh yes, of course! This is why people like the chillis." It (scar tissue) goes on just a tiny bit too long, and otherside takes just a tiny bit too long to get going. I'm surprised at how badly otherside has aged, and my desire to skip every track other than road trip was nigh on impossible to resist. Overall, this is a hugely forgettable album with a couple of good tracks.

My rating my be lower than normal because all of these songs have been played to death throughout the early 00’s but I basically have no desire to ever hear any of these songs or anything from the Red Hot Chili Peppers ever again

Does what it says on the tin. Think I owned this on CD, but never really listened because white boy metal rapping is just not good. They can be good when being melodic, but otherwise it isn't my lane. Was happy when Spotify started playing 'similar' music at the end of the album

When it is good, it is excellent but too many weaker tracks take away from the album. If this had been on vinyl they would have to have edited down to 10 or 11 tracks. This would improve it a lot.

An alright album. A few songs weren’t to my liking. Enjoyed Scar Tissue. Worse than I remembered unfortunately

First impression "bad white-guy rap" Like Faith No More but not good

I remember when this album came out and I am familiar with several of the tracks from this album. By the time Californication was released, I think I had heard enough Red Hot Chili Peppers to last my lifetime. "Scar Tissue" and "Otherside" verge on tracks that I might like, but by the end of listening to the whole album I still feel like I have had enough of RHCP. ¿Is it the vocals that sink the album below being okay?

Used to absolutely hate red hot chilli peppers but i have mellowed in my old age. 2.75

Don’t like the bass, or the vocals, or the songs. Drummer is ok.

Hmm...crap, but not quite as crap as I recall. That's growth, boys

15 songs??? Ooof. I don’t think I have this in me today. I never even bought Blood Sugar Sex Magic, but I did see them play at Lolapalooza one year and it was fun. It’s a good time live and I don’t mind “Scar Tissue,” but… Also, I saw Anthony Kiedis eating once outside a Whole Foods. He was probably telling the person sitting across from him about how he had ideas for 472 more songs about California. Good conversation.

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I just don't like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Also, this album cover has 1999 Photoshop written all over it 😂

There are "good" mainstream songs on here, but nothing really interesting.

This band is comically over-rated. I don't get it at all.

Not my thing at all. I honestly do get why people love them but not for me.

dear god, do i not like them. well, i think it's anthony i don't like - flea is, of course, incredible, as is chad. but jesus, this was hard to get through.

did not enjoy this

Sehr unangenehmes Album von der Tonabmischung. Gute Songs aber sehr starkes kratzen in jedem Song.

2.5

попса пидорская, тяжести никакой Ну вот и вылезло очередное восхваляемое нетакимикаквсе говнецо. Вообще РХЧП для меня всегда были одной из тех групп, о которых я знал, но слушать не было никакого желания. Таких довольно много, даже среди супер популярных, поэтому я думал, что ничего особенного. Но все чаще мне начинает казаться, что их не слушает вообще никто. Все знают, но никто намеренно не думает «послушаю-ка я сегодня Ред Хот Чилли Пепперс, целый альбом». Этж сюр какой-то. Семён Слепаков разве что подобным может заняться. Мне не нравятся РХЧП. Причем не нравятся как раз по тем причинам, за что их привыкли любить. Мелодичный вокал и игривый речитатив Энтони Кидиса? — Раздражающий акцент, сладкий неприятный голосок и абсоютно уебанский клоунский флоу. Серьёзно, даже Бисти Бойз лучше читали. Элегантные лаконичные партии Джона Фрушанте? — Одинаковый палм-пикинг в половине песен без единого интересного мелодичного хода. Грувовые фанковые бас-партии Фли? — Да дрочево какое-то, слушать заёбывает, пусть и есть несколько знаменитых ликов. Я никогда не был о них особо высокого мнения, но ознакомившись поближе, опустил планку на самое дно. Реп-рок вообще был большой ужасной ошибкой. Да, и Рейдж Эгейнст Машин. Да, и Корн. Да, и Систем оф э Даун (самые речитативные их песни). Это же все говно бля, кринжатурное говно. И на примере этих калифорнийских крекеров мы можем видеть почему. Сука реп-ориентированные песни это просто ужас, рука сама тянется выключить. А как же мелодичные треки? Ну, они получше. Есть что-то неплохое, Otherside там, Emit remmus. Но это всё равно звучит как хуёвый попс нулевых, порождённый Колдплеем. Даже тот факт, что альбом 99 года не спасает. Если это и не подражание, значит оно также стало катализатором вот этого вот всего. Ну его нахуй, нахуй ред хот чилли пепперс, нахуй. Ещё и в Road trippin спиздили мелодию из Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely Хускера Ду. Нахуй ред хот чилли пепперс, 4/10

Paso. Tengo el disco, eran fan en 3ro de secundaria. Creo que la de Californication y la de Road Trippin son las únicas que volvería escuchar.

Just haven’t evolved. Blood sugar sex magic is a 5*

Tried to listen whilst puppy sitting and being kept awake. But that was already stressful and then the music seemed to be stress me more and I had to seek more calming music. So not a fair assessment really. I'll give them a whirl another time....

I miss the Mother's Milk era Peppers. This album just reminds me why

Good songs ruined by poor vocals.

Two radio hits don't make up for a long list of tired sounds.

Close to a 3/5... just a few too many fillers

I’ve seen them live and yeah it was fun. But the infatuation with these guys, to me, is just way over the top.

Not my jam.

yeahhh.... stand outs: could have cut the album down by at least 15 songs imo didn't even listen to half of it it's just not my cup of tea

I detest this album

If you truly know me you know just how much i can’t stand these guys and i’ve called them the most aggressively mediocre band of all time.

I've never been a fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers but when this came up I figured at least it has my favorite song by them, "Can't Stop", on it. And then I realized I had my albums wrong and I got more frustrated by Kiedis's vocals. On FM Radio in the early 00's these songs were everywhere and I honestly think after about a month of hearing them I've turned them off every time. It's not outright offensive but it's also not good to me.

all my life i've been hearing how all their songs sound the same and this made me realise that that wasn't a joke but rather a prophetic warning

Can't stand this band

Pedos get 1 star.

Hate these guys

This lot found a winning formula and stuck with it and rerecorded it again and again. Like Kiss. This is not a complement. I don't know if this band allowed for their crap to be used to torture america's kidnap victims in Guantanamo Bay and other 'black sites' but it surely would have worked wonders almost immediately.

I really don't like this band, and the singles from this album are the main reason why. Around the World, Scar Tissue, Otherside, and Californication are full of grating vocals and painful turns-of-phrase. The worst part about this record is all the rapping. It's both corny and annoying. There are moments when the irritating front man isn't too distracting. I kind of liked Savior and thought Road Trippin' was a genuinely decent song. Normally, there would be enough here for me to go 2/5... but the amount of times I've had the big radio hits from this thing forced down my throat is worth a negative star.

so not only is anthony kiedis a pedophile, but also his atrocious lyrics and repugnant singing drag what would be an otherwise unpleasantly-brick-walled-and-forgettable album into the depths of hell making this an hour of agony. i detested every minute spent listening to him because it's astounding to me *just* how repulsive he is. there's such a sleazy dissonance in every word he utters that it is viscerally off-putting. i wish i could accurately convey the faces i was making while listening to this because wow i hated this. it does not help that he's got the lyrical penmanship of a buffoon. don't let my complain about kiedis distract you though that the whole band is a bunch of sex pests. yuck!

So before we start the review I must obligatorily state: Anthony Kiedis committed statuory rape with a 14 year old when he was 23, which he himself admitted, and is a pedophile. I'd like to do a classic "Oh but seperate art from artist" thing here because the entire band is credited with the songwriting so its not JUST like its Kiedis but after listening... God does Kiedis' sleezy sex-obsessed lyrics really wreck multiple tracks on this album. So this album kinda sucks huh? I remember it being way better in my head. Damn, this has not aged well. The title song, otherside and maybe scar tissue being the only ones that I can say I enjoy. Kiedis' singing is just so whiny here. I've never really listened through to a Red Hot Chili Peppers album and now I really get the cliches and hate. Their hits are dumb fun, but god. Listening to Porcelain was an actually physically painful experience. There's something here on a few songs but the bad songs are so fucking bad that I think it completely nullifies redeeming points.

I was never a huge fan, but like a couple of songs. Can't take them seriously anymore though since Kiedis can't seem to keep his hands off girls young enough to be his grandchildren.

Under no circumstances am I going to listen to the Red Hot Chili Peppers but I have to put in a rating to bring this outrageous average down.

I just don't like their style

Not a fan. I have seen them live and they were phenomenal though. Weird huh?

We need to make it legal to murder members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Has there ever been a worse lyricist in the history of popular music than Anthony Kiedis?

Dreadful

Dreadful album, dreadful (and often creepy) lyrics, absolutely dire stuff. Flea's bass playing is wasted on this nonsense.

For the love of god…FFS. Is this slightly worse or slightly better than Petty? I can’t really judge, or moreover care as it is so so horrible to listen to. Tom.

I was pleased when this was over, dull

I hate these fuckers almost as much as I hate the Beach Boys.

I don’t think I’ll ever understand the hype

mierdification

I don't think this actually deserves only one star, but every song is just so grating and annoying.

This albums sounds like it was recorded on a potato, making it very hard to enjoy. It almost sounds worse than them playing live.. ALMOST. Regardless of the timeless classics on this record it sucks balls. Anthony Kiedis' "lyrics" and "style" is so childish; wtf was that ding dong dang ding ding dong in the first song?

What on earth is this rubbish doing here

The most boring band with the most boring album

I think Anthony Kiedis should probably be killed. Not just because he's a serial pederast, but also because of his shitty "skibbity bibbity" funky white boy proto-drake sing-rapping. You put together such a deadly musical unit and then you ruin it with this bozo junkie's prettyboy babble poetry. Around The World is basically a crime.

The singles are good, particularly Scar Tissue and Otherside, but the rest is so annoying. It sounds like a band trying to sound like they’re jamming. I confess this may be PTSD from seeing them at Earl’s Court 15 years ago which was just such an awful, self-indulgent gig.

Æ klare ikke høre hele, det gjør ondt

Horrible. Horrible. Horrible.

Fuck no.

Aled made me listen. Fucking dogshite for non music listeners.

How To Be the Red Hot Chili Peppers 1) Come up with nonsensical lyrics for 90% of your songs 2) Apply a "sing/talk the verse, sing the chorus" formula to those songs 3) ?????? 4) Somehow they profited massively off that If Anthony Keidis just sang each song normally, this could be a great album. Otherside, Californication, Easily are legitimately good songs, as much as I hate to admit it.

Dette er den verste plata jeg vet. Punktum.

Det e virkelig jævlig, og æ legg all skyld på Anthony Kiedis. Det han gjør med Around The World e utilgivelig. Først den fæle rappinga, så avslutte han med «ding ding dong dong ding ding dong» Æ mene i fullt alvor at plata ville vært bedre som en instrumental. I tillegg e produksjonen sinnsykt kjedelig og fantasiløs.

One star because you are making me rate it.

I don’t think I fully realized how grating Anthony Kiedes’s vocals are until this album, but I’ve never listened to an RHCP album all the way through until now. Kiedes is an abusive piece of shit and the creep energy radiates through this album. The lyrics are vacuous. The music is bad. Why is this band so popular?

I'm with Nick Cave on this one, RHCP are shit. I remember when this came out, and I liked it, and it's a deeply shameful period of my life that I wholly regret. Even paid actual cash to see them live on more than one occasion!

Kiedis can’t sing. Terrible album.

That's a no from me dawg.

Partially known. Uninteresting.

Anthony Kiedis should be in hell.

Shite

i could go on about the brickwalled production (which.. maybe there's an argument in favor of it as a stylistic choice) but that would mean arguing in defense of the songs underneath the mix. i do not like this band. their writing and singing annoy me. this album in particular is also really frontloaded, and just keeps going on and on and on. shit mixing makes for ear fatigue, and 56 minutes that feel like twice that. deserves to be one of the 1001? no

Three supremely talented sex pests and one hilariously untalented sex pest make the most inane, annoying and ultimately gutless bullshit going. Fuck this band and fuck this album.

Once again I sit and ponder why I am giving any of my undivided attention to a RHCP album and then I realize that the gun is being held to my head by the 1001 albums to hear before I die challenge. I am sorry to all who enjoy Red Hot Chili Peppers, but they honestly know how to make a few good songs and then mix it with 50 minutes of other bullshit I could not give two fucks about and Californication is yet another example of that bloated bullshit I was talking about. I can't even lie when I say I like Around the World, Scar Tissue, Otherside, and Californication but that is truly it. Every other track here is filled with even more of the weird Rap Rock and just downright frustrating instrumentation RHCP is unfortunately known for. I will never understand how people can stand this band because once again they are proving that they can't fill an album's runtime to save their own lives despite how talented they all are. If you couldn't already tell I don't like RHCP and I think they fucking suck. Nuff said.

Anthony Kurdish is a pedo

Oh no, I really do not like RHCP. At this album they are well past their prime and just a parody of themselves. Did he really just say "Ding dong dong dong ding ding". Oh wow there is still an hour left on this album - not sure I will be able to make it. This album is a joke right? They know this is bad and are making it as a parody of themseleves right? Ok, I will admit their slower songs like Scar Tissue aren't like a drill boring into my brain, I can see people liking this band for those songs. I feel like there was zero thought put into any of the rhyming, they just went with the first thing that came into their head - makes their songs completely unintelligible and quite idiotic. Like how is "first born unicorn, hardcore soft-porn" even lyrics to a song. It's just mind numbingly stupid. I really wonder what he is trying to say with "I Like Dirt", because the lyrics sure don't clear it up, it kinda just feels like they just gave up at this point in the album. Frankly this album is embarrassing for a band that used to be cutting edge, this was an almost 40 year old man putting out some kind of long form improv album where he obviously didn't bother with a second pass of the lyrics, I mean shoving similar words together randomly does not a song make. RHCP should be ashamed and this list should be ashamed for recommending it. This album deserves negative stars for making me listen to it.

ding dong ding dong🙏 It gets better as it goes on but lowk not my style of music but its not the worst thing ever

Not my cup of tea, tbh

It took me multiple attempts to listen to this. The anticipation of listening to a band that have almost become a parody of themselves wasn't appealing. RHCP are a band for people who don't like exotic but like to think they do, and this album wasn't a great start at having to actually willingly listen to them. The lyrics are remarkably shallow, I don't like Kiedis as a singer and it all feels a bit bland, like the sound track to a beach themed shop. No favourites. Scar tissue marginally better than the rest.

hate

All bands get to a point where they've outlived their usefulness. That's Californication for the RHCP. All the early albums led up to Mothers Milk (still the best album for me), Blood Sugar Sex Magik takes the band into the stratosphere fame/fortune wise. And then, it all kind of falls apart and by 1999 we get served this 0 Scoville unit bell pepper of an album. Nothing hits for me - Around the World starts out great and then that weak ass chorus kicks in and you know this isn't going to end well. The rest of the album is a mess too. Too much junk and too little funk.

The fact that Keidis is a millionaire is proof that you can fool a shit ton of the people all the time. "To fingerpaint is not a sin. I put my middle finger in." Dylan it ain't. So I put both middle fingers straight up. Fuck you for the shit album. Fuck you for the shit album cover (CorelDraw? Microsoft Paint?)

nah

I wish I liked it as much as my godmother does. I was quite exited to revisit this album on my own for the first time and I found out my childhood memories sound better than the actual album does

this album, to me, is nothing. this album isn't the wind whistling through the leaves, tides turning and roaring miles away carried by the earth's screaming hurtle through space; this album is backblast from like, a dishwasher. nothing it's fucking unbelievable, man. this is the third time i've listened to this album this year, in a desperate bid to recall a single trait of it or to admire any inch of it - it's just nothing. it's water off the duck's back. it traverses through my ears, leaves my empty skull - already gone

Ugh. Dreading this one. It was as bad as I anticipated. I don't get their appeal.

To be completely honest I don't like this band one bit. However I will say learning the Californication solo for the first time made me feel pretty badass, I'm not even a fan of that song but boy is that solo fun to play.

It is pretty common to whiff your album after your breakout album. That level of quality, let alone the fame that comes with it, is tough to replicate on a regular basis. The good news that One Hot Minute was that album, coming on the heels of the seminal Blood Sugar Sex Magik. That freed them up to create the outstanding Californication. It took them four years but was worth the wait. The problem for Chili Pepper fans, at that time, was this was Californication was more alternative than funk. Funk was there but in smaller amounts. If you liked the Chili Peppers for the Funk, well, you were disappointed. If you loved a great album, then you weren't. It was that simple. Californication IS a great album, from the opening track, Around the World, to Road Trippin' at the end. The big hits and highlights were Scar Tissue and the title track. Californication is has enough of the Chili Peppers DNA to appeal to most fans but it also has enough Alt-Rock to appeal to folks who may not have been into them before. Blood Sugar Sex Magik is, undoubtably their best album but Califorination is a clsoe second.

This is terrible.

I just don't like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Whiny. Listening to the full album was hard. I liked this one less than the first one I listened to, "Blood Sugar Sex Magik".

I just don't like the funky thing the Chili Peppers do :/

Awful… One of the first bands and albums I really got into as a kid. And going back now I was hoping I’d listen and figure out why. On the few songs it works it’s down to John, Flea and Chad clearly all being exceptional musicians. But then Antony nearly always ruins it with the worst lyrics or generic vocals. To cap it all off the mixing, even on the remaster is so bad that it really only could work on a crap radio speaker or the cd headphones that came with the player.

trash

Never got into this band, and would never want to listen to this again.

I feel molested by this album

A few times in this album I thought “I could maybe like this if they had a singer”, and that’s about the best thing I can say, in total, about the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I do have a loose comment though: I wonder if Kiedis still does That Part when he performs Around The World.

Los Angeles has produced a number of important and influential bands, responsible for the most vital rock records ever made, especially: X, The Byrds, Los Lobos, The Doors, The Go-Go's, Buffalo Springfield, Minutemen, The Beach Boys, The Runaways, Van Halen, The Mothers of Invention, The Mamas and The Papas, Sparks, and Crosby, Stills & Nash, just to name a few.

It’s ok, one star deducted because the lead singer is a creep

No.

Album sucks. Band sucks.

When I saw this cover I got flashbacks to the year 2000 when the singles were on tv and on radio all the effing time, and I never want to hear them ever again. To say that I dislike this band is an understatement.

This isn't even the okayest RHCP to choose, but beyond that there is absolutely nothing about anything RHCP ever released that is worthly of being included in a list of anything to do before you die, aside from maybe '1001 artists to ignore before you die because they're not worth the recognition they get'

The music and lyrics are very pop oriented, but not much in the way of being unique.

Wow this was awful. Leads voice is at best uninteresting and at worst annoying. The songs are bland and the mix is terrible. Sounds like an underwater speaker half the time. This is the first RHCP album I’ve heard and now confused as to why they’re so famous.

Nope.

If, at the AI prompt, you typed: "soundtrack for jr high school locker room-themed bar n grill", this album would appear.

RHCP are one of the most popular bands in the whole freaking world but what does that actually mean.

Jedinica iz principa. // Bila bi četvorka jer ovo nije jedan od njihovih najboljih albuma i ima baš baš dosta fillera.

Es malo de cojones

Around the world made me laugh. Californication is catchy but gets old after a while. Very repetitive. Felt like almost every song had the same beat/groove. The random speak singing rapping was weird. not my cup of tea.

Oh hell no. 1/5, 1/10

This album has aged remarkably poorly, which is saying something considering there are probably only a handful of singles from the album that were worthwhile in the first place. This album is greatly let down by the lyrics and vocals, and even the big hits are tired from years of radio play. There's nothing here to draw me back to this album. I expected something much better. The album art is nice, though. Favorite track: "Otherside" (but I would rather listen to the track of the same name by Lena Raine)

Funky boys get moody but still frat house cruise control. No thanks.

As an instrumental album this would be four stars.

Crap

Fuck rating albums. Just let me listen.

Refused to listen. Just not my shit.

IM NOT EXCITED FOR THIS Oh my god this is so ass Dog shit mixing Parallel universe is alright His voice being so fucking far up in the mix with no reverb or anythinh is pissing me off Had to listen to get on top in like 64kbps idk if thats the actual resolution or if that was my connection Californication is okay if you dont listen at all while its on Emit Remus pissed me off so bad im going to go listen to some good music we'll see if i finish it

puerile tosh, with an exhausting, compressed sound

1.5

1.5

i do not like RHCP

Zero stars. I hate it so very much.

För tankarna till hobbyband på lokal stadsfestival. Lättuggat utan motstånd. Enformigt, blir snabbt tjatigt. Fjantig sång. "Rappen" i Get on Top är direkt pinsam. Det som gör det hela så svårt att ta till sig är att det verkar vara på fullt allvar. För tankarna till bandet i Boogie Nights. Jag skruvar olustigt på mig när jag läser texterna samtidigt som jag lyssnar. Är engelska textförfattarens modersmål? Ordförrådet verkar vara på en 10-årings nivå. Min första tanke var att ge albumet en tvåa i betyg, men ju mer jag lyssnar desto sämre blir det. Aldrig förr har funk och disco låtit så torrt, trist och stelt.

God I fucking hate Anthony Kiedis. This album suffers from so many problems - incredibly brick-walled mastering that makes it sound like it's playing out of a cereal box toy, weirdly sexed-up lyrics, a frontman whose voice and general personality/actions are offputting and disgusting in every way, and generally just being uninteresting. The verses of the title track and the closer are the only parts I can really say I enjoyed. Flea and Frusciante deserved better - they should've dumped Kiedis into a sewage canal and shacked up with The Mars Volta full-time instead. Did I mention I hate Anthony Kiedis?

I’ve never understood this lot. They sound actively bad, especially the vocals which range from bored one note droning to something from a comedy sketch about a white rapper. You expect the turntables to start up any second. At one point in this album (not even that far in) he dispenses of even that effort and literally starts going “nying nyong nying nyong nyang” in the middle. Despite the impressive Flea and John Frusciante both being in this band for some reason, all of that plays out over a canvas of fifteen (FIFTEEN!) torturously long tracks of pure butt rock crud. Maybe the world once needed funk metal but by the turn of the century this was truly ghastly stuff. The only positive I can think of is that at least it isn’t the even more heinous follow up album By The Way. :: shudder ::

I am surprised by how thin the songwriting is. Like they thought of 1 idea quickly and just recorded it. The lyrics are banal. The guitar work is feeble considering the hype and the vocals are barely in key. I am mystified by this albums inclusion in the list.

Weak and predictable.

no

Struggled to get through it. Never have understood them

Worst band beside guns n' roses

I've unwillingly heard about half the songs on this album. I'm not going to purposely listen to the rest of it. I know what's going to happen: a great bass player, some other decent musicians and a horrifically annoying singer are going to make the dumbest decisions imaginable and somehow conclude that this should be recorded and released to the public

I was very generous to Play by Moby yesterday and what did I get for such softness, but another unavoidable mega-seller from 1999?! Like Play, I don't have to listen to it, as the songs entered my bloodstream by osmosis during that summer. Why this overlong stream of thumbed bass and puerile rapping didn't coagulate into a thrombosis in my brain, I don't know. Life's cruel like that. To make it less cruel this time around, I only listened to the song Porcelain back to back with the song of the same name from Play. Moby's bad Porcelain was better than the Chili Peppers bad Porcelain: somewhat hooky, a little propulsive, something approaching intelligible. If I was generous to Play, I can't do the same to Californication. The former tugged on a nostalgia, the latter pushes on a gag reflex. Bad music by three good musicians and a person who should have been under house arrest since 1991. 1.5 To be fair to these godfathers of sex pest funk-rock the formula by which they piece together these tracks is their own. Still there is nothing here that improves on Give it Away or Under the Bridge, in fact it’s all considerably worse and those two songs weren’t that good to begin with. I know people who love this album but I do not sympathise and today was the last time I will ever try. Californication is awful in every way. 1/5

Unlistenable — hated this all of this.