Product Description

'By The Way' is the eighth album from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the follow up to their multi-platinum selling 1999release 'Californication'. This album is more varied than their previous work, and sees them combining melodic funk rock with flamenco guitars, Motown influenced vocals, and BeachBoys inspired harmonies. Produced by Rick Rubin who has worked on three of their previous albums.

Track Listing

1. By The Way
2. Universally Speaking
3. This Is The Place
4. Dosed
5. Don't Forget Me
6. The Zephyr Song
7. Can't Stop
8. I Could Die For You
9. Midnight
10. Throw Away Your Television
11. Cabron
12. Tear
13. On Mercury
14. Minor Thing
15. Warm Tape
16. Venice Queen

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1463 in Music
• Released on: 2002-07-08
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
The problem Anthony Kiedis and his supremely dysfunctional musical family faced when beginning work on their eighth album, By the Way, wasn't so much how to top (or even compare) to the critical and commercial euphoria of 1999's superb Californication, but more how to avoid the comedown that followed their other highpoint--Blood Sex Sugar Magik--where One Hot Minute turned into several long years that nearly finished them. They decided, it seems, to just shut their eyes, press pedal to metal and continue as before. It's worked magnificently--no small thanks to the canny production of Rick Rubin again and the cohesive gelling Frusciante back into what has now emerged as a tight, focused unit (despite the album being, as ever, about five songs too long--"Midnight" and "Minor Thing" for instance). Minor quibbles though, for when the Chili Peppers are average, they still tower over most other bands.

"By The Way", by far not the best cut here (those would be the quite wonderful "Tear" and widescreen "Don't Forget Me"), picks up where Californication left off, but is not representative of an album that frequently revisits the sunshine harmonies of "Road Trippin'" and desolate landscape of "Scar Tissue". Endlessly surprising and hugely engaging, the Chili Peppers have opened their eyes and found themselves with a another great record on their hands, solidifying both themselves as a group and their position as one of the world's best rock bands. --Ben Johncock

Customer Reviews

Unfortunately, a bit more average than the usual fare
Although I do still enjoy the title track and think the singles are not bad the album suffers from feeling a bit too samey. Even the forays into other styles "Cabron" with a Spanish style and "On Mercury" slightly more reggae come off feeling a lot like the rest of the songs. On Californication (an album that definitely could hold up to the best Chili's records) Anthony Keidis decided he would sing more than he had on any album before and on these songs he seemed to work much harder on the lyrics. The album mixed this new style with the older Chili's sound on certain songs "Around the world", "Purple Stain" and on some songs developed something new "Other Side" and "Californication". Almost all but gone are the funkier tones with by the way and the lyrics on the album don't seem to have meant quite as much to anyone particularly Keidis who seems to have penned some of the words in about five minutes flat (any fool can think of words that rhyme).

Of course it isn't terrible and the band still seem to have an ear for making music but it isn't the life changing album that I expect from the band, the sole memory of 1999 for me was Californication but by the way is best forgotten for me.

Amazed
The Chilis have often been known for their funky tracks , This album is different and conveys these muscians real talent when writing and performing these tracks.
The best and underated track by the rhcp is Dont Forget me which takes you , the listener on a journey, this also applies to other great tracks such as - and Vencie queen and Cabron who I again beliver are underated hits on the album which the genuis acoustic effect used by frusciante
However it is the chilis of course, so their is bound to be a bit of funk added, I would expect so anyways.
This is fufilled with the tracks , Cant stop , and the amazing bass riff created by Flea in Throw away your television.
I am a big fan of the RHCP and have all of their albums,
this is truly the best album but blood sugar sex magik comes a close second.
WORTH BUYING.

By the way - my review

This is the Chilli Pepper's ninth album and it is another hit displaying their distinct musical style. The title track features everything that we know them for, outrageous bass lines from Flea, a bit of rap from Kiedis and their own brand of funk rock. The lyrics don't make any sense at all, but put them together and it somehow works. This is an excellent track that keeps me singing along all the time.
"This is the Place" and "Don't Forget Me" use the bass for the introduction and "Midnight" uses violins. This is good as endless guitar rifts often bore me. Having said this, the introductions to "The Zephyr Song" and "Can't Stop" are very good and display John Frusciante's full ability as lead guitarist in his first album since leaving the band. "Can't Stop" is especially good, as it builds up, which is quite exciting, and then features a guitar solo. "Throw Away Your Television" is another song that opens up with the bass and then becomes unorthodox as it uses the drums as the main accompanying instrument which helps make the song a really catchy tune.
"Cabron" is a rare acoustic performance from the Chillis, and also uses a chant which is something that I like to hear from them.
Many songs seem to be sung to a girl such as "Don't Forget Me," "Cabron," "The Zephyr Song," "I Could Die For You," "Warm Tape," and "Universally Speaking." This helps us understand Kiedis more and connect with him more easily.
The only problem that I have with this album is that the last few tracks are not as good as the others, and do not help the album become better.
Overall, this is a great album and will keep listeners singing along for hours on a time.