Product Description

Ninth studio album from phenomenally successful stadium funk-rockers is a sprawling two-disc affair. Leaving behind theboyish tomfoolery and hard-living excess of old for tasteful musicianship and a gloss of studio sheen, here they turn in more of the effortlessly slick songwriting they presented on their last couple of albums. Recorded with metal legend Rick Rubin, it includes the single 'Dani California'.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Dani California
2. Snow (Hey Oh)
3. Charlie
4. Stadium Arcadium
5. Hump de Bump
6. She's Only 18
7. Slow Cheetah
8. Torture Me
9. Strip My Mind
10. Especially in Michigan
11. Warlocks
12. C'mon Girl
13. Wet Sand
14. Hey

Disc 2:

1. Desecration Smile
2. Tell Me Baby
3. Hard to Concentrate
4. 21st Century
5. She Looks to Me
6. Readymade
7. If
8. Make You Feel Better
9. Animal Bar
10. So Much I
11. Storm in a Teacup
12. We Believe
13. Turn It Again
14. Death of a Martian

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1574 in Music
• Released on: 2006-05-08
• Number of discs: 2

Amazon.co.uk Review
Four-year career hiatuses followed by sprawling double-albums could spell trouble for a band of the Chili Peppers' stature: consider they'd originally recorded enough for three discs. The restless, trouble-plagued outfit that helped break alternative rock into the mainstream with a potent fusion of punk 'n' funk in the '80s finds itself two decades on almost completely devoid of the former's energetic abandon, while the latter's effusive rhythms are considerably subdued over the course of this two-hour, 28-track collection. It's not so much that the Peppers have lost their muscular, often uber-macho edge as they have willfully tamed it in service of mature reinvention here. The mellower, often introspective, if no less potent pop ethos that characterized the crossover hit "Under the Bridge" blossoms fully here on tracks like disc one's "Snow," "Wet Sand," and the jazz-cool of "Hey."

The title track, "Desecration Smile," and "She Looks To Me" finds them venturing further into laid back pop ballad territory, while the tricky rhythms of "Dani California," "Charlie," and "So Much I" eventually kick into familiar top gear on the pop-savvy "Tell Me Baby" and hip-hop seasoned "Storm in a Teacup." It's not that there's a paucity of musical adventure here ("If" and "Animal Bar" finds them wafting into Floydish neo-psychedelia while "Make You Feel Better" seems to channel no less than Joe Jackson) but that it's delivered with a subtlety--and dare we say it?--tasteful musical restraint that's a stark contrast to the band's early, overly overt nature. There's perhaps too much mid-tempo simmering and reflection going on; like most double-albums it could be focused into a much more compelling single disc. But that seems largely beside the Peppers' hooks-over-histrionics point here: an unlikely record to kick back to, and one that both challenges assumptions and eases the band into middle age with an oft languorous, if undeniably savory groove. --Jerry McCulley

From the Label
The Red Hot Chili Peppers unleash a two-CD set, Stadium Arcadium--a 28 track double album with discs entitled "Jupiter" and "Mars".

The band--Anthony Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante and Chad Smith--entered the studio last March with producer Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys, System Of A Down) to commence work upon the album in the same house in the Hollywood Hills where they recorded 1991's groundbreaking, multi-platinum album BloodSugarSexMagik.

"We set out to write 13 songs," says Kiedis. "But as has been the case every time we've tried to do that, we ended up with 30-some-odd songs. The difference this time was we ended up liking all of those songs and finishing all of those songs, and it actually became a very difficult process to even whittle it down to 28."

"Every album we do, we try to have a concept and a sense of direction," Frusciante explains. "The most important idea for this album was movement." Smith elaborates, "Something new is constantly being introduced, in every chorus or verse, whether it's a backing vocal or a guitar part, a different rhythm or an unexpected style."

"The chemistry was in better order than in a long time," Kiedis told Spin earlier this year. "Everyone is frighteningly happy at the moment." Although he says he's again exploring "the dark and nefarious side of Los Angeles" in his lyrics, he clarifies, "but not in a judgmental sense," venturing, "It's all about the joy of dysfunction."

Kiedis says of the double album's title: "I hope it means something different to everyone, but to me, in the chorus of the song Stadium Arcadium, I get the feeling of being off in the wilderness with a large group of people creating a huge light, playing music for those people and reflecting the love that's going on between us and them."

"I think we're aware that we're all vehicles of something much bigger than ourselves," Flea allows. "And we also know it's up to us to do the footwork to get in a position to receive all this energy flying around. Spirituality can be a pretty vague term, but each of us in our own way is interested in looking beyond what's directly in front of our face."

Stadium Arcadium is the ninth album from the Chili Peppers and the first since 2002's By The Way.

Customer Reviews

One of the Best Albums to Come Out in Recent Years
Alright, so you've probably heard a lot about this album and this band but I think this album and the band deserve so much credit. If you haven't really listened to anything off this album yet, I'm going to convince you to. Read on.

This amazing album has two disks: Jupiter and Mars; both fantastic. Its sound is way different than previous RHCP albums but still keeps they're original style and flair. With crazy bass lines from bassist Flea and funky guitar rifts from guitarist John Frusciante, this album is packed with creativity and has something for everyone. Drums are always great too when you got Chad Smith on them; one of the few guys in rock music these days that keeps a smile on his face.

Songs like "Dani California" and "She's only 18" are a couple of the heavier tracks. "Dani California" is a rocking track with a mind blowing guitar solo. Then you have more funky dance and rap mixes like "Warlocks" and "H*** De Bump." My favourite song off the album is "Especially in Michigan." It's got an awesome chorus and lead singer Anthony Kiedis has amazing vocals on this one. Other favourites of mine are "Discretion Smile", "Wet Sand" and "Make You Feel Better." I love most songs off the album except for three or four, and it's not often you find an album where the greater majority of the tracks are that solid.

The main popular singles are "Dani California" "Snow (hey-oh)" "Tell Me Baby" and "H*** De Bump."

I immediately bought the CD after hearing "Dani California" on the radio back in June 2006.

Some songs should have definitely been made singles. I think "Make You Feel Better" would have been the perfect single. But not only is it not a single, they don't even play it at the concerts! I would have loved to hear that song played live. Oh well, I guess it's because that song requires two guitars to play and they only have one guitarist (John) on stage so they can't really do it perfectly. Still though, I would like to hear it even with one guitar.

It's crazy to think that these guys were once playing funk rap stuff back in 1983 and they climbed all the way up to this amazing collection of songs and a whack load of Grammy awards.

You have to own this album in your collection. It's got something for everybody.

Music as it should be
If you have a turntable this is a modern classic, both musically and sonically. I bought the cheaper of the two vinyl versions and I must admit it was worth every penny. The sudden openness to the sound, the increased clarity and tautness of the instruments is amazing.
The quality of the recording and the dynamics just breathes new life into the music. It also shows what increasable musicians the Chilli's are. You will not want to touch the CD again after listening to this. Also the double gate fold sleeves with quality printing and a hard box outer really make this exceptional value for money. If I could give it 6 stars I would.
One down side no antistatic record sleeves.

They reach high... and fail
Those of us old enough to remember vinyl know that a double album meant 80 minutes of music - which was enough to get you spat at by punk rockers, often with good reason. So a double CD is the equivalent of a quadruple vinyl album. Not even Yes dared to do that. They'd have been lynched.

If you're going to unleash that amount of music in one go, you'd better be saying something pretty special. And the Red Hot Chilli Peppers simply aren't. I suspect they looked at the Smashing Pumpkins' extraordinary double CD "Mellon Collie..." from ten years earlier and decided that their status as this decade's top alternative band demanded a similar gesture. In so doing, they have badly overreached themselves.

Unlike Smashing Pumpkins (and I hasten to add that I'm a fan of both bands), the Chilis don't have a huge variety of texture. They have three basic song templates, and they don't seem to realise that making a double album requires them to do something extra with the format, rather than simply delivering twice as much of the same product.

Instead, you get a decent Chilis song, then another, then another, then another, etc, etc. Then, if you want, you can put the next CD on for more of the same. Rather than excitement, the effect on the listener is progressive numbness.

Instead of pushing their limits, with Stadium Arcadium the Red Hot Chili Peppers have defined those limits for all to see, emerging as something less than the band we thought they were.