Music Bloggery: Red Hot Chili Peppers

Showing posts with label Red Hot Chili Peppers. Show all posts

The alternative rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers released the official music video for their new single 'Brendan's Death Song'. The band, having earlier this year being entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after a second try, released this fifth single from the album. The song itself was about a close friend of the band, Brendan Mullen passing away recently, and the song is a homage to him and I think it's just discussing the general idea of death, considering the band have come so far and they're all getting older with children.

The music video sees the band leading the funeral procession with the loved ones and friends following them. It then shows the band performing in front of these people, with the words 'Death Song' written in fire in the background, which looks quite cool. This song overall is very sombre and peaceful, and at times quite profound, I believe. I'll leave you all to take a look, and comment your thoughts!

This is the first edition of our Song of the Week and we have a brilliant song for you this week! The band who brought you the hit 'Chevy Thunder' are out with a new single 'Celestine'! The band that have been said as bringing classic indie back are doing everything right with this single. With great lyrics that you can understand (which are brownie points for me), and a awesome melody that is quickly making this song become my summer anthem.

The song has a similar tune to their previous single 'Chevy Thunder', which makes me slightly wary that their album will sound too similar. However, that doesn't mean they're not a good band! Secondly, I'm not sure if it's on purpose or by coincidence but the album art for 'Chevy Thunder' was a building in the shape of a dome and the artwork for this single is a curved shape which acts as a kind of frame for the dome? Comment your thoughts!

The music video for this song is not original, which they've made clear by the Anthony Kiedis (frontman for alternative band, Red Hot Chili Peppers) quote 'The desert - where all good music videos are made.'. The quote at the beginning and the little joke they make also at the beginning of the video shows the band has a good sense of humour and that they don't take themselves too seriously, unlike many pretentious bands nowadays. On their Facebook page, they wrote: 'Celestine is out now. Second best 99p you'll spend this week #mcflurry'. Musicians by day, comedians by night! ;)

Personally, the fact that in the video for 'Chevy Thunder' the frontman was reading Anthony Kiedis autobiography 'Scar Tissue' (which is an amazing book, by the way), and now in the video for 'Celestine' they've even quoted Kiedis, this makes me fall in love with them even more! This is because I'm a HUGE Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, if you didn't know already.

Anyway before I go all fangirl on you, check out the music video below, and comment your thoughts!

That's right, earlier today, the legendary Red Hot Chili Peppers released their long awaited music video for their great track from the new album, 'Look Around'. This song is a fast paced uplifting song, which is quite synonymous of the band. The song is a typical concert song. By that, I mean that it's a great song to get the audience pumped up - the clapping in the chorus really proves this.
In terms of the video, it's a really cool, artsy style video that really outlines each band member's individual personality. The video features each band member in their own room. For example, there's Flea doing his signature crazy dance moves with an equally crazy lady, in one room, Anthony with his actual son, Everly Bear in another, Chad drumming and boxing away in a different room, and finally, Josh, the latest addition to the band, simply sitting in a darkly lit room, reading with a lamp. I love how they've brought all of their personalities together, by Anthony running through each room (2:30).
If you didn't know already, I'm a hardcore RHCP fan, or as I call it, THE RHCP fan! Although I agree it's no 'By The Way', the video itself is very interesting and inspiring in it's own right and I definitely recommend giving it a watch. If you're really interested in how it was made, make sure you check out the official making of video below the official music video.

★★★★

Red Hot Chili Peppers are a psychedelic, funk rock band, first formed in 1983 in California, Los

Angeles when attending Fairfax High School. They were originally formed by Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Michael ‘Flea’ Bulzary (bass), Jack Irons (drummer), and Hillel Slovak (guitar), who was a close, long-term friend of Kiedis and Flea. He later died of Heroin overdose which sparked a new found sense of reformation in Kiedis. The band has had a lot of struggles in terms of battling drug addictions and fame, however, with the release of ‘Blood Sugar Sex Magik’ (1991), the world had realised what they had been missing and finally wanted in on the world of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Over the years, guitarists have come and gone. One of the most memorable and most possibly influential guitarists who has recently left the band (it was made official in 2009), was John Frusciante. Recently made No. 72 in the Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarist list, it could be argued that he gave the Chili’s their definitive sound. However, although Frusciante left the band in previous years for negative reasons, this time, he left on a positive note of developing his solo career, and the band respected that. Frusciante’s replacement, Josh Klinghoffer was introduced to the public in January of 2010 when the band performed for the first time with the new line up at the MusiCares event in the same year. After taking a hiatus of about three years, the Chili’s finally announced their comeback to the world, and after hitting the studio and creating up to 70 songs (though most were just experimental and were not actually featured on the album), they released their brand new album – I’m With You in August 2011.

The album artwork for this album was created by Damien Hirst and as you can see to your right, the cover is of a fly on a pill saying ‘I’m With You’. The artwork itself can be interpreted in many ways, and I believe that the meaning of this artwork is that that pill, which symbolises the disgust of drugs and drug abuse, is highlighted by the fact that an insect that is considered disgusting (the fly) is sat on this pill. The work in general stresses the degrading nature of drugs; Kiedis himself stated that this album has more of a positive theme as opposed to their previous albums. Nonetheless, there is a slight ambiguity in the art as the title I'm With You, suggesting that narcotics offer a supportive nature and lead the audience to question whether the band have actually turned a new leaf.

The album marks a shift in the band's sound as is it the first to feature Klinghoffer, and it is when we see his true skills as a guitarist - songs such as Monarchy of Roses and Dance, Dance, Dance feature great guitar riffs, both memorable and catchy in their own way. Earlier this year, Flea studied music at University level, and developed his passion for the piano – this new found talent and passion can be heard immediately. Happiness Loves Company is an example of Flea’s great skills as a pianist and musician and it gives the Chili’s a style that they’ve never had before. Even Kiedis is on form in this album; his lyrics have a level of meaning and emotion that left me shocked how he had never wrote like this before. Police Station is a great example of Kiedis’ new lyricism and yes, I am saying this, but it just might be the new Under the Bridge. I personally love this album; it is full of great melodies and riffs that cannot instantly be identified as the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

They have proven to be on form once again, and with Klinghoffer, they have much more of a refined and somewhat mellow tone. Could it be that the Chili’s have toned down the funk? Maybe, but it could mean that their music is now better than ever? (Comment if you disagree!)

However, and there is one big however - The album seems to be lacking something; there’s some sort of void. Frusciante was the driving force that gave the Red Hot Chili Peppers their amazing sound and some of their biggest hits, and since that force is gone, it doesn’t really seem the same. There is no potential hit song in this album, they all seem to be songs that have potential, but are not quite there yet. As much as I love this album, I don’t believe that it was worth fans waiting almost five years for. For that reason, I am giving this album, 4/5 stars!

Music Bloggery Recommends: 'Factory of Faith', 'Dance Dance Dance', 'Happiness Loves Company', 'Annie Wants A Baby', 'Did I Let You Know?', 'Look Around', 'Police Station'

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Red Hot Chili Peppers - Brendan's Death Song [Official Music Video]

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