Stadium Arcadium- Red Hot Chili Peppers [Review]

[RedStratocas]

As you may have seen by my past thread, my friend sent me a torrent copy of Stadium Arcadium, the release date of the album is on May 9th. This is my review.

This is the first RHCP album released in 4 years, which is probably why the album is a double disc with 28 songs, and adds up to a giant 2 hours long. It was hard to know what to expect from the album. There will be fans of certain songs who will be very pleased with the album, some who may not be. Those who like the lighter Chili Peppers (Under The Bridge, Scar Tissue, Venice Queen) will have a good time with this album. There are a few of their funk-punk songs in it that go back to their style in Blood Sugar Sx Magik, but not enough to please those who only love those types. But one thing is for certain: John F. on guitar has never been better. He's distorted and at his best on every song

My ratings of individual songs:

Disc 1: Jupiter

Dani California: 9/10. Classic, the chorus is excellent and the solo one of John F.'s best.

Snow ((Hey Oh)): 8/10. This is a song that shows off Anthony's poetry and John's perfect backup vocals. Beautifully constructed, however could have been cut down a little bit, the song drags on a little bit to much.

Charlie: 6/10. What sounds like one of their lame attempts at a song to dance to in the begining such as 'Throw Away Your Television'. The chorus seems to change its tone, beat and style a bit to suddenly. It picks up as it goes on, but changes throughout.

Stadium Arcadium: 4/10. One of my least favorite songs on the album. If the style was changed slightly, they could have made it work but it didnt quite make me interested. The chorus almost sounds like a 70's style hippie song.

H*mp De Bump: 7/10. For you funk lovers. Back to their classic style on BSSM, the rediculous chorus and trumpets in the background make the song entertaining. The occasional ("Oh-no") makes the sense they really enjoyed themselves while making this song.

She's Only 18: 9/10. If you are a fan of 'Dani California', you will likely have this song in your favorites as well. While it isnt as fast and not as hard-hitting, it certainly gets the chorus into your head.

Slow Cheetah: 7/10. A slow, yet effective song. If you have the bonus track 'Runaway' off of By The Way, it sounds like another attempt at the same song, since it did not make the previous album.

Torture Me: 8/10. Very enthusiastic song. The chorus may be a bit to repetitive and uncatchy, but its quite a story.

Strip My Mind: 6/10. In the begining, it sounds like John could put up the distortion on his guitar and slam a cord any second, but the song never picks up.

Especially In Michigan: 7/10. It has one of Anthoney's best singing voices, but the song doesnt quite use it well. The chorus is catchy, but the post-chorus is even catchier. It needs more of that.

Warlocks: 8/10. Flea's bass makes this song. Constantly in the background, you can hear where the song will go before it gets there.

C'mon Girl: 8/10. What sounds like just another one of their slow funk songs actually has a chorus that you dont quite expect. Even though its only a few lines repeating, it seems to change as it goes.

Wet Sand: 6/10. Another one of their love songs that takes an ironic twist when the lyrics are read. The majority of it is slow and uninteresting, but John's guitar picks up at the end and comes through.

Hey: 5/10. A few of these songs would be enough, but this song sounds like others earlier on the album.


Disc 2: Mars

Desecration Smile: 7/10. May be a bit dreary, but the switching of Anthony and John singing is very well put together.

Tell Me Baby: 8/10. Funk once more. Its very simillar to 'Cant Stop', but with a different theme and not relient on drums.

Hard To Concentrate: 5/10. Mushy-gushy song about marrage. Not quite worth explaining.

21st Century: 7/10. Funk-ish. While its relient on Flea's bass and John's high cords, it has its softer sides. Especially around the 2:15 mark when it just changes to slow, and changes back just 15 seconds later.

She Looks To Me: 6/10. It needs a break on describing the actuall person, and more on what the song is about.

Readymade: 8/10. A bit to repetitive, but the beat is catchy. John's solo is also very good, and after it the song gets a new dawn of hard rock, and almost sounds grunge-like until it breaks into the chorus one more time.

If: 6/10. The lyrics remind me a lot of Zephyr Song, but much slower and much shorter.

Made You Feel Better: 7/10. John's long-running chords almost makes it sound like a 50's rock n roll song, but the chorus says otherwise. Its upbeat and makes a good punk-sounding song after the 2:30 mark.

Animal Bar: 7/10. Anthony claims in the song 'it wont be long', but the song itself drags on too much. The verses are a bit to expected, but the chorus definatly comes out at you.

So Much I: 9/10. The song could do without the 'Ah-ah-ah-ah', but the verses have energy and the chorus is perfectly formed.

Storm In A Teacup: 8/10. Another rediculous punk-funk song, but I cant help but to enjoy it.

We Believe: 7/10. The verses are 'Venice Queen'-like, but the second chorus has many voices singing something different, but they are perfectly in-sync

Turn It Again: 7/10. Its not a song that you would think to stretch to 6 minutes, but it does. The chorus has a funky energy, but not enough meaning into it.

Death Of A Martian: 8/10. After listening to it a few times to find its meaning, I found its a description of being different from people. The poetry which is said, rather than sung at the end is an apropriate end to the album


Overall Rating: 8/10. Better than By The Way, but not as great as Californication.

[Jordan3]

Nice review. Favourite song?

[RedStratocas]

Nice review. Favourite song?

I have only listened to the album 3 times since yesterday, so I cant say quite yet. However, Snow, and She's Only 18 are my favorites as of now.

[RedStratocas]

Sorry for the double post.

Im listening to a live interview with the chili peppers at the moment, and they are debuting songs off of the album. Im wishing that a few of the songs I rated above, I rated higher, now that Im listening to them again. I stand by my statement that the song 'Stadium Arcadium' 's chorus sounds hippie-like, but Im starting to like it...

I might want to change Snow to 10/10... its beautiful. I think this will be their next single.

If this keeps up... it may actually be able to catch up to Californication...

[Jim Rotates]

Sounds good Strato, great review. I'll definitely be getting it. A lil disappointed it's not really Funk/Punk though...

Dani California is #2 midweeks . I don't think it'll knock off Gnarls though =/.

[RedStratocas]

Sounds good Strato, great review. I'll definitely be getting it. A lil disappointed it's not really Funk/Punk though...

Dani California is #2 midweeks . I don't think it'll knock off Gnarls though =/.

I should have said most of it isnt, but there are many punk-funk songs on it, or at least parcially. H*mp De Bump is obviously a punk-funk song, Charlie is, Storm In A Teacup, and a few more.

Also, there are 10 songs that didnt make it onto it (They were thinking of doing something like SOAD did last year, and releasing 3 series of albums in one year, but they thought it would look like a money-making scheme). I would not be suprised if later this year they release them on an 'After disc' or in B-Sides.

[Jordan3]

Here's my ratings for Jupiter, I haven't really listened to Mars properly yet.

Dani California: 9/10. Excellent song to release to promote the album, imo it's the one that would appeal to most.

Snow ((Hey Oh)): 8/10. Very good song, I didn't get the hype at first, but it's growing on me.

Charlie: 9/10. Love it, very funky and catchy.

Stadium Arcadium: 4/10. I don't know why, I just think it's rubbish.

H*mp De Bump: 9/10. I had been disappointed by the previous track, but this got the album back on course for me. Funkiest song out of all 28, and really good.

She's Only 18: 8/10. Another good tune.

Slow Cheetah: 7/10. Quite slow, and quite long, but nevertheless a pretty good song.

Torture Me: 7/10. Good song, but took a few listens for me to like.

Strip My Mind: 6/10. It's an okay song, but not great.

Especially In Michigan: 6/10. Like above, an okay song, but so far not on my very favourites list.

Warlocks: 9/10. Arguarbly my favourite song on the whole album so far. Pretty funky, and very easy to listen to.

C'mon Girl: 7/10. A good tune on the back of Warlocks.

Wet Sand: 6/10. A more love-y song, not really my kind of thing.

Hey: 5/10. A long and disappointing end to a decent album. It would rank higher if it was in the middle somewhere.

Just me, or have RHCP done a Foo Fighters? Cos it seems like Jupiter is mostly funky, faster paced tunes, and Mars seems to be much slower, acoustic songs.

[RedStratocas]

Here's my ratings for Jupiter, I haven't really listened to Mars properly yet.

Dani California: 9/10. Excellent song to release to promote the album, imo it's the one that would appeal to most.

Snow ((Hey Oh)): 8/10. Very good song, I didn't get the hype at first, but it's growing on me.

Charlie: 9/10. Love it, very funky and catchy.

Stadium Arcadium: 4/10. I don't know why, I just think it's rubbish.

H*mp De Bump: 9/10. I had been disappointed by the previous track, but this got the album back on course for me. Funkiest song out of all 28, and really good.

She's Only 18: 8/10. Another good tune.

Slow Cheetah: 7/10. Quite slow, and quite long, but nevertheless a pretty good song.

Torture Me: 7/10. Good song, but took a few listens for me to like.

Strip My Mind: 6/10. It's an okay song, but not great.

Especially In Michigan: 6/10. Like above, an okay song, but so far not on my very favourites list.

Warlocks: 9/10. Arguarbly my favourite song on the whole album so far. Pretty funky, and very easy to listen to.

C'mon Girl: 7/10. A good tune on the back of Warlocks.

Wet Sand: 6/10. A more love-y song, not really my kind of thing.

Hey: 5/10. A long and disappointing end to a decent album. It would rank higher if it was in the middle somewhere.

Just me, or have RHCP done a Foo Fighters? Cos it seems like Jupiter is mostly funky, faster paced tunes, and Mars seems to be much slower, acoustic songs.

Dont believe so, because there are some faster paced songs on Mars, even though I agree, Jupiter is better. In an interview, they said they didnt want the either disc to seem like it was before the other. Neither is in an order. However, they did say they chose 'Mars' and 'Jupiter' as album names because Mars is the planet named after the god of war, and Jupiter is named after the god of law and order, thus conflict/opposition. So the actuall names and their meaning might hint off what they were trying to do, but again, they arent in order like the Foo Fighters CD which was Disc 1 and Disc 2

[Grindie]

Great review, haven't had a chance to listen to it myself yet, I also downloaded the 2 CD edition ^_^

[issaa.]

I got it today, havn't really had a chance to listen it properly, ima have a good listen to it tonight :]