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One Hot Minute is the sixth album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on September 12, 1995. It is the only album by the band recorded when Dave Navarro, formerly of the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, was their guitarist, and the only album not to feature John Frusciante since his first Chili Peppers album Mother's Milk. This has led to the album gaining infamy and disdain amongst many fans of the band as they are today. It is often regarded as the Chili Peppers' most alternative, experimental work. The album fared well on the charts. It was crowned as double platinum and sold more than 2 million copies in the United States. However, this was considered a disappointment when compared to the much greater commercial success of the preceding Blood Sugar Sex Magik.
History Three years had elapsed between the release of the band's previous album Blood Sugar Sex Magik and their recording of the album, which began around late 1994 or early 1995. The previous guitarist of the band, John Frusciante, temporarily left the group mid-tour in the April of 1992 (to return in 1998). After a string of replacements, the band settled on guitarist Dave Navarro, formerly of Jane's Addiction, in 1994. Navarro would depart from the Chili Peppers during the subsequent album tour to pursue other projects. In March 2006, the album was re-released via iTunes including bonus tracks. The original tracks, as with all the other re-released albums are not remastered, leaving only the bonus tracks remastered. One of these tracks, "Bob", had never been heard of/seen before. A fan asked Navarro about this song on his weblog 6767.com, he said the following: "Bob is a song about our friend and Thelonious Monster singer, Bob Forrest. It was the first song we did together. Why it never came out I am not sure." Musical style Unlike the band's previous work, much of One Hot Minutes tracks are rooted in the heavy metal genre with added progressive and psychedelic influences, making heavy use of distorted, crunching guitar work (evident on such tracks as "Deep Kick" and "Coffee Shop"). Other songs regress to the funk style of the Chili Peppers' earlier period, albeit with added influences from unlikely sources ("Walkabout" adopts an Australian theme, whilst "Falling Into Grace" contains tribal sounds.) In "Pea" bassist Flea plays on his own with only acoustic bass and him singing about a "homophobic redneck dick" who had assaulted him. "Tearjerker" is a subdued ballad in which frontman Anthony Kiedis sings of the grief felt after learning about the death of Kurt Cobain, whose band Nirvana had previously toured with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. These unusual music approaches create many commercially-unfriendly songs as a result, although two successful singles released from the album were "My Friends", an acoustic ballad done with style, and "Aeroplane", a subvertedly menacing funk track. The former was the only track from One Hot Minute to be included on the band's Greatest Hits compilation, although the music videos for both songs feature on its accompanying DVD. Reaction Upon its release, One Hot Minute garnered mixed reviews. Many felt the album lacked focus and direction, often citing how Dave Navarro's musical style was not compatible with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. However, others found the album to be highly challenging and an enthralling listen, praising the Chili Peppers' willingness to experiment musically. Most fans of Chili Peppers in their current incarnation (one where John Frusciante plays arguably the most significant role creatively) tend to detest this album. Dave Navarro's guitar work on this album is often considered some of his best and most unique. While he did use a number of guitar effects while with Jane's Addiction, he uses far more on One Hot Minute, generating a somewhat psychedelic sound. The bridge in "One Big Mob" is based around his use of an E-Bow; "Falling Into Grace" is played with a talk box. The Chili Peppers are generally known for their dry sound, so the spacey effect-driven songs are a huge departure from the stripped-down grooves of the pre-Blood Sugar Sex Magik days. Chad Smith's playing on One Hot Minute is often considered by fans to be his finest. This talent is displayed on tracks like "Warped" and "One Big Mob" and on the band's live shows following the album's release. Now that John Frusciante has returned and the band has found commercial success to an even greater degree than they had with Blood Sugar Sex Magik, they have been quick to show disdain for One Hot Minute, and also due to the fact that none of the tracks (apart from "Pea") are played live by the band, the album has consequently become virtually discarded and overlooked. Flea himself stated that "It doesn’t feel like a Chilis album to me... Different band" (Q Magazine, June 2006), and the album is listed last in the discography on the band's website, below even their most early and obscure releases (the discography is otherwise in chronological order). Track listing All songs by Anthony Kiedis, Michael Balzary, Dave Navarro & Chad Smith B-Sides, Outtakes and Non-Album Tracks Band line-up during recording Additional musicians Children who sing on Aeroplane Producer Engineers Assistant Engineer Mixed by Mastered by Digitally edited by Artwork Art Calligraphy Album Singles Miscellanea Sample clips | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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