By the Way
Warner Bros.
1.5 EYES
Funk rock dick-waving hedonists turned gracefully aging, kitty-pettin' elder statesmen of lush, gooey VH1 pop? I guess so - when the edgy part of lead single "By the Way" is the hardest thing on the record, you know you're in for a marshmallow ride to candyland. Not that this, in itself, is a bad thing - after all, seeing Anthony Kiedis and Flea trying to snap tube socks around their flaccid, middle-aged members would be about as embarrassing as, say, most public appearances of Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. But as ballad after ballad treacles by, only guitarist John Frusciante's occasional squalls outside the lines hold interest - "Cabron" is a silly faux-spanic wreck, and "Throw Away Your Television" is suspicious advice from a band that made their fortune through the savvy use of MTV. Most of the rest just drifts by in a pink mist, vague and dopey sunshiney ballads without so much as a slap or pop from Flea's once-vocal bass to cause a glimmer of interest. By the time Kiedis sings "carry me down to the water of love" on next-to-last track "Warm Tape," I'm too numb to even rail at what a shitty clichˇ the line is!
The Chili Peppers have, since One Hot Minute, been prone to these bouts of maudlin navel-staring, personifying the worst excesses of the self-absorbed, touchy-feely, skin-deep California stereotype. By the Way slaps together an hour of this goop, string section and all, neo-hippie therapy sessions lacking a spark of energy or a discernible feeling, besides a vague stoned urge to hug everyone and tell them how, like, great stuff is. And before you say it, I'm not pining for a return to their funko-punko past, because their back catalog hasn't exactly aged well to these ears - I'm glad they've evolved from the doofus party anthems and bippidy-bip-bip vocals, but I wish they'd picked a direction a little less cheesy! Oh, and while I'm bitching, could we leave the sloppy, laid-out-by-a-third-grader liner notes look back in 1993 where it belongs (and I don't care if artist Julian Schnabel did it, it looks like shit)? I'm getting off the happy bus here - if this is the "higher ground" the Chili Peppers used to sing about, I'll stay in the gutter, thanks. (Keith Bergman)
Shockwaves CD REVIEWS ISSUE 6 Page 11