Unlimited Love

"Unlimited Love" is the 12th album by Calfornian funk rocksters the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I first got into the Chilis by chance after noticing the album Californication in a random record shop in America in 1999 and picking it up on a whim. I didn't realise at the time what a significant album it would be in the Chili's history and would be the start of a 23-year period and counting of classing myself as a Chili's fan."Unlimited Love" follows 2016 album "The Getaway". Personally, I thought that album didn’t get enough praise. It didn't have the big funk rock epics of days gone by and was more down tempo than other albums. But to me it is still a really solid album. As we now know it would be the last album Josh Klinghoffer would appear on as lead guitarist, making way for John Frusciante to come back into the fold for the first time since he left the band in 2009, following the Stadium Arcadium tour. That is really the big headline news for this album and has been talked about so much. It seems the band were finding it hard to find that creative spark when trying to record the new album with Josh and it seems John was keen to get back in, so it seemed to make sense.Many have criticised the Josh era and it’s not his fault but the Chilis only releasing 2 albums in the past 13 years isn't a great work rate. I didn't rate 2011's "I'm with you" and thought it was an album which Josh was more finding his footing in the band. I did go and see the Chili's on that tour too and you could see that Josh skipped a few Frusciante's solos which did highlight just how good a guitarist Fruciante is. But as I said on "The Getaway" Josh I felt did find his feet and it was a great album. There has also been a lot of talk about Frusciante saying he won't play any songs that he hadn't contributed too writing. One camp says he should play all Chili songs, but I disagree with this. He has been involved in at least 6 of the Chili Peppers albums now which are arguably all the best they have done. And to him playing the others would be like playing covers. Chili's albums aren't short either so there’s enough tough decisions to make creating a tour setlist than having to include songs from the other albums he didn't appear on too.But anyway, John being back is a very big deal which is why I have talked about it so much. But what about "Unlimited Love"? How does that match up? Well, it's a mammoth 17 tracks coming in at 73 minutes and I am in 2 minds about the length. On one hand it's been so long since the last Chili's record you are just pleased to get value for money and if it was just 30 minutes you would feel a let-down having waited so long. But on the other hand, I feel have an album this long it is harder to make it a cohesive album and can just turn into a collection of songs rather and lose its structure and I feel it does do that at times.I wouldn't go as far as saying this is a diverse or experimental album by any stretch. It still has that funk rock Chili's style all over it. They have their sound and in terms of big rock acts there is not really anyone doing what they are doing at least to their level. This means if they did change their sound, they would end up doing what other bands are doing and, in the process, losing what people like about them in the first place.I would say some of this album is a continuation in a way of "The Getaway" in that a lot of the album does have that more relaxed vibe, tracks like "It's Only Natural", "Not the one" and "Veronica" epitomise this. John obviously plays a big part in the writing again and his solos are on point especially on the likes of their first single on the album "Black Summer". Interestingly for the first time as far as I'm aware John sings the chorus on "Heavy Wing". He has done backing vocals loads in the past and at gigs usually gets his own segment and does a cover. But I think this is the first time he has shared lead vocals with Anthony. And it works too, to me it's never been debatable that he is a great singer. This is shown through a lot of his solo stuff where he used to sing a lot before he moved onto doing more electronic music.Another great track is "Aquatic mouth dance", this is where Flea really shines as the Chilis go into funk rock overdrive with trumpets and all. Like something from Mother's Milk. But I think my favourite track at the moment has to be "These are the Ways". This track is so catchy, has a great chorus and riff. But often the unsung hero of the Chilis, drummer Chad Smith, really gets to shine here through is excellent drum fills.Overall, this is a great album. I think making it so long they have fallen into the trap that a few songs that wouldn't have made it on to the album if its shorter and would in turn make it a better album. But then again, some people may have liked those tracks so maybe the best bet was to make a longer album. Coming back from all his solo electronic escapades it's clear Frusciante is still one of the best guitarists around and it seems his chemistry with the rest of the band is as if he never left. This is great to see and hear and I hope the Chilis now get in a rhythm of writing music again, so we don't have to wait 6 years for the next album.

I have to admit that I never got on board with the Frusciante-less Red Hot Chilis and Josh Klinghoffer, while I appreciate his talent, was never a replacement in the same league as John's melodic and harmonic intuition. They were a very different band without him and, as such, they lost me as a fan for a number of years, so I was extremely pleased and a little excited to learn that he had re-joined the band and a new album was in the offing. That new album is Unlimited Love and, whilst I don't think it compares favourably with their finest albums, Californication and By The Way, nor does it come close to matching Blood Sugar Sex Magic, it is, in my opinion, about as good and enjoyable as the majority of Stadium Arcadium. Some fans may consider that a low bar, but with Stadium Arcadium I always thought there was an incredible single album struggling to be heard within a way too long double. Unlimited Love does indeed suffer with being a little overlong and could have done with a more ruthless approach when it comes to only choosing the very best material, but on the whole I really like it and – if this is the sound of the Red Hot Chili Peppers maturing (after all, Kiedis, Flea and Smith are all over sixty now), it's something I can get on board with. None of us long-time Chilis fans are exactly spring chickens either!If I'm being honest with myself, part of the fact that I like this album so much is down to a certain amount of nostalgia and the return of that certain Chilis sound that I truly loved for quite a few years at the turn of the century. Admittedly, they certainly don't sound as energised and urgent as they did at that point in their career, but why on earth would they, twenty years on? However (and I'll come back to some of the other tracks), Unlimited Love provides a genuine reward for the faithful with The Heavy Wing; not only is it compositionally superior to most of the album, it vindicates bringing John back into the fold, because this is a Frusciante masterclass of grimy rock guitars, a chorus awash with harmonies and some inspired Chad Smith drumming. As they say, worth the price of admission alone, but – fortunately – there are more than a handful of excellent Chilis cuts to add plenty of value to Unlimited Love.One of the highlights is Here Ever After, which truly is classic RHCP's – a growling, undulating bass from Flea, the rolling drum beat from Smith, some effective but minimalistic guitar work from John and Anthony's trademark spoken verse and melodic chorus. Not The One is a sparse, tender piece, almost a little too much of a straight-forward ballad for the band, but the heartfelt, genuine delivery of the song is believable enough to not only work, but be one of the standout tracks on the record. It's Only Natural (sadly not a cover of the Crowded House classic!) is dreamy, melodic jewel of a song that features a chorus that messes with the time signature a little and is so much more interesting for it, plus is boasts some absolutely gorgeous guitar soloing by Frusciante. My final pick is Watchu Thinkin' which starts out slowly, with a bass line being dotted around the higher reaches of the instrument and John's guitar coming alive during the chorus, it's deceptively funky. Oddly enough, neither of the choices for singles (Black Summer and These Are The Ways) are amongst my favourites, but they're both pretty good, I have to say.Some of the tracks are a little more difficult to love – Poster Child, for example, in spite of its catchy chorus is Peppers-by-numbers complete with Kiedis' customary daft lyrics; sometimes they're funny and they somehow work, other times they're a little tedious. For me, this song comes under the latter category. Thankfully, although there are quite a few tracks that I consider a little ordinary and perhaps don't deserve their place on the album as much as others, there aren't actually any songs here that actively annoy me, so despite its length it remains perfectly listenable even during its lower points. So, to surmise, Unlimited Love is the best album Red Hot Chili Peppers have made since John Frusciante was last with them and, although it could have benefited from a little quality control, there are at least half a dozen songs that long-time fans are going to absolutely love and plenty else to like. My love for it isn't exactly unlimited, but I think it's a fine record indeed and having John back is like finding the missing piece of the jigsaw.

At first, not to sure, but I've been down this road before. I never slag music off until I've given it the old ten time listen. Good pop songs like "black summer" you can usually hear straight away and will help you through the album , but I find when there's more essence to the track it takes longer to hear it for what it is (if that makes sense) the album is mellow compared to previous albums but has some really good tracks, some tracks seem held back to a perfect point (less is more type scenario) some of the lyric's do seem a bit week but no doubt they make sense to Mr K , and they make a good tune for us all to enjoy, my advise is buy if you are going to give it time to emulsify into your mind. If not go and buy some simplistic stuff instead.

Highly recommendGreat album

Ok

The Red Hot Chilli Peppers releasing more great tracks!!!!

Another solid album from my favourite RHCP lineup.