The one album Flea never wanted to hear again: “It wasn’t a good time”
Any artist should be willing to give everything they have to making the perfect record. It’s easy for anyone to phone it in, but what separates the professional hacks from the artists is having a genuine love for their craft whenever they go into the studio to crank out some tunes. But whenever listening to a Red Hot Chili Peppers record, it’s easy to tell when something’s off, and Flea could usually pick up on that within the first five seconds of listening to any of their albums.
When listening to their back catalogue, the biggest problem that they usually had came down to the producers they were working with. It’s hard to think that people like Andy Gill of Gang of Four or George Clinton would be a problem behind the scenes, but even if their first records had decent moments on them, there was never a time when everything came together until Rick Rubin started working with them on Blood Sugar Sex Magik.
There was still the tragedy of Hillel Slovak to worry about, but getting John Frusciante in the group was definitely a shot in the arm. He was the one who could help Anthony Kiedis turn his poetry into fleshed-out songs, and once they had to split up for a time, it’s clear that they were rejuvenated once they started work on Californication.
For the first time in years, every member was sober, and after going through the relapse haze of One Hot Minute with Dave Navarro, they finally sounded at peace on pieces of the record, even if ‘Around the World’ and ‘Parallel Universe’ hit like a sledgehammer whenever they came on. If that record was proof they could still play, By the Way was Frusciante’s claim that they could make great melodies.
But for Flea, the only thing that By the Way brought up was bad memories, which is why he never bothered listening to the final product once he got finished with it, saying, “During the making of By The Way it just wasn’t a good time for the relationship between John and I. There were things about him that were bothering me, and I’m sure there were things about me that were bothering him. I could specifically go into them, but I just don’t think it’s constructive, and it’s kind of boring anyway. The band just didn’t feel like a comfortable place to express myself.”
If there was any kind of tension in the studio, every member of the band is practically a magician for making it sound so seamless. The whole sound of the record made for one of the sunniest songs in the band’s career, and while it does have the same crime of every Red Hot Chili Peppers by being too long, it’s worth it when listening to tracks like ‘The Zephyr Song’, which is practically a bouncy take on a Beach Boys-style song.
Or, at least, that’s the version we got. After the fact, the band had talked about wanting to make a record that toed the line between pretty songs and heavier tracks, but elected to include only the sunny side of things instead. That’s completely fine from a marketing perspective, but since Flea was used to playing in punk bands in his youth, it had to sting knowing that none of the heavier tunes would see the light of day.
By that point, it was almost mandatory to make a record like Stadium Arcadium. Their double album experience may have been a lot for fans to take in, but it was worth it for every member to be happy rather than worrying about the direction their sound was supposed to be going in.
