Flea - Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Bassist - RHCP - Bass

Credit: Far Out / Spotify

Flea picks the best and worst Red Hot Chili Peppers albums

Sat 1 July 2023 15:00, UK

Self-appraisal is difficult, but pride and shame must sometimes be juggled in the creative industry. Through reflection, creators can learn from mistakes and miscalculations while focusing on past positives in future work. In the case of Flea, the effervescent bassist and founding member of Red Hot Chili Peppers, self-criticism appears to be a relatively pain-free task.

During a recent conversation with The Los Angeles Times, Flea took a deep dive into the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ vast and varied oeuvre to name some of the albums and songs of which he’s proud and those he’d rather forget.

According to the bassist and retired nudist, Blood Sugar Sex Magik holds an apical position as the band’s finest record. However, he noted that aspects of the release let it down. The 1991 album marked the band’s second with guitarist John Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith on board.

“I would say Blood Sugar Sex Magik, but there’s a couple tunes on there I don’t think should have gotten on in retrospect,” Flea admitted. “‘The Greeting Song’ wasn’t good enough,” he added, singling out an example.

While discussing his favourite albums, Flea also saved some enthusiasm for the 1999 album Californication. “Californication is pretty good top to bottom. I saw Adele a little while ago, and she told me that was her favourite record of all time. That meant a lot to me because I’m a big Adele fan.”

Later in the conversation, Flea was prompted to name his least favourite Chili’s album too. “I always regret the way we made the [eponymous] first one. I think the songs are really good. Our band was smoking at the time. But [drummer] Jack [Irons] and [guitarist] Hillel [Slovak] quit, and we hired these two other guys: Jack Sherman and Cliff Martinez”.

He added: “Both were great musicians, but the connection just wasn’t as profound as we had with the guys we started with. I’ve often wanted to go back and re-record that album, but I can never talk anyone into it.”

Listen to ‘Californication’, the title track from Adele’s favourite album, below.