The song that announced John Frusciante’s return to RHCP: “He’s just on a different melodic level”
When rumours swirled that John Frusciante was returning to the Red Hot Chili Peppers again in 2022, I would be lying if I didn’t say there was a faint, albeit misguided, feeling of optimism within me.
Not misguided because of any doubt over Frusciante’s ability to rekindle the band’s brilliance once again, but misguided because I have taught myself better than to wilfully steer into nostalgic hope, even against my better judgement. I knew full well that time had passed, both for the band and culture as a whole, but nevertheless, I bought into the self-designed propaganda that upon Frusciante’s return to the band, the world would be thrust back to the much simpler 1990s.
During the promotion for the 2022 record Unlimited Love, Anthony Kiedis explained, “The biggest event, honestly, was John returning to the band. That was the most monumental change in our lives. And God was I down for anything and everything.”
He continued, adding, “The dynamic was very healthy, productive and creative. Sometimes [we] can be a little too competitive and it can lead to discord, but [this time] we really pushed each other in a positive way.”
Upon the first listen of this highly anticipated return record, Unlimited Love, I realised that yes, simpler times had returned, but almost to the detriment of the record. Sure, there were moments that filled my appetite, like the record’s opening track that steadily ticks along before dropping into a signature Frusciante solo. For a brief moment, I felt how I did when I first heard the solo for ‘Dani California’.
There was also ‘She’s A Lover’, which heard the band shake loose all seriousness, and show glimpses of the funk-laden playfulness that made them musical royalty in the early 1990s with Blood Sugar Sex Magik. But largely the record underwhelmed, and brutally showcased that things had changed for good, if not the individual ability of each member.
But for Kiedis and Co, the record remained a spiritual and healing experience for them, one that brought them back to home base once and for all. And it was on the track ‘These Are The Ways’ that Kiedis felt most struck by the return of Frusciante, for it was the song that delivered his unrivalled ability to write a melody.
Speaking of the writing process, he said, “I’m never able to recreate his melodies perfectly – he’s just on a different melodic level – so I usually put it through a simplification machine,” Kiedis explained to Apple Music.
Adding, “I didn’t overthink it. It was the first idea that came to my mind when I heard that arrangement, which is very bombastic and almost like a huge classical orchestra, exploding and then going way back.”
It’s almost a Frankenstein of a song that takes you on a whistle-stop tour of the band’s best moments. From Frusciante’s melodic embellishments, to Flea’s hypnotising bass lines and Chad Smith’s powerhouse drumming, it has all of their historic greatness bundled into one. But that was very much the tone of the whole album and largely why it didn’t quite land. But I won’t lie and say I didn’t enjoy seeing the original band back together.
