The enfant terrible of funk-rock, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, released their sixth studio album “One Hot Minute” amid turbulent times on September 12th, 1995, via Warner Records. Their prolific guitarist, John Frusciante, had left in 1992, vocalist Anthony Kiedis was still struggling with heroin addiction, and Frusciante‘s heir apparent, Dave Navarro of JANE’S ADDICTION fame, had not been welcomed that warmly by the band’s longtime fans due to his totally different musical leanings. For many, it made zero sense that such a hard-rock-oriented guitarist joined this mellowship of funky monks. The 1991 blockbuster double album, “Blood Sugar Sex Magik,” had hit a jackpot with the band’s signature stylings – that is, Flea‘s elastic bass grooves and Frusciante‘s funky Hendrix maneuvers, on top of which Kiedis had had a relatively easy task to drop his innuendo-laced vocal shenanigans. Now, with all these dark clouds gathered upon the band, it was quite obvious that this album would mark a distinct departure from the band’s old sound in all conceivable aspects, and it did turn out be remarkably darker in mood; some of the songs were characterized by an emotional depth not typically associated with this bunch, though, maybe save for Kiedis‘ reflections on his heroin abuse in the band’s massive hit “Under the Bridge” from the previous album. In retrospect, “One Hot Minute” proved to be a transitional endeavor, bridging the band’s funk roots and their more mature future sound. It seems to have remained an underrated, experimental gem in the band’s discography to this day, one that pushed their artistic boundaries rather nicely beyond the confines of Sir Psycho Sexy funkathons.
The lead single, “Warped,” opens the album with one of the most kick-ass guitar riffs ever. It was the first sound-bite from the band with Navarro on guitars and the song’s psychedelic, hard-rock aura made it quite clear that the “P-Funk”-infested days of yore were pretty mach over and done with – well, at least in the studio environment; when the played at Ruisrock 1996, their stage antics were just as salacious as ever, with Flea making his entrèe to the stage clad in nothing but a gas mask, waving his willie to the audience. While that 1991 monolith was quite rife with sonic equivalents of willie-waving, on this album, such mischief is kept to the minimum. Say what you will, but I reckon this somewhat more constrained approach to songwriting was a necessary catharsis for the band. Without the experimentation on “One Hot Minute,” I don’t think the band could have ever written “Californication” at the turn of the millennium, another high point in their discography.
Despite the vocal shit-flinging from the hardcore fans, the album did spawn a few hits: “Aeroplane,” “My Friends,” and “Coffee Shop” soon started gathering airtime on rock radio at the time, although only “Aeroplane” seems to have survived to this day as a timeless ode to the omnipotent healing powers of music. Then again, the song could just as well be about air travel or Kiedis dropping clues about his relapse to hard drugs. At the time, “My Friends” was something quite unheard of from this bunch – an acoustic ballad! The only acoustic piece that I could recall hearing from these rogues was the uptempo, hippie-folk banger, “Breaking the Girl,” on the previous album. No wonder this album had such a polarizing reception! Then, as if to add insult to injury, “Coffee Shop” came off like a song from the ASH songbook (if you still remember that indie bunch from Northern Ireland). RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS sure didn’t take it easy on their fans.
The absolute highlights of the album are not among these single hits, though. When the band takes some of their darkest and deepest feelings and lets the music be the force to drive them out, like in the songs “Tearjerker,” “Falling into Grace,” and “Transcending,” they reach into such depths that it’s quite unbelievable to think this is RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS we’re talking about. The band would later utilize this formula to their advantage again, on the album “Californication,” as well as on individual tracks, such as “Dark Necessities.” So, it seems that this album catalyzed something in the collective psyche of the band. In light of these later endeavors, “One Hot Minute” is often dismissed as a faux pas in the band’s catalog when, in fact, it is one of their absolute best efforts, marking an experimental phase that was crucial for their subsequent creative evolution. As much as the album may seem like an anomaly, it should be seen as something like those happy accidents Bob Ross used to make in The Joy of Painting. I will choose this beautiful beast over some of the band’s most recent endeavors any time.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Warped
- Aeroplane
- Deep Kick
- My Friends
- Coffee Shop
- Pea
- One Big Mob
- Walkabout
- Tearjerker
- One Hot Minute
- Falling into Grace
- Shallow Be Thy Game
- Transcending
Lineup
Anthony Kiedis – vocals
Flea – bass
Dave Navarro – guitars
Chad Smith – drums
Label
Warner Records
Links
https://redhotchilipeppers.com
