Had this been called the "Best Of," it would be inaccurate, but for those looking for the radio hits that made the Chili Peppers a household name, this is the perfect collection.
This release brings together everything John Frusciante did with
the band, as well as two new songs, one song from
One Hot Minute and the soundtrack single/fan favorite "Soul
to Squeeze." Because RHCP albums work well on their own, one may
wonder how this album flows; the answer is very well. Even if you
don't like every song the band did, in this context it's easy to
see why they are so popular.
From Mother's Milk we get the Stevie Wonder cover "Higher Ground" -- and that's it. The usual four suspects from Blood Sugar Sex Magik are present, although if one only owned a single RHCP album, that would be the one. From 1995's One Hot Minute we get "My Friends," which is odd because I don't remember that one being a hit. I would have preferred "Coffee Shop" or "Aeroplane" -- but since the album was a critical flop, my opinion doesn't matter, since this is a hits collection.
No less than five songs are included from the abysmal Californication, although I question why "Parallel Universe" and "Road Trippin'" made the cut while the superior "Around the World" did not. The selections from By The Way are just as odd; I'm sure "The Zephyr Song" and "Can't Stop" were hits, but they are not here, while the title track and "Universally Speaking" are.
It's nice to see "Soul to Squeeze" here, and the two new songs are good as well. Fans of the band need not purchase this, because these songs have been played so often on radio, but newcomers should definitely check this out for 11 of the 15 songs. By any standard, that's an impressive number, and these are great songs, some of the best of the 90s.
Still, it seems this could have been planned just a little bit better, and perhaps someday the box set or a thorough 2-disc set will hit the band's highlights better than this sampler.
Login to post a comment.