Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘Unlimited Love’ Is Easy to Love – Opinion

Strange to think that the Red Hot Chili Peppers celebrate their 40th anniversary in next year. Yes, we know they’ve been around since the 1980s. But how can “Give It Away” have come out 31 years ago? How can members of the band be between 52 and 60 years? It would be the perfect Los Angeles party band if it were possible to appear unaffected by aging. And yet, here they are with a new record. Thankfully, Unconditional LoveThis demonstrates clearly that even though the undisputed kings of funk music are growing older, they do not want to die.

Unconditional Love has the band’s core — singer Anthony Kiedis, bassist extraordinaire Flea, and drummer Chad Smith — reunited with guitarist John Frusciante for the first time since 2009. Frusciante was an inseparable element of the Chili Peppers’ sound when they exploded in the early 1990s and again at the end of the decade when he rejoined the band after battling personal demons. While Josh Klinghoffer firmly held down the guitar position for a decade and two excellent albums (2011’s I’m In You and 2016’s Getaway), there was always a longing among the fanbase for Frusciante’s return. Frusciante has returned.

Unconditional Love’s overall tenor is relaxed and melodic without lapsing into musical somnambulism. While retaining its fundamental straightforward and unadorned nature, Frusciante’s playing has adopted at least a taste of Klinghoffer’s affection for textures and shades, giving the songs a color and shape not unlike those on his immediate predecessor’s two albums with the band. Flea’s focus is more on playing the correct notes than pleading with the listener. This, combined with Frusciante’s work and Smith’s percussion over pounding drumming, creates the RHCP magic of fusing melody and body-moving funk.

The album has a good dose of frolicsomeness, most noticeably in “Poster Child” with its unmistakable affection for early 1970s funk.

Another standout track is “Black Summer,” which, while not quite in “Give It Away” territory, still brings the energy.

Rarely does a band make it to Social Security without becoming a limp imitation. Red Hot Chili Peppers can be described as such. Unconditional LoveIt manages to be both fun and friendly. This album is a refreshing escape from a world that spins on its axis.

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