RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS | BLOOD SUGAR SEX MAGIK
Sex, drugs, lust and death. These are the themes that the Chili’s took over the world with on their 1991 release Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The early 90’s alternative rock explosion couldn’t have been the same with out this quintessential career-defining work.
The band recorded the album in the same mansion Harry Houdini once inhabited. Recording equipment was brought in and producer Rick Rubin was hired to help the group focus the band’s new creative direction. The group was quite certain the house was haunted and it’s hard to omit there’s an energetic presence spread out across the album’s 17 tracks.
The band integrated the typical punk and funk style of their earlier works, but infused their new writing with more melodically driven direction. The album is miles away from the distorted tones of their previous effort Mother’s Milk, creating a new cleaner funk sound allowing Flea to slap on the bass less and try on a set of more traditional bass playing. While Flea said of the album “less is more”, the bass movement that snakes around the album is still leaps and bounds beyond every other alt-rock outfit of the time.
The album kicks off in a trebly groove with “The Power Of Equality” giving way to the confident romp of Anthony Kiedes’ vocal flow. The snare is bright and punched up in the mix nearly overtaking the vocals. “If You Have To Ask” shifts into a cool-as shit-poetic beatnik flow while “Breaking The Girl”‘ gives Flea a chance to propel over acoustic guitars with a rolling bass line that perfectly compliments the percussion section they made from tools and car parts.
The opening funk riff on “Funky Monks” is unashamed of its nakedness in its dry plucking. This is where we begin to fully respect John Frusciante’s peerless interpretation of the guitar itself. On the entire album there are almost no traditional chords strummed, just an oddball extension of the guitar player’s mental state of being, one that feels like melted plastic sticking to your fingers and brain. It’s no wonder Frusciante claims he listens to Captain Beefheart’s Trout Mask Replica on a daily basis.
“Suck My Kiss” is accessible funk-rock radio territory making head-bobbing is impossible. A simple three note riff lets the band summon their vocalist to sing-rap his masculine bravado, hinting that the original lyrical sentiment could easily have been swapped for “that mouth was made to suck my d**k.”
When we finally arrive at “I Could Have Lied” the story gets sensitive and touching. The album remains completely void of any reverbs or additional effects due to Rick Rubin’s production approach, but the bare bones style allow the band to display their raw emotions without crutches. In this world, no one can rely on keyboards, effects, or orchestras to phone in a more cinematic feeling. It must be done solely on the band’s merit of their own channeling. And its precisely that which gives the album a another notch towards greatness. It’s akin to giving a painter limited paints to create extended emotional landscapes. How can you create blue without blue? It’s possible in the right hands.
As the album continues the funk factor rises with a number of tracks that help define the album’s playful sound, still all innovative and melodic. In fact, not a single track on the album is out of place or forced despite its near double length. “Give It Away” was a horny springboard for a group that wanted to express their spastic energy, as is also evident in “Apache Rose Peacock” and “Naked In The Rain.” The album oozes sexual seepage but remains light on its feet at all times.
Then there’s “Under The Bridge”, the ubiquitous hit single that has since become tattooed on humanities brain. Keidis was reluctant to show the song to his band mates and producer due to its emotional nature, in dealing with his struggles with cocaine and heroin addiction. This was a time when shooting speedballs under a bridge brought the singer closes to his dark night of the soul. That hist best friend, guitarist Hillel Slovak died of a heroin overdose not long before the album’s inception leaving couldn’t help but leave a bit of scar tissue on the group’s future. Frusciante drew influence from the 1967 Hendrix song “Little Wing” to write the intro and change the course of musical history as we know it. Chad Smith filled out the gaps with hi-hat and cross-stick, still super-dry and letting the song bleed its own poetic power. This was a new dimensional reveal for the band and one that would continue to inspire them to take their songwriting to new heights down the road.
“The Greeting Song” is white hot action while “My Lovely Man” stretches a sublime guitar riff into heavenly bliss. ” Sir Pyscho Sexy” and “They’re Red Hot” dot the exclamation point on the album’s long haul blasting a lasting steam the band can’t get rid of fast enough.
Blood Sugar Sex Magik resonated with the masses and placed the band into the stratosphere of alt-rock pioneering. It’s easy to see why this album had the impact it did. It’s passionate, raw, musical, emotive, and fun. No other counter-part in history would come close to mimicking the Chili’s sound, and they remain in a class of their own to this day. In later years their testosterone and potency would waiver, but Blood Sugar Sex Magik serves as a perfect work of modern funk-rock music.
This lusty cocktail uses the fiery spice of red chilis to bring the album to the tastebuds. Sugar, rose water, and blood orange juice play off the band’s namesake, while the tequila provides the debauchery not foreign to the Los Angeles influence.
