By The Way / Universally Speaking / This Is The Place / Dosed / Don't Forget Me / The Zepher Song / Can't Stop / I Could Die For You / Midnight / Throw Away Your Television / Cabron / Tear / On Mercury / Minor Thing / Warm Tape / Venice Queen

RHCP's 8th original album that was released after three years from the former work "Californication." Rick Rubin produced this album and it means he has been producing this band for consecutive 4 albums. It seems a relationship between this band and this producer became more strong. Each impression of 4 albums is different from other, but RHCP has been trusting him with producing for over 10 years.

In early June 2002, before this album's release, RHCP side gathered the press from all around the world. Interviews with the members except for Chad, held at that time were published on the magazine "Rockin' On" July issue, in Japan. i think these interviews are very meaningfull which contain important statements of members when we try to understand this album. So, i'm going to review the album picking up the statements whenever necessary. But you ought to understand these statements are "re-tralslated" by mine-D because i have no clue to know "original" English spoken statements. The articles on the magazine are written in only Japanese.

First of all, we should understand is RHCP made too many songs for this album. At the time before Anthony made up his melody with the songs, they had over 50 songs! We don't know how many songs have been given melodies and lyrics and how many songs have been recorded among them. Anyway, what this album is the "cut-off" of 16 songs from that "wide range." Among those songs which have not been included in the album, there were, according to FLEA, "more aggressive" tune, "harder" tune, "more sentimental" tune, "more cute" tune. The measure of sellecting songs was said to be "which Anthony thinks he wants to sing them or not." Consequently the tunes in this album tend to be very melodic. The status of Anthony's mind must be looking to "singing." We may say his "singing" tendency was embodied as a work of this album.

The most characteristic point of this album is... John Frusciante. As you can notice when you listen to this, John's role in this session is not limited to the song writing, guitar play, but far more like multi track recorded chorus, keyboards, synthesizers... Generally his taste was widely featured. But i think it doesn't mean this album is the work that John's ego just showed up. Like John himself said.

And for me, most important thing is to understand the chemistry of the band as a unit, and how to shape it up.

So, it was not that I behaved selfish, like trying to make this album my solo-project, putting my long guitar solo into every song.

If i express the taste of the sound, it must be "The Beatles." Needless to mention to "I Could Die For You," "Warm Tape," "Tear," which relatively tell the influence of The Beatles straightly, i think whole of this album's impression reminds me of The Beatles. Personally, not only sound aspect, their method to make an album is similar to each other. In spite of putting a variety of musical elements, finally they gather them and put them ito a touch of "beauty." Like FLEA says "The core of this album was beauty. most of all songs included in this album are beautiful. Melody, code changing, the only word to describe this album is beauty." i feel same way.

From the time this album was released, i have benn keeping to check the evaluations of this work on the net. The most interesting thing is their evaluations separated into likes and dislikes strictly. Among them of dislikes, i hear the opinion like "completely disappointed." Of course, how evaluate the work depends on each person's sensibility. Because there are a variety of life and a variety of philosophy and a variety of sensibility, no wonder there's some people who don't even need this album now. But, the point i just can't understand is most of all people who dislike this album must have listened "Californication" before. i strongly think what is expressed in this album succeedes the world of musical, lyrical tastes for sure. Furthermore, this succeedes something from "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" which were made by same members. For me, "By The Way" is the evolution form from "Californication." i felt some tunes in that work were somehow unsatisfied, but now in this album, most of all tunes are "completed" i feel. This could be backed up by John's comment below.

I hadn't been playing guitars for several years before we started to write songs for that album(Californication), so at the time of starting the making of album, my skill as a guitar player was terribly low. Just playing the guitar was all to me. So, it was impossible to add Melotron, synthesizer, backing vocals and so on at that recording.

Personally speaking, strangely enough, the taste of music of this work was going into me without objection. This changing of music style must be a "necessity" for them and oppositely speaking, i would even say this album would not have no choice to be like this sound.

In the review of "Blood Sugar Sex Magik," considering that work as their master piece, i told like this. "Even the quality of next album(this aims at BTW) would be quite excellent, it should be discussed in alternative phase from this piece, BSSM."Just as i said, this album came up as a master piece as great as "BSSM" in a different phase. Of course, we can not easily compare these two albums because the taste of music, atmosphere of both works are different. But, in terms of the energy that the work has, in terms of its high degree of accomplishment, this album "By The Way" is a really master piece as great as BSSM.

If we measure the degree of strongness or energy of songs themselves and ignore the surface changing of musicality, style, we could say the degrees of strongness or energy of these songs included in this album are, very TIGHT. It means the degree of strongness of this album is tight, and it means the degree of strongness of this band now is tight. This album is far beyond of all coordinate concepts like hard/mellow, funk/pop, rap/sing... Any of categorization makes no sense in front of this album, this band now. If pressed i would say the music which they are doing now is categorized as "Red Hot Chili Peppers."

But. For me, it is not that my attachment to their funkiness disappeared easily before i listened to this album. i know there's many arguments about RHCP's changing of musicality on the net. Some old fans say RHCP sucks because they became pop and mellow, left behind the people who have been loving funk, punk aspect of this band... Actually, the meaning of funkiness was huge to the band at the time i became their fan and their musicality almost equaled to funk. i was tought by this band about funk music, how funk music is great. Through RHCP, i started to follow funk musicians and band such as, James Brown, Sly & The Familystone, needless to say P-Funk.

So i kind of suspended the evaluation to "Californication." i felt i understood the new style of musicality, but i still felt something understandable. Getting melodious is OK, i like it, but concerning some of the songs in CAL, i could not understand why they had to sound these sounds now. Why do they play these songs after reaching to the "top" in a sense in that great BSSM? So, i was thinking of retirement of being a fan if this album "By The Way" would be the one that i can't agree. i think this is very natural decision, think it's not natural if i keep being their fan in spite of that i can't agree what they are doing. i thought i wanted them to keep playing hard and funky tunes if they play unsatisfactory ballads. Then, as a result, RHCP made this album with incredible accomplishment pursueing their melodic tastes. They blew out my tiny sticking to hardness, funkiness. i was completely forced to surrender my stincking in front of this sound.

Plus, i, personally don't think this album is not funky. Of course, if you compare this with "Mother's Milk," the amount of funkiness that showed in surface is different. but, as i repeatedly say the funkiness to this band is not only the one which appear on the surface understandably. It's more deeper, it has already been digested by them and it already could be their way to live. Only the sound we are listening is not all. If you say FLEA's slap bass play is the funky, remember BSSM. He tried to quit the slap-bass style once. How was the album we got as a result? Don't you think that work was full of funkiness? The most important thing is not "style." You can see same thing in this album "By The Way." Even if they are pop and mellow songs, can't you feel funkiness on those songs? i can't help feeling all songs included in this work, "funky groove" surely.

Anyway, we have to admit this band grew enormously in this album. Here, they are consciously free, they seem not to have to stick to anything. It means they are free from their public images which name is "Red Hot Chili Peppers"that already been fixed. They've already gone far beyond the concept like being funky, hardcore, macho, crazy... Therefore, they can show different taste songs from their former works, like "Universally Speaking," "Cabron" in front of the fans with confidence. It means they grew up to the degree that they can fight only with the fact that "They are just what they are."

Everyone knows Anything goes
We are the lotus kids
Better take note of this
For the story
--"Midnight"

Back to April 2002, in some BBS on the net, someone leaked the album title and titles of the songs included. At that time the title was called "Wolverine (This Is Your Place)." Of course, that information could be a false rumor, but considering the leaked song titles such as Don't Forget, Fortune Faded, Universally Speaking, Television, Dosed, Minor Thing, Warm Tape, By The Way, Wolverine This Is Your Place, If You Have To Ask 2, Royal Blues, Funk For Junkies, that rumor's credibility was rather high, i think. As a result, the title went "By The Way," and "This Is Your Place" went "This Is The Place" but at least it must be true "Wolverine" was once considered as a title of this album. Wolverine means a kind of animals found in the northan parts of North America and also has a meaning of the people from the state of Michigan. As you may know, Anthony Kiedis was born in Michigan. i thought the story like this. After hardly fighting with West Coast culture and being defeated, the place where they should go back could be the birthplace. The car, in the "Scar Tissue" video clip, drove to the place of peace on mind...because this flow of the story seemed to convince me. "This is the place you were born, This is the place where you can lay your soul down, THIS IS YOUR PLACE." This, is the story i imagined before this album was released.

But. See the lyric of "This Is The Place." "The Place" which is refered to is obviously California.

On the day my best friend died
I could not get my copper clean

"clean one's copper" is obscure expression, but it could aim Anthony himself who couldn't quit drugs after losing Hillel by heroin overdoze. California, Los Angeles, Hollywood... the place they have to call the "unfortunate" place now...Even though, they chose to live in there, to keep on singing about the place. Still more, in "The Zephyr Song" lyric goes on like this,

Fly away on my zephyr I feel it more than ever
And in this perfect weather We'll find a place together

Anthony tells like this.

In Los Angeles there's a wind called "Santa Ana Wind" which blows from desert. The wind is warm, has electricity, and poisonous. So, they say when Santa Ana Wind blows the people in Los Angeles get mad, get happy, fall in love, and are reborn. This is the song about that wind.

Here, "a place" which is sang as "We'll find" means, in contrast to "the place" of "This Is The Place" which i mentioned before, imaginary and ideal place. Means the place where someday they will find. The chorus part of "The Zephyr Song" is sang with really refreshing feeling of melody. This could mean they got toughness through the relationship and friendship between members and that toughness is to face the place of California, which is unfortunate place full of madness .

A guy, one of my friends, who i met throuth the net left this kind of message on my BBS the day he bought this album.

I'd really like to say thank you! to this site and the people who I met in this site. If I were not come here and were not talk to you guys around here, I, "heavy rock crazy guy" could say "Hey! This is not the Chili Peppers' album!" I want to be proud of myself because I could naturally be impressed deeply by this album.

i also had a same feeling when i firstly listened to this album. Spending about 2 years after i started my own site, i met a variety of people. They affected me, they made me think about many things, they mede me laugh sometimes, and they made me grow up. Of course, in the real world, the incidents around me made me grow up somehow.

Flea talks about recent Anthony like below.

...on the other hand, from before i didn't like Anthony's presonality of cold-hearted, selfish side. But, I can only tell you because I have been with him for a long time, he recently grew up so much as a human being. He became a person who is gentle, helpfull, willingly give someone something, became a person who can think about not only himself, but also the people surrounding him...(omission)... And i feel he became a person who can believe love ultimately.

i remember 13 years ago, when i became the fan of this band. The time i was listening "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan" and "Mother's Milk" real time. i, was escaping from facing myself by posing as a fan of this kind of "rare" band. i tried to make people around me think i'm cool as a person who know "not so famous, crazy, bizarre band" by asking them "Do you know the band called Red Hot Chili Peppers?" i seriously thought members were insane and i hoped them to be so. i supported the band just because they're crazy, and there's no love to the band... i have been thinking that way for a long time till recent. But, this is what i thought when i listened to BSSM first and further more i became to think during i listened to this album BTW, my choice was...not a wrong choice at all. Living day by day feeling of wrongness with everything, holding a fragile ego, i had no feeling of love to myself, everyone, everything. Though i didn't notice, but the sign of love existed on those days surely. Now i'm in mood to want to affirm myself of those days.

i'm proud of myself now because i learned the joy of the givingness and i don't hesitate to use the word "love" any more. i never expected this feeling. After coming long way, i sincerely want to thank the people who lead me to this state of mind such as, the band named Red Hot Chili Peppers, all the people who i met through "mine-D's SPICE!," my family. i really thank all of you. i love you.