![]() Of course, the album as a whole was also a triumph. Number One, and ramping up excitement for the full LP. ![]() Like any good single, it was a pure hype generator, with its anthemic alt.rock chorus and groove-ridden verses ensuring it spent 14 weeks as U.S. It was a good thing, too – because what followed has proven an era-defining album in their history.Ī month before the album’s arrival, the title-track was shared, sending shockwaves through the Chili Peppers fandom and music fans alike. Ultimately, peace-restoring conversations cleared the air on their rocky relationship. With his voice losing its power within the band, the bassist even threatened to quit ahead of the By The Way tour, stating a desire to become a full-time music teacher instead. He was uncomfortable about abandoning the fun of funk in search of more mellow, melodic tracks and, with John in creative command and shunning the bassist’s ideas, Flea was reaching the end of his tether. Such was John’s heavy control over the record’s conception and lack of camaraderie, Flea felt alienated and even side-lined. Even in its production, he was cooking up the record’s core ingredients, directing the sound to fit the slicker, more clarified production alongside Rick Rubin, and refusing to be tied down by the success of their bluesier, funkier records like 1991’s Blood Sex Sugar Magik. Inspired by music from the ’60s and ’80s like The Beach Boys, The Beatles and Erasure, John felt for the first time that he wasn’t writing for a perceived idea of the ‘Red Hot Chili Peppers sound’, but instead creating “a Chili Peppers album that didn’t sound like a Chili Peppers album”. “It’s been a chance to just keep on writing better songs and improving my guitar playing.” “Like Californication, writing By The Way has been one of the happiest times in my life,” he told Total Guitar at the time. More confident than ever, the guitarist was priming himself to become the core driving force behind the Chilis’ planned new record. Having grown weary of the rigidity of sticking to the band’s funk roots, one member – John – sought musical exploration and, notably, a change. The year was 2001, and fresh off the back of the epic 16-month long Californication world tour and high on confidence off of their most successful album to date, the Los Angeles-based four-piece – Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith and John Frusciante – headed to Chateau Marmont, where they set up on the quiet seventh floor to begin penning ideas for what was to come next. And yet, two decades on, By The Way still stands tall as one of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ – and modern rock’s – most acclaimed records to date. Even more to the point, there aren’t many who would risk such a change knowing it could provoke not just a strong audience reaction, but intense internal conflict within the group itself. There aren’t too many artists who would be willing to change their sound on their eighth album.
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