Balarama Music

Frusciante Friday: John’s Peak Period

Jul 09

Doug2000s frusciante friday, john frusciante, red hot chili peppers 4 Comments

Yay! Another Frusciante Friday! I can’t really express the elation I feel being able to write these ones up…and that’s not sarcasm. Being completely honest, I once warned my fiancée that I would be “as giddy as a tween Jonas Brothers fan” when the new Frusciante album was released. And guess what? I didn’t disappoint. [Sigh] Let’s move on, shall we?

In all seriousness, I talk about John Frusciante a lot here in this blog. Quite honestly, he’s my favorite musician, but he’s also right up there with the best guitarists of all time, was part of one of the biggest bands ever (the best parts too), and is probably one of the most musically diverse artists out there. The man is a great musician – there’s no doubt about it – and with anything great, there’s always a peak period in their career/life. Athletes have it, television shows have it; hell, even some people’s relationship’s have them. Just like Shaq had his best run during the three-peat with the Lakers & Seinfeld shined bright popping Bubble Boy, John Frusciante had a peak period as well. Writing that though is a little cryptic; almost like I’m writing it as if he stopped making music or is making bad music now. No, he hasn’t “jumped the shark” by far and hopefully he has another peak period, but with his sporadic career thus far, Frusciante has really had one truly great peak period and obviously that’s what I’d like to talk about today.

From the recording of By The Way starting in November of 2001 until the tour for that album ended in June of 2004, there was not a better musician alive in the world than John Anthony Frusciante. Dead serious here. Now, let’s look at that time period and single out some stuff to signify his work. Obviously it started with the recording of By The Way and that album’s a testament to his peak period. The laid-back guitar work that proves that less is truly more (hear “Universally Speaking“), the serene background vocals that are more fun to sing too than the main vocals (hear “Dosed“), the intriguing compositional work that Flea said took artistry to a whole new level (hear “Midnight“); all some of the best traits of Frusciante are present on this record more than any others. With just a guitar and a few oohs and aahs, he became the true star of the band in the most unselfish way possible as everything he did was designed to enhance something else. The tour that followed was undisputable fact as to the skill level John was performing at. The album Live In Hyde Park, the DVD Live At Slane Castle, or any YouTube video of the band performing all show John at the height of his career. Elongating popular hits into unrecognizable jam sessions, delivering some of the best solos of all time (you have to hear this one), and belting out pristine vocals no longer hiding behind a sound collage. This work alone proves my point.

But of course, like any good argument, there’s more to back-up my point. Let’s look at his solo career. We have Shadows Collide With People, The Brown Bunny Soundtrack, The Will To Death, DC EP, Inside Of Emptiness, & Curtains. Hell, all of those were released in the time span of just a year. A year! Let that one sink in after you realize that some bands only release a new album every four years. You might think that with all that released in such a short time frame that it was just rushed and a little watered down. Erroneous! Erroneous on both counts! It easily contains some his best solo work ever. My favorite Frusciante song, and one of my favorite songs ever, comes from this period (read about it here). The music doesn’t even connect in actuality. Shadows Collide With People is his attempt at sonic perfections (hear “Carvel“), The Brown Bunny is lo-fi divinity (hear “Dying Song“), The Will To Death was a minimalist’s love affair (hear “Unchanging“), DC EP stripped him of his beloved synthesizer (hear “A Corner“), Inside Of Emptiness was his tribute to true rock and roll (hear “Look On“), and Curtains was his acoustic album (hear “The Past Recedes“). All of it different, yet still great.

And we’re not done yet! Collaborations? He had them in spades with all different genres. He had his side-band Ataxia formed with current-RHCP guitarist Josh Klinghoffer and Fugazi’s bassist Joe Lally which merged experimental, progressive, & jam rock into a forty minute trance (hear “The Sides“). He had an electronic album release with Klinghoffer that would ignite the techno world on fire if released to radios (hear “The Afterglow“). Oh, both of those albums were released in the same time frame as the six above pushing the count to eight releases in a year. He laid blues & country guitar-work down for Johnny Cash on his amazing covers of Heart Of Gold” & “Personal Jesus.” He joined in on the epic soundscape remix of David Bowie’s “Bring Me The Disco King.” He played on perhaps the best Mars Volta song ever in “Cicatriz ESP.” Mars Voltan Omar Rodriguez-Lopez even recorded some work with him. Finally, Ziggy Marley, Ekkehard Ehlers, and more boasted his help during this period too. Not one to sit still, huh?

Phew, lot of typing. I supplied a lot of links in the paragraphs above. Check them out – trust me, they’re great and only back up my argument more. John was just on fire in this time period and I can’t stress the musical greatness of it all. Had John wanted more of a commercial return on the music, I could easily predict a wave of musicians being influenced by his work. However, seeing as how Captain Beefhart received no mainstream attention and influenced hundreds of artists; hopefully we’ll see the weight of Frusciante’s work pushing into decades to come. Check out those links above or allow me to tell you about one his greatest songs from this period.

I said it all started with By The Way and I’m not kidding. There are so many key tracks on that album not only for Frusciante himself, but for the band itself. Perhaps the stand-out track on the album for Frusciante’s greatness comes at the very end with the two-part masterpiece “Venice Queen.” Anthony Kiedis wrote the lyrics to the song about his former drug counselor Gloria Scott after she passed away from cancer. For all her help & guidance, Kieids always remained close friends with her and even bought her a house at Venice Beach. Despite the touching memorial to a fallen friend (in some of his best lyrical work too), Frusciante shines bright in the song. The opening melody plays out so straightforward yet is quickly made haunting by the wrapping synthesizer work in the background. As Anthony comes in with the lyrics, it’s the soothing background vocals that even out the eerie serenity of the music. Part one wraps up and part two breaks down: Frusciante’s intricate work spans multiple guitar parts (two, three, or maybe even four?) that do so only for the sake of adding to the atmosphere. While it’s not at the forefront, it builds up perfectly as Kiedis comes right back in. But after his first verse, the true star shines again as Frusciante’s mournful vocalizations in the background steal the show at least for this listener. Every time I listen to the song, I always begin to sing a long to Kiedis’ part by default, but after maybe thirty seconds, I’m pulled into the reverie of Frusciante’s vocals and I’m enjoying myself far more. God, I could really go on and on about this song for another page, but I’ve talked you guys up enough. Check out this song – believe you me, it’s worth the time.

Song: Venice Queen
Artist: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Album: By The Way
Year: 2002

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