Pros: Eighteen classic RHCP tunes from their early and mid years...
Cons: Not a COMPLETE retrospective, may frighten fan of the "new" RHCP...
The Bottom Line: Are you a fan of early, mid-career, or more recent RHCP material? What Hits? is an important and necessary addition to any fan's collection.
lambchops's Full Review: What Hits!? by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Kids today have little if any idea about the Red Hot Chili Peppers of fifteen or twenty years ago. The California band began as a group of funk-rocking miscreants. In the last six or seven years, RHCP has turned into elder statesmen and almost entirely sloughed their former (and in my opinion superior) persona and style. In fact, I am entirely bored of the whole Californication/By the Way version of the band.
What Hits? (1992, EMI) is a necessary album for anybody unfamiliar with early RHCP. It is by no means a complete retrospective, but with eighteen songs it is a fair representation of the formerly rowdy and completely entertaining foursome before they grew up and/or sold out (depending on your perspective). What Hits? lends a little perspective to an illustrious career.
I stumbled upon RHCP during the Mother's Milk era (1989). This album came about during a major time of upheaval. Founding member and guitarist Hillel Slovak died of a heroin overdose in June 1988 and more-often-than-not drummer Jack Irons left the band shortly thereafter. This left vocalist Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea (aka Michael Balzary) with something of a dilemma and in turn resulted in hiring John Frusciante (guitarist) and Chad Smith (drums).
RHCP's career is easily divided into three periods. The first spans from 1983 through 1988 and is characterized by the band's distinctive funk sound, wild stories of debauchery, and an affinity for strategically placed socks. The second era is from 1989 through 1996 and is also the band's most critically and creatively successful mostly because of 1991's outstanding and classic Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The most recent era is from 1998 (yes, I'm forgetting a year) through today and is the band's most mainstream with teenyboppers everywhere entirely forgetting the band as they were--a fact that annoys me to no end and has spurred my renewed interest in What Hits?.
Combining all of the first era and half of the second, this album is diverse to say the very least. It is easy to see where they came from and where they may have been going at the time of its release. I can help but feel a sense of loss for what used to be--RHCP had a creative verve and energy that is exceptionally rare in music. In addition, despite Kiedis' limited vocal range he is a talented performer and songwriter (plus, it is important to mention his long-haired and rebellious and youthful good looks). What Hits? is an important album as it allows listeners to sample those early funk songs without having to also suffer through the drug-induced romps and absolutely painful and inaccessible tracks. It functions at least as well as any greatest hits collection and came at a strategically perfect time for new fans gained at the release of Mother's Milk or Blood Sugar Sex Magik.
The songs on What Hits? are mostly grouped by album. There are some definite exceptions, but it all works together nicely with the handful of rearrangements. The album starts off with the stellar Higher Ground which along with Knock Me Down were the centerpiece of Mother's Milk. A cover of the Stevie Wonder song, it grinds and wails with anger and energy. Higher Ground is the kind of song that puts an album at the top of the charts and is the perfect opening to a compilation of this variety.
The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987) is the first album to get the What Hits? treatment. Four songs are included here--Fight Like A Brave, Behind the Sun, Me & My Friends, and Backwoods. They are strong offerings, though it is Fight Like a Brave and Me & My Friends that really catch my attention. A keen mix of early RHCP (with the funk) and the melodic mid-career RHCP they are great songs. Though, I don't want to leave the others out. All four included tracks are offerings well worth more than a little reflection.
Also well represented are albums Mother's Milk and Freaky Styley. A few offerings from the band's eponymous 1984 debut are here in addition to one only available otherwise on the Pretty Woman Soundtrack and one from the then-new Blood Sugar Sex Magik. In fact, it is that latter song that is least like the others on What Hits?. Under the Bridge is an unlikely selection, but it must have been clear how popular it would be from the moment it was written. It tells the autobiographical story of Kiedis and his struggle with drugs. It's a lovely, emotional, and honest song that is quite unlike anything fans of the band at the time would have ever expected.
The 1984 debut wasn't an entirely even release. It failed to capture the band's energy, but with that said live energy doesn't translate well to studio releases (ask completely musically unrelated band Phish about this). Songs Get Up and Jump and True Men Don't Kill Coyotes are the only two on this compilation. They represent the best of the album. The former is a groove-ridden classic while the bombastic latter song was an anthem for early fans of RHCP. Freaky Styley was a much more appealing early-era album. The 1985 release was produced by George Clinton (P-Funk) and is the band's most realized funkarific vision. Songs If You Want Me To Stay, Hollywood, Jungle Man, The Brothers Cup, and Catholic School Girls Rule are collected here.
Pretty Woman's Show Me Your Soul is better here than in the context of the soundtrack. If you want that song in your musical collection, may I suggest a purchase of What Hits? rather than subjecting yourself to another inconsistent and strange soundtrack collection. The punk-funk-rock selection is fabulous and ranks among the best of that mini-genre on this album. Outside of Higher Ground and Knock Me Down, there are a bunch of other songs from Mother's Milk. Fire, Taste The Pain, Johnny Kick A Hole In The Sky are also here. Both Fire and Taste The Pain are outstanding and personally appealing songs, though many folks will prefer the bravado of Johnny Kick A Hole In The Sky.
What Hits? is a relatively comprehensive and completely likeable collection. I can't recommend it enough to fans of RHCP of all kinds. If you liked them early on, you probably already own those albums though it is nice to see them all in one place. Fans of mid-career RHCP will see this as a primer for Mother's Milk and Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Finally and most importantly, people unacquainted with the REAL Red Hot Chili Peppers who concentrate their attention on the boring/underwhelming/uncreative Californication or Scar Tissue need this album as a history lesson. I personally adore What Hits? as a member of the mid-career fan club. If you don't have it and like RHCP, it's about damn time you pick it up.
Rating: 5/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Higher Ground [Mother's Milk, 1989]
02. Fight Like A Brave [The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, 1987]
03. Behind The Sun [The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, 1987]
04. Me & My Friends [The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, 1987]
05. Backwoods [The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, 1987]
06. True Men Don't Kill Coyotes [Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1984]
07. Fire [Mother's Milk, 1989]
08. Get Up And Jump [Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1984]
09. Knock Me Down [Mother's Milk, 1989]
10. Under The Bridge [Blood Sugar Sex Magik, 1991]
11. Show Me Your Soul [Pretty Woman Soundtrack, 1990]
12. If You Want Me To Stay [Freaky Styley, 1985]
13. Hollywood [Freaky Styley, 1985]
14. Jungle Man [Freaky Styley, 1985]
15. Brothers Cup, The [Freaky Styley, 1985]
16. Taste The Pain [Mother's Milk, 1989]
17. Catholic School Girls Rule [Freaky Styley, 1985]
18. Johnny Kick A Hole In The Sky [Mother's Milk, 1989]
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