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Which Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Album is Their Best?

Which is their best album?

  • By the Way

  • Freaked Styley

  • Uplift Mofo Party Plan

  • Mothers Milk

  • Blood Sugar Sex Majik

  • Stadium Arcadium

  • Californication

Results are only viewable after voting.
Travo

Travo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,580
South Carolina
It's gotta be Blood Sugar Sex Magik for me. From the opening song, Power of Equality, which still resonates just as much today as it did thirty years ago. The backend of the album is almost as good leading with Under the Bridge, possibly the greatest song in their catalog. So many great hits, Give it Away, Under the Bridge, Breaking the Girl, Suck my Kiss. John Frusciante's guitar playing is the star. He seamlessly blends metal with funk. I mean he's on another level here. Anthony Keidis' lyrics felt so personal, maybe a little too sexual at times, but still great.

I only had so many poll choices so chime in if I left your favorite out.
 
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Browser

Browser

Member
Apr 13, 2019
2,031
I voted californication because it was a part of my teenage years, but blood sugar is a very close second.
 
andrew

andrew

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,906
The only one I can honestly put is By The Way, which was one of the first handful of CDs I bought for myself. I remember listening to it on my walkman while waiting outside in the hallway to go back into my 5th grade classroom. could probably still sing most of Zephyr Song and Can't Stop.

Weirdly I haven't listened to a ton of RHCP otherwise, just the major albums. Oh and The Getaway, surprisingly decent! I also saw them a couple years ago and they were a fun time. One of the only actual arena shows I've been to and they owned it. Klinghoffer did a great velvet underground cover as an intermission. But other than By The Way I've never had a close relationship with the other albums. I've listened to BSSM a little bit lately though, might do an RHCP deep dive.

I should probably also listen to a bunch of Frusciante, who I've read was the animating force behind By the Way.
 
HustleBun

HustleBun

Member
Nov 12, 2017
6,076
Travo said:
I only had so many poll choices so chime in if I left your favorite out.
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If you want to have a good faith poll, you might want to include One Hot Minute.

I know a lot of people have a bias against it and I totally get why. It feels really different due to the change in lineup but it's pretty beloved nowadays by vocal group of their fans. I've seen many people rank it as their favorite. You're going to see a lot of responses in this thread asking where it is. Way more than FS or Mother's Milk.

I would personally rank BSSM is their best album but I find myself returning to By The Way and Californication the most frequently.
 
Indy in the Fridge

Indy in the Fridge

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
15,278
My personal favorite is By the Way. It was a big departure from their normal sound albeit very similar to Californication. But it released at a pretty important time in my life and I listened to it daily for at least a year.

Objectively, BSSM is quintessential RHCP.
 
Game Fan

Game Fan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
990
Brazil
It's Californication for me. It was my introduction to RHCP so I have a special place for this album in my heart. But By the Way is a close second.
 
Smylie

Smylie

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,888
Oregon
Coneheads: Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack, because that's the album with their #1 best track ever.
 
OP
OP
Travo

Travo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,580
South Carolina
Sketch said:
If you want to have a good faith poll, you might want to include One Hot Minute.

I know a lot of people have a bias against it and I totally get why. It feels really different due to the change in lineup but it's pretty beloved nowadays by vocal group of their fans. I've seen many people rank it as their favorite. You're going to see a lot of responses in this thread asking where it is. Way more than FS or Mother's Milk.

I would personally rank BSSM is their best album but I find myself returning to By The Way and Californication the most frequently.
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I think I took it out to add Stadium Arcadium when I saw I was running out of poll options. Sorry.
 
PhelddaGriffey

PhelddaGriffey

Member
Jul 14, 2018
430
There is not a single filler track on BSSM. It's their only album I'd consider an all-time great. It's great that One Hot Minute is getting some love. I used to hear people say that Dave Navarro made the band lose the funk, but OHM had some wildly funky songs. It wasn't until Californication that they transitioned into just a really good pop-rock act.

Stadium Arcadium had some surprisingly strong new songs--Wet Sand and Turn It Again come to mind--but Froosh was really pulling all the weight at this point. And some tracks felt like a bunch of old dudes trying to prove they still had it. Hump de Bump and its ilk are fucking atrocities.

I never checked out The Getaway. John Frusciante is a mastermind and my interest in the band correlates almost exactly to his membership. Of the pre-John stuff, I remember Uplift Mofo Party Plan being the only one that was any good.
 
astro

astro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
56,944
Californication by far, imo. The best mix of their musicianship and the best song writing they've achieved.
 
collige

collige

Member
Oct 31, 2017
12,772
It's between BSSM and Californication, but I gotta give the edge to Californication both for nostalgia reasons as because the pacing is better. It's strikes a great balance between the funky and more melodic sides of the band while BSSM can get a little samey, especially given how long Sir Psycho Sexy is. It's a shame the mix is fucked up, but there's better versions of it out there.

Also, absolutely no one is gonna vote for Freakey Styley lol.
 
OP
OP
Travo

Travo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,580
South Carolina
collige said:
It's between BSSM and Californication, but I gotta give the edge to Californication both for nostalgia reasons as because the pacing is better. It's strikes a great balance between the funky and more melodic sides of the band while BSSM can get a little samey, especially given how long Sir Psycho Sexy is. It's a shame the mix is fucked up, but there's better versions of it out there.

Also, absolutely no one is gonna vote for Freakey Styley lol.
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Maybe I should redo the poll and take that one out and put OHM in its place. Can you edit a poll?
 

Deleted member 2145

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
29,223
freaky styley for sure. that and mother's milk are my jam, wasn't really a fan of where they went after those albums
 
Eegah

Eegah

Member
Oct 27, 2017
650
Blood Sugar Sex Magic
One Hot Minute
Californication [unmastered]

These are clearly the three best. Picking just one depends on my mood and which I heard last. Right now, probably OHM.
 
jstevenson

jstevenson

Developer at Insomniac Games
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
2,042
Burbank CA
I go Californication but I can't blame BSSM folks.

BTW and SA are also great.

Very curious what a new album with JF back could be like. Live shows with Flea + Frus were absolutely insane.
 

Deleted member 44129

User requested account closure
Banned
May 29, 2018
7,690
I'm not a big fan of the them. I like them. But for me it's One Hot Minute because it's the only album I've properly paid any attention to because my brother is a big fan, and I learnt to play "Pea" badly on the guitar. Aeroplane is ace. Oh, and walkabout. So yeah, it's not a topic I'm very knowledgable about, but the answer for me is One Hot Minute.
 
ShutterMunster

ShutterMunster

Art Manager
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
2,456
Going Californication, but I really dig late Frusciante RHCP. Dude really ascended on Stadium Arcadium, he's incredible on that album.

GTFOH with the One Hot Minute chatter, lmao.
 
StallionDan

StallionDan

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,705
Californication.

But I hate it. It was so overplayed on release. Every friends house I go to, they played it. Radio wouldn't stop with the singles. Every other TV advert used its music.

I liked it, but I can now never listen to it again.
 
TheSpaceBetween

TheSpaceBetween

Member
Jan 11, 2018
9,653
Californication for me. Yeah, it's poppier, but it's the only album of there's that's pretty solid from front to back.
 
andrew

andrew

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,906
StallionDan said:
Californication.

But I hate it. It was so overplayed on release. Every friends house I go to, they played it. Radio wouldn't stop with the singles. Every other TV advert used its music.

I liked it, but I can now never listen to it again.
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Hah I don't feel this way about the whole album, but I have that with a couple RHCP songs due to the alt rock station here. To this day "Scar Tissue" and "Under the Bridge" are played what feels like at least 10 times a week each.
bagomagik said:
Curtains is a good start. The Past Recedes was the first song I heard by him. I think anything he did in 2004 and The Empyrean are good places.
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cool I'll try Curtains.
 
Beef Supreme

Beef Supreme

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,073
Why is One Hot Minute not in your poll? Because it is by far their rawest and most experimental. Flea was just an animal on the bass. Above all, it was their best. I would love to see them do another CD with Navaro.
 
julian

julian

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,773
Surprised by all the One Hot Minute love. Never understood the hate it gets. Not that I'd vote for it as their best. That still goes to BSSM. A little surprised Stadium Arcadium is beating out By The Way. I loved By The Way and could barely get through Stadium Arcadium. It's just soooo long and for what feels like no good reason.
 
bigsnack

bigsnack

Member
May 9, 2018
213
Los Angeles
BSSM for me. I really loved Californication, but I burned out on it. I've actually listened to Blood Sugar more, but still enjoy it. It comes off as so raw and authentic, it's definitely a very specific moment in time captured on tape, as are a lot of the rock records of that time. The bass tone is insane on that album, it's never really been recreated since that recording either. Awesome!
 
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