The Red Hot Chili Peppers
Anyone with a taste for the Chili Peppers knows what to expect from this perky foursome: muscular chunks of punk-funk and an occasional barrage of four-letter words. And by now the Peppers can deliver these goods in their sleep—which is unfortunately what they seem to be doing on their latest album. Sure, the guys try out some choirlike harmonies on "Deep Kick," and they add touches of sludgy grunge to the title song, but they don't bother coming up with anything nearly as novel as those giant lightbulbs they wore over their heads at Woodstock '94.
What a shame. Though it has taken the Chili Peppers four years to follow up 1991's triple-platinum Blood Sugar Sex Magik, they still sound as if they left the studio too soon. Tunes like "Warped" and "Pea," all frayed edges and mazy meandering, sound underwritten, like outtakes from the last album. And front man Anthony Kiedis might be one of the sexiest men in rock, but even he can't redeem drivel like "Meet me at the coffee shop/We can dance like Iggy Pop." Still, you gotta give the Peppers credit for accuracy: They promise One Hot Minute and offer little more. (Warner Bros.)
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