New Red Hot Chili Peppers album in 2019! Also My Personal Worst to Best of RHCP Discography

In early 2017, Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis released an announcement during an interview that the band would release a twelfth studio album. The band is shooting to work with Danger Mouse as their producer, who was responsible for the production and co-writing of their eleventh studio album, The Getaway. Kiedis then followed up with an announcement on September 11, 2018 that they have begun work on their new album, and that it would be released in 2019.

Red Hot Chili Peppers is my favorite band of all time. They’ve just been with me for so long that their music has shaped who I am as a person. Each album embodies a time in my life, and each song holds a different emotion for me. When I listen to “Dosed” or “Slow Cheetah”, I can recall exactly how I felt when I heard the song the first time. It makes me ecstatic knowing that another album will be released soon.

In celebration of the production of another RHCP album release, the following is my personal list of Red Hot Chili Peppers albums from worst to best.

1.) Red Hot Chili Peppers

The self named Red Hot Chili Peppers begins brashly and full of its funk. This album is in your face. If I can say one thing about this album, it would be it that it’s not afraid to be loud. This album is representative of the time of release, with a lot of west coast funk and rock bands emerging, just in their early days. The Chili Peppers were still playing around small venues around L.A. during its release and its honesty is here. Definitely a great album, but its production is somewhat lacking and the Chili Peppers do not stand out with their own voice yet. Each song blends together somewhat. My favorite song on this album is “Get Up and Jump”, followed by “True Men Don’t Kill Coyotes”. This album takes me back to when I first got back from Active Duty training in the Navy and I went to community college for the first time. (Kind of lame, I know)

2.)The Uplift Mofo Party Plan

The Uplift Mofo Party Plan has a lot of standout songs, but the overall tone of the album is very similar to their first album. The overall sound of the album is way too loud for me (even for a RHCP album). During the album’s recording, Kiedis was actually asked to leave the band to undergo drug rehab, and upon his return, wrote the lead single, “Fight Like a Brave”. Slovak’s guitar is great here, and it is cleaner than Jack Sherman from the first album. I don’t have too much to say about this album other than it is more of the same, but do not confuse this for being a bad thing. My favorite song on this album is “Special Secret Sauce Inside” (one my favorite RHCP songs in general) and my second would be “Behind The Sun”.

3.)One Hot Minute

I’m going to get a lot of flak for putting One Hot Minute in front of Uplift, but I don’t care. Due to Dave Navarro’s guitar style in One Hot Minute, some fans have called this era of the band as Red Hot Jane’s Addiction. Ultimately, the overall atmosphere of the album is cynical; more so than the releases before and after it. This album takes quite a departure from traditional RHCP and many fans are divided regarding their take on the album. I actually enjoy the different sound of this album, and I think that it gets a bad rap for deriving more from metal than funk. My favorite song on the album is “Tearjearker”, with a close second and third from “Shallow Be Thy Game” and the hit single “Aeroplane”. I listened to this album all of the summer of 2017, going into my Freshman year at UIC. A lot of new emotions for me at the time.

4.)The Getaway

The most recent Chili Peppers album, I feel that the energy is very low in this album, especially for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Low energy is not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case, I feel that the songs are a bit lacking and too low-key for me. Despite all of that, Klinghoffer’s guitar is spot on (by the way, he’s the youngest member to be inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame) and there are definitely some standout songs. My favorite song is “Sick Love” and another good one is “Feasting on the Flowers”.

5.)Mother’s Milk

Is it just me, or does this album sound like it should be featured in an episode of Dragon Ball Z? Jokes aside, this is probably the fastest and most hyper albums of all RHCP. Overall, this album gets me pumped up with the incredible guitar artistry from John Frusciante, and the solid and stalwart drumming by Chad Smith. A lot of people would say that Blood Sugar Sex Magik is where the RHCP took off in a mainstream status, but I would argue that Mother’s Milk put them on the radar for exposure. My favorite songs on this album is “Pretty Little Ditty”, “Knock Me Down”, “Subway to Venus”, and “Sexy Mexican Maid”. I couldn’t make my mind up for many of these songs.

6.)Freaky Styley

This album, in my opinion, is the best old-school style RHCP. The funk is great here and the production from George Clinton is done very well. I think it embodies the funk roots that RHCP has come from the most out of any album, and it doesn’t shy away to go all out with this. A lot of the songs have some funny backstories (“Catholic School Girls Rule” may be self explanatory) and the tone of the album is just so much fun. I want to get up and dance every time I hear anything from this album. My favorite songs from this album are “Hollywood” and “The Brother’s Cup”, and “American Ghost Dance”. This album takes me back to my senior year of high school, fall semester. I just had purchased the “What Hits?” CD of RHCP which features a lot of songs from Freaky Styley.

7.)Californication

Now we’re delving into the really good stuff. Californication is arguably the most well known RHCP album. It’s also the most commercially successful album, selling 15 million units to this day. If you didn’t think that RHCP mentions California enough in previous albums, get ready for an album literally all about California. The sound on this album range from temperate to tropical. This is a very “poppy” album, but it is nevertheless a deep and provocative release. My favorite songs from this album is “Scar Tissue” (my second favorite RHCP song), “Savior”, and “Purple Stain”.

8.)I’m With You

One of the more recent albums, this is the first RHCP release to feature Josh Klinghoffer, who I have mentioned before. This album has a few similarities to the themes of One Hot Minute, but the overall sound of the album is much lighter and more rock oriented. This is subtle RHCP, far taken away from their garageband-esque roots, but in a good way. A few good tracks on this one is “Police Station”, “Meet me at the Corner”, and “Look Around”. The summers of Junior and Senior year, I used to work at a summer camp up in Wisconsin, and I would play through this album constantly.

9.)Blood Sugar Sex Magik

By fans and critics alike, this is usually regarded as the best Red Hot Chili Peppers album. I wholeheartedly agree. Then what is it doing at #9??? Yes, I do think this is the best the RHCP has ever sounded, balancing funk and rock in one single swoop. It’s one of the best albums in general of the past few decades and it is very influential in its own right. I personally adore this album, but I would not say it is my favorite. Let’s be clear; every song on this album is excellent, some more than others. My favorite tracks on this one is the titular “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”, “Breaking The Girl”, and “Castles Made of Sand” (which is a bonus track). This album reminds me of 8th grade, right after I found out about RHCP. That was a really developing moment for myself; after I heard them for the first time, I knew I was in love.

10.)Stadium Arcadium

This album is a double dose of RHCP, being a double album. Ironically enough, the band was preparing to make a shorter, digestible for Stadium Arcadium, but instead they ended up making their longest album to date, with 28 songs total. This is very standard RHCP, and I do not mean that in a bad way. It’s very rock, with only hints of funk. If you listen to this album, you’ll be enraptured in it until the very end. The songs blend together and do not at the same time. Kiedis, Smith, Frusciante, and Flea just absolutely kill it twice over. My favorite songs from the first half is “Slow Cheetah”, “Wet Sand”, and “Charlie”. My favorite tracks from the second is “Desecration Smile”, “Hard To Concentrate”, and “Turn It Again”.

11.)By The Way

This album represents so much for me. It evokes feelings of love, passion, exploration, and warmth. This album is definitely softer RHCP, but Frusciante holds dominion over this, and his guitar just paints such a gorgeous album. I love the lyricism in this album, the extra guitars, as well as Flea’s bass and Chad’s drumming. Hell, I love everything about this album. This brings me back to Junior year of high school; so many changes were going on in my life during those moments, both good and bad, and this album was with me the entire way. My favorite songs on this album is “Dosed” (my favorite RHCP song of all time), “Bicycle Song” (this is a bonus track), “Minor Thing”, and “Warm Tape”.