Author: Jernej Vene
Artist: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Released: 2006
Stadium Arcadium is an ambitious project that RHCP pulled off after all, much to the surprise of critics and fans alike. The record came out in May 2006, and within a month of release it sold a million copies in Europe. To date, it has sold six million worldwide. Why the surprise over a double studio album? As singer Anthony Kiedis revealed, Stadium Arcadium was supposed to come out as a trilogy, with each record landing six months apart. In the end it dropped as a double album in early May, packing 28 new songs. It’s also the first double album in RHCP history. According to Anthony Kiedis, the band plans to release ten tracks that were recorded during the sessions but never made the cut, and they’ll only be offered through select stores. As has happened a lot in recent years, Stadium Arcadium got fans hyped online about a week before release, courtesy of a leak. Pirates never rest, after all. Maybe the Album of the Year 2006 award from the MTV music awards will help make up for it. Stadium Arcadium is an ambitious work by seasoned musicians, grown men who used the record to dig into relationships between people. Those relationships touch on the work they love – in their case, making music. RHCP will pull as many as seven singles off the double album Stadium Arcadium, which will undoubtedly cement their status. Dani California is a song about the girl Dani, who already showed up in By the Way and Californication. Kiedis says Dani embodies all the girls who have known him really well over the years. Just like on By the Way, they went with heavy sound compression in the mastering process on Stadium Arcadium too. For the vinyl release, though, they did a special mastering job that gave the music back some badly needed warmth and dynamics. Stadium Arcadium is a bold move, considering how people now download individual songs online and the CD is slowly dying out. In RHCP’s case, there may even be a parallel with Blood Sugar Sex Magik, which came out in 1991, right when the CD was beating vinyl. Anthony Kiedis wrote plenty of songs on Stadium Arcadium that get stuck in your ear fast and, as a result, in your subconscious. The tracks they’ll push from the record include Tell Me Baby, Snow (Hey Oh), Hump de Bump and surely a few more, maybe Stadium Arcadium, Death of a Martian and Animal Bar. Stadium Arcadium has sunny melodies, funky joy and ballads. Production was in the hands of Rick Rubin, a seasoned producer who did a solid job. That said, the sheer number of songs may be more of a millstone than an advantage for a band that certainly doesn’t need to prove anything. But when an artist gets the chance to say everything they want to say, they take it as far as it goes, which doesn’t always mean the result is good. Despite the huge volume, RHCP still managed to keep up the quality they’ve been known for over so many years on Stadium Arcadium.
Lineup
Anthony Kiedis – vocals
John Frusciante – guitars, backing vocals, keyboards
Flea (Michael Balzary) – bass, trumpet
Chad Smith – drums
Production
Rick Rubin
Tracklist
Disc 1: Jupiter
“Dani California” – 4:43
“Snow ((Hey Oh))” – 5:35
“Charlie” – 4:37
“Stadium Arcadium” – 5:15
“Hump de Bump” – 3:33
“She’s Only 18” – 3:25
“Slow Cheetah” – 5:19
“Torture Me” – 3:44
“Strip My Mind” – 4:19
“Especially in Michigan” – 4:00
“Warlocks” – 3:24
“C’mon Girl” – 3:48
“Wet Sand” – 5:09
“Hey” – 5:39
Disc 2: Mars
“Desecration Smile” – 5:02
“Tell Me Baby” – 4:07
“Hard to Concentrate” – 4:02
“21st Century” – 4:22
“She Looks to Me” – 4:06
“Readymade” – 4:30
“If” – 2:52
“Make You Feel Better” – 3:51
“Animal Bar” – 5:25
“So Much I” – 3:44
“Storm in a Teacup” – 3:45
“We Believe” – 3:36
“Turn It Again” – 6:06
“Death of a Martian” – 4:24
