Stadium Arcadium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Stadium Arcadium | |||||
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| Studio album by Red Hot Chili Peppers | |||||
| Released | May 5, 2006 (Europe) May 9, 2006 (U.S.) |
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| Recorded | March 2005–December 2005, The Mansion, Los Angeles, California | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | ||||
| Length | 122:34 | ||||
| Label | Warner Bros. | ||||
| Producer | Rick Rubin | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
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| Red Hot Chili Peppers chronology | |||||
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| Singles from Stadium Arcadium | |||||
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Stadium Arcadium is the ninth studio album by alternative rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on May 5, 2006 via Warner Bros. Records. It sold 442,000 copies in the U.S. in the first week and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.[1] The album spawned five hit singles: "Dani California", "Snow ((Hey Oh))", "Desecration Smile", "Hump De Bump", and "Tell Me Baby". According to the band's frontman Anthony Kiedis, Stadium Arcadium was originally scheduled to be a trilogy of albums each released six months apart, but was eventually condensed into a double album.[2]
Stadium Arcadium was critically praised for integrating musical styles from several aspects of the band's career.[3][4] The album gained the band seven Grammy Award nominations in 2007, the most nominations that the band had garnered in their 25-year career. Kiedis attributed the album's success to less abrasive dynamics within the band, saying that the band's "chemistry when it comes to writing is better than ever. There was always a struggle to dominate lyrically. But we are now confident enough in who we are, so everybody feels more comfortable contributing more and more valuable, quality stuff."[5]
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[edit] Background
After the release of their previous album, By the Way, the Red Hot Chili Peppers embarked on a world tour, which lasted from July 2002 to a mid-June 2004 date at London's Hyde Park.[6] The band later appeared at the 2004 Democratic National Convention[7] and at Rock am Ring to tie up their tour in support of By the Way. The band then settled down to begin recording their next album in September 2004 with producer Rick Rubin, with whom they had recorded four albums previously.[8]
The formation and recording of Stadium Arcadium took place at "The Mansion," the former home of Harry Houdini where the Chili Peppers had recorded their 1991 breakthrough Blood Sugar Sex Magik.[9] Given the house's reputation for being "haunted," guitarist John Frusciante recalled that he felt "there were beings of higher intelligence controlling what I was doing, and I didn’t know how to talk about it or explain it...it was very clear to me that the music was coming from somewhere other than me.[10] However, Kiedis noted that during the recording process of the album "everybody was in a good mood. There was very little tension, very little anxiety, very little weirdness going on and every day we showed up to this funky room in the Valley, and everyone felt more comfortable than ever bringing in their ideas."[11] The band originally wanted to create an "old-fashioned Meet the Beatles-like record," and to keep the number of songs down to about 13, to make "a small, digestible piece of art."[8] They ended up writing 38 new songs with Rubin, recording them all.
The musical style of the album combines many aspects of music from throughout the band's career, with many fans and critics welcoming the return of the band's signature funk sound after its significant absence from By the Way. It is also noted that John's playing style had changed from his signature 'less is more' style, inspired by punk and new wave guitarists to a more flashier approach, drawing influence from guitarists such as Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai. While he received moderate acclaim before Stadium Arcadium, this change in style gained him far more recognition than before. John also began utilizing layering in his guitar playing, which is something he had not done before (many layered guitar parts appeared on Mother's Milk, but this was mostly because of the insistence of the producer, although it was against John's will) and also used a modular synthesizer on many songs after doing so on his 2004 album Shadows Collide with People. While John was pleased to have used the modular synthesizer on the album, he admitted that when the band began rehearsing for the tour, it was very frustrating because many of the songs sounded very empty without it. This meant the band had to rework many of the songs in order to perform them live.
Kiedis recalled that the band "wanted to [release all 38 songs] on three separate discs that [would] be released in installments...something about those songs made us really like each one. However, by the time we planned to release the third installment in two years, we’ll be writing new music."[8] This was the impetus for the band to pare those songs down to 28, a process Kiedis described as "heartwrenching."[8] 9 out of the 10 unused songs have been released in some form or another (see section on B-sides below). He explained the reasoning behind the decision to name the album "Stadium Arcadium" by saying that it had more "variety and verve compared to its predecessors [and] we each have things we do best and it’s all in there. Everybody played their part and expressed their creativity to the max."[8]
[edit] Critical reaction
Stadium Arcadium has been met with generally favorable reviews, with Rolling Stone stating it the band's best album yet and rating it 4/5. Rolling Stone also declared it to be the second best album released in 2006, behind Bob Dylan. Q magazine said it was one of the year's best albums and rated it 5/5 whilst All Music Guide called it over-produced and self-indulgent and thus gave it 3.5/5. It has sold over 7 million copies worldwide to date and its first three singles reaching #1 (and staying there for at least 4 weeks) on the US Modern Rock chart.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
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Disc one: Jupiter
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Disc two: Mars
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[edit] B-sides
| Song | Length | Release(s) |
|---|---|---|
| "Million Miles of Water" | 4:06 | B-side of "Dani California" |
| "Whatever We Want" | 4:48 | |
| "Lately" | 2:55 | |
| "A Certain Someone" | 2:25 | B-side of "Tell Me Baby" |
| "Mercy Mercy" | 4:01 | |
| "Funny Face" | 4:46 | B-side of "Snow ((Hey Oh))" |
| "I'll Be Your Domino" | 3:57 | |
| "Joe" | 3:54 | B-side of "Desecration Smile" and "Hump de Bump" |
| "Save This Lady" | 4:17 |
[edit] Notable guest musicians
The late soul musician Billy Preston played the clavinet on "Warlocks", and Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta performed the guitar solo for "Especially In Michigan". Both Flea and Frusciante previously worked with Rodríguez-López on The Mars Volta albums De-loused in the Comatorium and Frances the Mute, Frusciante played a prominent role in their third album Amputechture and he more recently played on The Mars Volta's latest album The Bedlam In Goliath, while Rodríguez-López has played on almost all Frusciante solo releases since Shadows Collide With People.
[edit] Personnel
- Anthony Kiedis – lead vocals
- John Frusciante – guitar, backing vocals, keyboards, modular synthesizer
- Flea – bass, trumpet, backing vocals
- Chad Smith – drums
- Rick Rubin – producer
- Gus Van Sant – art direction
- Billy Preston – clavinet on "Warlocks"
- Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – guitar solo on "Especially in Michigan"
- Emily Kokal – chorus vocals on "Desecration Smile"
- Brad Warnaar – french horn on "Stadium Arcadium"
- Richard Dodd – cello on "She Looks to Me"
- Natalie Baber, Mylissa Hoffman, Alexis Izenstark, Spencer Izenstark, Dylan Lerner, Kyle Lerner, Gabrielle Mosbe, Monique Mosbe, Sophia Mosbe, Isabella Shmelev, Landen Starman, Wyatt Starkman – background vocals on "We Believe"
- Michael Bolger – trombone on "Turn It Again"
- Paulinho Da Costa and Lenny Castro – additional percussion
- Shane Jackson – assistant photography
- Steve Hoffman - Mastering (Vinyl)
[edit] Chart
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia | 1 |
| Austria | 1 |
| Canada | 1 |
| Danish top 20 | 1 |
| European albums | 1 |
| Finland | 1 |
| France | 1 |
| Germany | 1 |
| Italy | 1 |
| Poland | 1 |
| Japan | 1 |
| Netherlands | 1 |
| Portugal | 5 |
| Sweden | 1 |
| UK | 1 |
| US Billboard 200 | 1 |
| United World Chart | 1 |
[edit] References
- ^ Hasty, Katie (2006-05-17). Chili Peppers Post 'Stadium' At No. 1. Billboard. billboard.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ Red Hot Chili Peppers back at the double.
- ^ Hiatt, Brian (2006-05-03). Stadium Arcadium. Rolling Stone. rs.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ Endelman, Michael (2006-05-05). Stadium Arcadium. Entertainment Weekly. ew.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2006-01-19). Peppers Double The Pleasure With 'Stadium Arcadium'. Billboard. billboard.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ Red Hot Chili Peppers Set World Record at London Hyde Park. RHCPnews.com (2004-07-14). Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ Chili Peppers Spice Up Convention. RHCPnews.com (2004-07-30). Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
- ^ a b c d e Ramly, Adly. "Stadium Arcadium", Malay Mail, mmail.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ Tousignant, Isa (2006-05-18). Stadium Arcadium. Ottawa XPress. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ Ascott, Phil. "Total Guitar, July 2006 interview", Total Guitar, Invisible-Movement.net, 2006-07. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ Harris, Chris. "Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium Has Some 'Retardedly Painful Funk'", MTV News, VH1, 2006-01-18. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
[edit] External links
- 15 minute video interview with John Frusciante which includes thoughts on the new album.
| Preceded by 10,000 Days by Tool |
Billboard 200 number-one album May 27 – June 9, 2006 |
Succeeded by Taking the Long Way by Dixie Chicks |
| Preceded by Reach Out: The Motown Record by Human Nature |
Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album May 22, 2006 – June 5, 2006 |
Succeeded by Best of Chris Isaak by Chris Isaak |
