Blood Sugar Sex Magik |
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Released: September 24, 1991 Peak: 3 US, 25 UK, 11 CN, 12 AU Sales (in millions): 7.0 US, 0.9 UK, 15.0 world (includes US and UK), 26.15 EAS Genre: alternative rock/funk/rap |
Tracks:Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts.
All songs written by the Red Hot Chili Peppers unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 73:55 The Players:
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Rating: 4.294 out of 5.00 (average of 34 ratings)
Quotable:“Probably the best album the Chili Peppers will ever make.” – Steve Huey, AllMusic.comAwards:(Click on award to learn more).
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The Band’s Early YearsThe Red Hot Chili Peppers formed in 1983 and “quickly became the darlings of the Los Angeles club scene.” CS They released four albums before the end of the decade. They found an audience in the alternative rock world but were far from a household name. Their highest charting album, 1989’s Mother’s Milk, reached #52 on the Billboard album chart. They’d never reached the Billboard Hot 100 and charted only three times on the alternative rock chart. They were probably best known for their 1989 cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground.”A New Level of SuccessIn 1990, the Peppers signed with Warner. Their first release with the new record company, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, “graduated the Red Hot Chili Peppers to a hot mainstream ticket.” CS AllMusic.com’s Steve Huey says it is “probably the best album the Chili Peppers will ever make.” AM It demonstrates “continuity and cohesion both within and across the 17 cuts.” AZ The album “exhibited an impressive collision of influences and originality and revealed a more world-aware consciousness…that would mark this release as their most accessible work.” CSA New Genre?The album showcased “just the right blend of punk, funk, and hip-hop.” AZ This new mix of genres has been labeled “punk-funk,” “funk-metal,” and “funk-n-roll.” CS It combined the “driving guitars and percussion of punk rock and heavy metal.” CS The Peppers cited a wide array of influences “ranging from the psychedelic rock of Jimi Hendrix to the west-coast punk of Back Flag and the Germs to the dance R&B of the Ohio Players and Sly & the Family Stone to the sophisticated party punk of George Clinton.” CS Other acts who traversed this territory included Faith No More, Fishbone, Living Colour, and Primus. CSIt was the Peppers, however, who became the biggest of those acts, “bringing punk-funk to a mass audience and influencing a string of softer and harder acts to follow – from the ‘nu metal’ of Korn, Linkin Park, and Limp Bizkit, to the ‘rap-core’ of Rage Against the Machine and 311, to the alternative rap-rock of Kid Rock and Incubus.” CS Recording the AlbumAfter “the near-breakthrough success of Mother’s Milk the band rented a house in Los Angeles known as ‘the Mansion.’” CS The place was believed to be haunted and had previously served as lodging for the Beatles, David Bowie, and Mick Jagger. CSRick RubinIt “benefits immensely from Rick Rubin’s production.” AM Rubin had already cemented his legacy with a trio of legendary rap albums – Run-D.M.C.’s Raising Hell, Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill, and Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. He’d also ventured into metal, most notably with Slayer and Danzig.In essence, Rubin “had almost single-handedly pioneered the rap/rock fusion of the 1980s,” CS which made him a perfect fit for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He helped the “redefine the RHCP sound, which had previously tended at times to drift into jam-band territory.” TB His “spare, uncluttered production technique was just what the band needed to open up their crowded sound and demonstrate how tight an act they could be.” CS Rubin “masterfully fuses John Frusciante’s raunchy guitar with the irresistible grooves.” AZ That means the “guitar is less overpoweringly noisy, leaving room for differing textures and clearer lines” AM and “the band overall is more focused and less indulgent.” AM The BandFrusciante, however, was not the centerpiece of the band. The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ sound was built on “the rap-punk vocals of singer Anthony Kiedis and the gritty metal-funk of…Michael Balzary [the bassist known as Flea], the only two members of the group who stuck it out from the beginning.” CS “Riding Flea’s surging bass, Anthony Kiedis delivers his explicit lyrics with a rapper’s flair.” AZThe Songs“Kiedis is as preoccupied with sex as ever, whether invoking it as his muse, begging for it, or boasting in great detail about his prowess, best showcased on the infectiously funky singles Give It Away and Suck My Kiss.” AM The former marked the band’s first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the alternative rock chart.“However, he tempers his testosterone with a more sensitive side,” AM infusing the album with his “first consistent embrace of lilting acoustic balladry.” AM “While it’s not what Kiedis does best as a vocalist, these are some of the album’s finest moments, varying and expanding the group’s musical and emotional range.” AM He writes “about the emotional side of failed relationships” AM on Breaking the Girl and I Could Have Lied. He also pens “an elegy for Hillel Slovak, My Lovely Man), and some hippie-ish calls for a peaceful utopia.” AM They “give the album depth and provide contrast to the raw energy of Mellowship Slinky in B Major, Funky Monks, AZ and “the bruising, sexual funk of ‘Give It Away.’” TB No song was more significant in introducing the Peppers to the mainstream than Under the Bridge. The ballad about drug addiction became a surprise hit, soaring all the way to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and racking up certifications for sales of six million. It would propel the album to worldwide sales of 15 million and firmly establish RHCP as one of the ‘90s most successful mainstream bands.
Notes:On the iTunes version of the album, “Little Miss Lover” and “Castles Made of Sand,” both originally by Jimi Hendrix, were added as bonus tracks. |
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First posted 9/7/2011; last updated 11/29/2024. |
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