Blog 1 - One Hot Minute

One Hot Minute (1995) the 6th album by the California rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers was released over 16 years ago to a somewhat lukewarm reception, however the album is a truly underrated masterpiece. The addition of Dave Navarro on guitar --- rounding out a line up that included Anthony Kiedis on vocals, Flea on Bass, and Chad Smith on drums as well as Rick Rubin returning as producer for a second album --- sees the band exploring new styles, evident from the albums opening track Warped with its spiraling lead guitar riff. The album doesn't necessarily break new ground but provides a nearly perfect flow with its 13 songs. Virtually all the 13 songs are standout, from the lovely ballads that are My Friends, Tearjerker, Falling Into Grace, and Transcending to the furious rockers that are Coffee Shop, One Big Mob, and Shallow Be Thy Game. The Euphoric Walkabout is another brilliant track, the psychedelic Deep Kick is too and both perfectly illustrate the styles that the Chili Peppers were experimenting with at the time. The Four b-sides that didn't make the album are all excellent as well. The crunching opening riff of Let's Make Evil with its confessional lyrics is the best of the four but the others Bob, Stretch, and Melancholy Mechanics are unbelievable as well. Despite all these excellent tracks the album sold just half as well as the previous Chili Pepper album. One Hot Minute did however manage to produce three hits in Warped, My Friends, and Aeroplane. The lack of success as well creative differences ultimately led to Navarro's departure and the songs from One Hot Minute (aside from pea) have been left out of the bands live repertoire ever since. This is a highly recommended album for both Chili Pepper and alternative rock fans alike.

Track-listing:

1.  Warped - 5:04
2.  Aeroplane – 4:45
3.  Deep Kick – 6:33
4.  My Friends – 4:02
5.  Coffee Shop – 3:08
6.  Pea – 1:47
7.  One Big Mob – 6:02
8.  Walkabout – 5:07
9.  Tearjerker – 4:19
10.  One Hot Minute – 6:23
11.  Falling into Grace – 3:48
12.  Shallow Be Thy Game – 4:33
13.  Transcending – 5:46