Not Quite As Red Hot As It Could’ve Been

Well, I guess it’s about that time again. It seems as though it’s become a standard for a band to release a greatest hits compilation after every four albums. Thus, we have the Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits. Some fans may be wondering why they chose to ignore everything prior to Mother’s Milk, but with their first greatest hits compilation, What Hits!?, still on the market, it’d be rather superfluous to include songs from those albums. This particular album covers everything from Mother’s Milk to the present. Rather than make it just a collection of singles or just a collection of their best songs, the Chili Peppers seem to have decided to do both. Rather than go through the songs in the order they appear on the album, I’ll tackle it chronologically.

It all starts with their 1989 breakthrough album, Mother’s Milk. The only song included from this album is “Higher Ground”, which I found to be a strange choice. It’s a good song, but if it’s the only song from this album that you’re going to include, why put it on there at all? Not to mention, this album was represented in their first greatest hits package, so it doesn’t seem to make much sense here. However, it is a very good cover of the original Stevie Wonder song, so I won’t complain.

Next up is their 1991 album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik. This is the one that really shoved them into the mainstream, mainly on the strength of the two singles “Under the Bridge” and “Give It Away”, both of which are rightfully included here. “Under the Bridge” is a beautiful ballad about drug addiction while “Give It Away” is a funk-filled romp that blends rap and rock better than any other song out there. If you haven’t heard these two songs, I assume you’ve been living under a rock. They’ve also included the other two less successful singles, “Breaking the Girl” and “Suck My Kiss”. I have no problem with them including these songs, but there are better songs on the album. I would have preferred “I Could’ve Lied” rather than “Breaking the Girl” and the title track instead of “Suck My Kiss”, but that’s just a minor complaint. This is really the only album that is properly represented by this hits package.

Following their solid major label release was the disappointing One Hot Minute. The only song included from this album is “My Friends”. It’s another ballad in the mold of “Under the Bridge” and “Soul to Squeeze”, but it has a distinct charm that makes it unique. It certainly deserves its spot on this compilation. However, their failure to include “Aeroplane”, probably their third biggest hit ever, is mind boggling. Its absence really taints the entire album and makes it hard to take it seriously as a true Greatest Hits album. I know it was their worst album and that it was during a period they’d rather forget, but there’s no excuse for leaving out that song.

Fans had a long wait before their next album, the smash hit Californication. While it was an excellent album and arguably their most cohesive, there are WAY too many songs included from it on this compilation. There were only 15 songs on the original album, and 5 of them are included here, which is ridiculous. It’s hard to argue with three of the selections: “Californication”, “Scar Tissue”, and “Otherside”, as they were all fairly popular singles. However, the inclusion of the other two songs from this album is a bit confusing. First is “Parallel Universe”, which received considerable airplay but neither had a video nor was very popular. While it is one of the best songs from that album, it just doesn’t seem to fit in here. Even more mind numbing is the inclusion of “Road Trippin’”, the final song on the album. Not only was it not a single, but it was also one of my least favorite songs from the album. I would have left off both of these songs and instead included “Around the World”, the second well-received single from the album that is also strangely omitted.

The final album included here is my personal favorite, the vastly underrated By the Way. Unfortunately, only two songs from this album made the cut. First is the title track, which was the lead single and enjoyed a great amount of popularity and airplay. It’s a good song, but it’s actually one of my least favorites from the album. Still, I can understand why it’s on here. The second song that is included is “Universally Speaking”. I believe this was the fourth single from the album, but I’m not sure if it was actually officially released or not. I really love this song, but it doesn’t sound nearly as good outside the context of By the Way. I would have also like to have seen “The Zephyr Song”, “Can’t Stop”, “Don’t Forget Me”, or “I Could Die For You” included.

Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits also features three songs previously not found on any of their albums. “Soul to Squeeze” is my favorite Chili Peppers song of all-time, so I was thrilled to see it included on this album. Unfortunately it was only previously available on the otherwise terrible Coneheads soundtrack, but no more! It’s actually an outtake from Blood Sugar Sex Magik, but I find it superior to every song on the album. It’s been accused of sounding a little too much like “Under the Bridge”, but I think it stands fine on its own. The album ends with two new songs. “Fortune Faded” is an excellent song that sounds like an outtake from By the Way, which is a good thing. If this is indicative of what their next album will sound like, we’re in for a treat. The other new song, “Save the Population”, is a disjointed track that simply doesn’t belong here.

I’m not really sure what the purpose of releasing this album was. If they were trying to appeal to hardcore fans, they failed by not offering anything new aside from an official release of “Soul to Squeeze”, one good new song and one bad new song. True fans of the band already own the albums featured here, so it’s really not worth it for them to make this purchase. If they were trying to appeal to casual fans, they failed by failing to include some of their most recognizable and popular songs such as “Aeroplane”, “Love Rollercoaster”, “Around the World”, and “The Zephyr Song”. The songs included are good ones, and it is a solid album, but as a Greatest Hits compilation, it doesn’t accomplish what it sets out to do. Go pick up their last four albums instead.