Stadium Arcadium

I haven’t listened to anything other than this record for the past four days. It is the fantastic new album from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The thing that makes this record really stand out is that everytime John Frusciante takes a solo, the songs explode. He is an amazing guitar player and this is a guitar lover’s record.

It’s a double record so it takes a little longer to get the hang of it, but the effort is worth it.  There is almost 2 hours of quality music on Stadium Arcadium.

But like most double albums, its tempting to think about what the best 14 15 songs would sound like on a single record.

Here’s my dream single album version of Stadium Arcadium (which is now a playlist on my iPod):

Dani California – great opening track. my kids love it
Snow (Hey Oh)
Charlie – i love this song
Hump De Bump – funky groove
Warlocks
C’Mon Girl – this is a great song
Desecration Smile
Tell Me Baby
21st Century – best song on the record
Make You Feel Better
Strip My Mind
Animal Bar
So Much I
Storm In A Teacup
Turn It Again

The record is number one on iTunes and number two at Amazon so it may have been fine to release this as a double record.  But what a single record it would have been.  Probably best of the year so far.  But for now, that still goes to the Arctic Monkeys on my list.

UPDATE: Jackson (the musician in my family) says: I like ‘Strip My Mind’ the best – so far. It’s not only the guitar work
that Frusciante is responsible for, but all the vocal harmonies as well
– he’s a mad genius.  So I went back and gave Strip My Mind a listen and I’ve added it to my playlist.  He’s right as usual.  Strip My Mind is great.