John Frusciante remains much of an enigma in the UK. Many people will know him as the guitarist from Red Hot Chili Peppers and being the man responsible for the rise and rise (the fall being his departure in 1992)of the band's popularity, but little know him as the well established solo artist that have many American RHCP followers into Froo fans, as I like to call them.
Frusciante's first solo album, Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt in 1994 wasn't the success many budding Froo fans expected to hear. Excessive drug taking and the overwhelming nature of sudden fame meant Frusciante, who was only 18 when he joined the band became disillusioned by the successes he achieved. Niandra Lades is a painful record to listen to. It almost feels intrusive to listen to Frusciante's wailing nonsensical words over his beautiful yet deeply melancholic guitar riffs, like rubbernecking at a roadside accident. Prominent songs on the album include "Mascara", which begins with with a methodical rhythm but slowly uncoils into a confused tangle of lyrics and melodies not unlike Fruscinate's own life unravelling at the seams. The creatively named "Your Pussy's Glued to a Building on Fire" with it's simplicist melody showcases more of Frusciante's powerful vocal talents which are ever more present in his later albums.
Niandra Lades was an album about a lifestyle choice gone wrong, a man on the brink of death. Luckily Frusciante managed to pull himself out of a serious heroin addiction, reunite with RCHP bandmates and release his solo debut From the Sounds Inside in 2001. The album which was free to download from his website meant Frusciante was reconnecting with fans after the alienation caused by Niandra Lades and second album Smile from the Streets you hold.
In the same year he released his third offical album, To Record Only Water for Ten Days which was astoundingly different from any previous releases. My strange habit of keeping labels on my albums tells me that I bought it for £16.99, a ludicrous amount of money for a CD, but that was the early noughties before anyone even heard of downloads. To Record is an album deeply influenced by synth pop and electronica as Frusciante experiments with a more concentrated and controlled sound. "Going Inside" is a fantastic kick off for album which illustrates to the listener Frusciante's need to take perspective of the past. The instrumental "Murderers" and "Ramparts" evoke a sense of eeriness through methodical synthsised drum beats but much of the album is very claustrophobic and dense with self absorption to listen to as a whole.
This concludes part one of my review of Frusciante's back catalogue, I will update with part two very shortly!
No comments:
Post a Comment