Red Hot Chili Peppers – ‘The Getaway’ – 17/07/16
7/10
The latest album from the legendary Red Hot Chili Peppers comes in the form of ‘The Getaway‘. It is a profound album that creates a calming aura. This album will iron out any tension you are feeling and make you home in on yourself. All this focus comes while listening to some excellent songs.
Everybody knows the distinctive sound of Red Hot Chili Peppers and you are reminded of it straight away with the first, title track on this album The Getaway. That contagious groove matched with the bewitching vocals of Anthony Kiedis instantly brings sun into your life. Although it is a slow start to the album is nicely eases you back into the band’s style hooks you for the rest of the record.
The third track ‘We Turn Red’ offers hints of their past work by stripping the instruments down and letting the music speak for itself. RHCP years of experience shines through on this track as everything blends together in a wave of awareness and comfort. ‘We Turn Red’ is a good chill out/ sing-a-long track that leaves you feeling relaxed and secure in the hands of this album.
Fifth track ‘Goodbye Angels’ is a very raw song that builds with anticipation to the chorus. There is something about the vocals in this track that hits you and triggers your emotion. Just another example of the experience Kiedis holds. This subtle and modest song makes you stop and really listen to every element, the lyrics, the vocals, the liquid guitar riffs, the uniquely brilliant bass and the fantastically controlled drums.
The best track on the album is the seventh, ‘Go Robot’. The sound of this song as a whole is spot on, it is a masterclass in how to create a very good song. It is the most dynamic song on the album and is impossible not the clap along to and dance to the instrumental. The use of synthethic sounds link directly to the title of the track and gives it a certain distinguishing characteristic compared the rest of the album.
The 10th track has slightly more of a hard rock edge which is fantastic to hear from these guys. It keeps the listener on their toes just as you were starting to fall into a trance of the same tranquil sound. ‘This Ticonderoga’ fills the album with more complexity than anybody was expecting. It shows that the RHCP have not turned into just one trick ponies and that they still have a lot of innovative ideas to bring to their music. They should certainly continue down this experimental path.
‘The Getaway’ is not the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s best album by a long shot. However, this by no means takes away from how good this album is. Although is does start to feel very samey, they tackle this with a genius change in tactic toward the end of the album. You cannot fault any song included on ‘The Getaway’ as each one is successful in its own right. Let’s just hope these hints of their old brilliance means that there are many more years and many more albums yet to come.
[7/10]
Review: Sam Preece
