By the Way
A melodic, subdued follow-up led by Frusciante's songwriting.
Red Hot Chili Peppers, 2002
- Released
- 9 July 2002
- Recorded
- November 2001 to May 2002
- Studio
- Cello and Chateau Marmont, Los Angeles
- Label
- Warner Bros.
- Producer
- Rick Rubin
- Length
- 68:27
Writing began in the spring of 2001, straight after the Californication tour, and Rubin returned as producer. Frusciante and Kiedis worked together for days at a time. Frusciante drew on the Beach Boys, the Beatles and doo-wop harmonies, and Julian Schnabel and the band made the artwork. The album entered at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 281,948 copies in the United States in its first week, and it debuted at number one in the UK. Warner Bros. ran a campaign called "A Song a Day" in the weeks before release. Singles were By the Way, The Zephyr Song, Can't Stop and Universally Speaking.
Steven Poole of the Guardian called it their most relaxed and mellow album yet and said Can't Stop is possibly the funkiest thing they have ever done. Mojo called it the strongest Chili Peppers album since Blood Sugar Sex Magik.
Track listing
- By the Way3:37
- Universally Speaking4:18
- This Is the Place4:16
- Dosed5:11
- Don't Forget Me4:36
- The Zephyr Song3:52
- Can't Stop4:28
- I Could Die for You3:13
- Midnight4:54
- Throw Away Your Television3:43
- Cabron3:37
- Tear5:16
- On Mercury3:28
- Minor Thing3:37
- Warm Tape4:15
- Venice Queen6:06
Personnel
- Anthony Kiedis lead vocals
- Flea bass
- John Frusciante guitars, backing vocals
- Chad Smith drums
- Rick Rubin producer
More from Red Hot Chili Peppers
Mother's Milk (1989), Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), One Hot Minute (1995), Californication (1999)
Sources
- By the Way, Wikipedia
- The Red Hot Chili Peppers, By the Way, The Guardian (2002-07-12)