By the Way
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| By the Way | ||
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| Studio album by Red Hot Chili Peppers | ||
| Released | July 9, 2002 | |
| Recorded | November 2001 - May 2002 at Cello Studios, Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, California | |
| Genre | Alternative rock, funk rock, Pop Rock | |
| Length | 68:46 | |
| Label | Warner Bros. | |
| Producer(s) | Rick Rubin | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Red Hot Chili Peppers chronology | ||
| Californication (1999) |
By the Way (2002) |
Greatest Hits (2003) |
By the Way is the eighth studio album by funk rock quartet Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on July 9, 2002. Its opening week sales worldwide (around 700,000 copies) were the best in their career until Stadium Arcadium was released (over 1,100,000 copies), but the album only managed to peak at #2 on the Billboard Top 100 charts. The recording of the album produced creativity struggles within the band, yet allowed the band to solidify its growth.
By the Way was a smash hit album in many other countries. Critics gave it more positive bound reviews, favoring the fact that the Red Hot Chili Peppers' songwriting has matured greatly over the years. The overall album was heavily influenced by John Frusciante's work.
The album has produced hit singles, such as the title track, "Can't Stop", "The Zephyr Song" and "Universally Speaking".
The album was re-released through iTunes on 2006 featuring additional bonus tracks previously unreleased which are exclusive to the store. The original tracks, as with all the other re-released albums are not remastered, leaving only the bonus tracks remastered.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Peppers recorded twenty-eight songs for By the Way, but during an interview before the album's release, the Peppers revealed how they had felt it appropriate to let the more melodic work constitute the album's final arrangement. By early 2006, twenty-four of these songs had been released and accounted for through b-sides; though four remaining songs had yet to be released. In March 2006, "Bicycle Song" and "Runaway" were released via iTunes as bonus tracks, bringing the total of unreleased songs down to two. It's possible these two songs are "Rolling Sly Stone" and "Leverage of Space," which are both available on Live in Hyde Park.
It is no secret to fans that guitarist John Frusciante played a major role in this more melodic approach. His fascination with the Beach Boys' harmonies is evident in the many guitar layers present on the album. Frusciante's more melodic approach resulted in the lightest album the Chili Peppers have released in its twenty-three year career. In February 2006 whilst being interviewed about their upcoming album Stadium Arcadium, bassist Flea said the following about By the Way:
"It was an unpleasant experience for me. There was definitely tension in the group, tension between John and I, and I didn't feel comfortable creatively within the band. I didn't feel free to express myself."
It was later revealed in an interview with Q magazine the following month, that he intended to leave the band following this album and tour because the band had ceased to be fun. By the famous European Summer tour in 2004 (which spawned Live in Hyde Park) he was, however, prepared to continue. In another interview with the Rolling Stone music magazine, it was revealed that none of the other band members knew about this, only Flea's other closest friends outside of the band did.
[edit] Musical style
By the Way was noted as the Chili Peppers' most subdued album filled with moody and melodic songs that include an underlying atmosphere of positivity, which fills the album's lyrics and music. Compared to earlier albums, like Californication and especially Blood Sugar Sex Magik, By the Way features a more acute pop-friendly sound to it. The funk-rock sound the Chili Peppers have been known for is largely absent in this album. Instead, a strong melodic sound has been overlayed in the album. Tracks like "By the Way", "Throw Away Your Television" and "Can't Stop" have the funk-groove sound, while songs like "Midnight" and "The Zephyr Song" have the new pop-rock sound. "On Mercury" is heavily influenced by ska. It was because of this radical change of direction from the band's earlier work (which was hinted at in Californication) that the By The Way album out of all their others created the most significant rift between fans of their funk-metal era and fans of their contemporary pop-orientated work; the album as much alienated fans of their younger days as it introduced new fans.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Anthony Kiedis, Michael Balzary (Flea), John Frusciante and Chad Smith.
- "By the Way" – 3:37
- "Universally Speaking" – 4:19
- "This Is the Place" – 4:17
- "Dosed" – 5:12
- "Don't Forget Me" – 4:37
- "The Zephyr Song" – 3:52
- "Can't Stop" – 4:29
- "I Could Die For You" – 3:13
- "Midnight" – 4:55
- "Throw Away Your Television" – 3:44
- "Cabron" – 3:38
- "Tear" – 5:17
- "On Mercury" – 3:28
- "Minor Thing" – 3:37
- "Warm Tape" – 4:16
- "Venice Queen" – 6:08
[edit] B-Sides, outtakes and non-album tracks
- "Time" – 3:47 (B-Side of By the Way)
- "Teenager in Love" – 3:01 (B-Side of By the Way)
- "Body of Water" – 4:41 (B-Side of The Zephyr Song)
- "Someone" – 3:24 (B-Side of The Zephyr Song)
- "Out of Range" – 3:58 (B-Side of The Zephyr Song)
- "Rivers of Avalon" – 3:39 (B-Side of The Zephyr Song)
- "Slowly Deeply" – 2:38 (B-Side of Universally Speaking)
- "Eskimo" – 5:31 (B-Side of Fortune Faded)
- "Runaway" – 4:30 (iTunes exclusive bonus track)
- "Bicycle Song" – 3:23 (iTunes exclusive bonus track)
[edit] Chart performance
[edit] Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Billboard 200 | #2 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | By the Way | Mainstream Rock Tracks | #1 |
| 2002 | By the Way | Modern Rock Tracks | #1 |
| 2002 | By the Way | Billboard Hot 100 | #34 |
| 2002 | The Zephyr Song | Mainstream Rock Tracks | #14 |
| 2002 | The Zephyr Song | Modern Rock Tracks | #6 |
| 2002 | The Zephyr Song | Billboard Hot 100 | #49 |
| 2003 | Can't Stop | Mainstream Rock Tracks | #15 |
| 2003 | Can't Stop | Modern Rock Tracks | #1 |
| 2003 | Can't Stop | Billboard Hot 100 | #57 |
| 2003 | Dosed | Modern Rock Tracks | #13 |
[edit] Credits
[edit] Band lineup during recording
- Anthony Kiedis - Vocals
- John Frusciante - Guitar, backup vocals, keyboards
- Flea - Bass, trumpet on "Tear"
- Chad Smith - Drums
[edit] Producer
[edit] Engineers
- Jim Scott
Additional engineers
- Ethan Mates
- Andrew Scheps
- Ryan Hewitt
- Jason Wormer
- Joss Farrington
[edit] Mixed by
- Jim Scott
[edit] Orchestra arranged and conducted by
- Marc Mann
[edit] Mastered by
- Vlado Meller
[edit] Techs
- Dave Lee - Guitar Tech
[edit] Artwork
- Julian Schnabel - Paintings, photos and art direction
[edit] Miscellanea
- The word cabrón is a usually seen as a rude word in Mexican Spanish. It's often translated as bastard, but literally means big goat; this may explain why the By the Way "mascot", in some respects, was a goat. He was found on the inside cover of the Album Art, the cover of their two By The Way singles, and all throughout the tour.
- The lyrics to the chorus of 'This Is the Place' are missing from the liner notes of the album.
- The woman featured on the album's cover is John Frusciante's ex-fiancee, Stella Schnabel.
- Crickets can be heard in the background throughout the song By the Way
[edit] Selected quotations regarding By the Way
"Like Californication, writing By the Way has been one of the happiest times in my life. It’s been a chance to just keep on writing better songs and improving my guitar playing." - John Frusciante (2002)
"I know what Anthony and Chad and Flea have said but I think of it more as a band effort. I do put a lot of energy into everything, sure, but I don’t underestimate that the real energy comes from the four of us. That’s number one over any of our individual efforts." - John Frusciante (2002)
"Writing has always come really naturally to me but my recommendation to musicians is you all smoke pot or none of you do: it’s good for a band to be together, be on the same plane. That’s why for Californication and By The Way I had a lot of a happier experience than when I’d worked on Mother’s Milk or Blood Sugar. There’s a lot less bad energies around now we’re all coming from the same place." - John Frusciante (2002)
"Sometimes I bring the entire guitar parts for a song along and the others add their parts we did this for example with 'Venice Queen', 'Cabron' or 'I Could Die For You'. Things such as duration or arrangement are of course developed by all of us together. 'This is the Place' and 'Don't Forget Me' are jam session songs and do sound like the sessions during which they came around. During those jams Flea played the same bass line for over half an hour and I tried various guitar parts on top of it. Flea loves it to put himself into a hypnotic groove. I join in and as soon as he has caught me I will play one part after the other each one giving Flea's bass line a completely different flavor. Those songs don't sound like the bass is playing the same part all the time, but he does." - John Frusciante (2002)
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