Ecstatic critical reviews and enthusiastic fan response make it clear that the latter is the answer. Fueled by the success of the chart-topping single “Dani California,” the Chili Peppers’ long-awaited Stadium Arcadium entered the pop charts at No. 1, making it the highest-charting album of the band’s career. Produced by Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys, Dixie Chicks, Johnny Cash), and recorded at the same Los Angeles mansion-turned-studio where they conducted the Blood Sugar Sex Magik sessions, Stadium Arcadium finds vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, guitarist John Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith broadening their musical palette to include hints of classic rock, folk, and even spiritualized pop.

The double-disc set inspired a veritable storm of adoring reviews. In its four-star critique, Rolling Stone called the album, “the most ambitious work of (the band’s) twenty-three-year career…a late-career triumph that could pass for another, lesser group’s greatest-hits collection.” Blender described the effort as an “elegant… surprising double-disc set… this is virile and excited music.” The discerning and often restrained BBC called Stadium Arcadium a “multi-faceted must,” while declaring the Chili Peppers “card-carrying Rock Gods.”

The band itself might agree with such assertions. In the official Stadium Arcadium biography, guitarist Frusciante touts the life-affirming power of the Peppers’ potent new songs. “If you let go and let this music take you by the hand it will take you flying through skies of sound,” Frusciante writes. “It will zoom you up well above outer space and it will show you around planes of existence that do not share the laws and conditions of this reality.”

As befits a band from Los Angeles, the Chili Peppers’ story reads like a Tinseltown melodrama. Emerging in 1984, the foursome became world-renowned for their righteous reconciliation of bump-and-grind funk, raw-nerved post-punk and mischievous pop. But their climb to the top wasn’t easy. Following the 1988 demise of founding guitarist Hillel Slovak from a drug overdose, the band recruited Frusciante. But as Kiedis recounts in his 2004 autobiography, “Scar Tissue” (Hyperion Publishers), the band wrestled with lingering problems.

The problems came to a head in 1992, just as hit singles like “Give It Away,” “Under the Bridge” and “Breaking the Girl” were transforming the Chili Peppers from underground heroes to nuevo-rock sensations. With scant advance notice, Frusciante quit the band and Kiedis, Flea and Smith soldiered on with several replacement guitarists, including Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro (featured on the Chili Peppers’ 1995 album, One Hot Minute). But Navarro’s tenure was short-lived, and the band welcomed Frusciante back to the fold in 1998.

The Peppers have been on a roll ever since, with Kiedis and Flea becoming as iconic in their L.A. hometown as the Hollywood sign. Either together or separately they have appeared in a host of movies, including Back to the Future II, The Big Lebowski, The Chase and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Flea plays the voice of Donnie Thornberry on the Nickelodeon animated series, The Wild Thornberrys.

Yet despite their occasional film appearances, music remains the Chili Peppers’ main inspiration. Judging by their remarkable track record — the band has sold over 50 million recordings worldwide — fans wouldn’t have it any other way.]]> 2006-10-05T18:00:01-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/entry/200063 Artists, Beatles, The, Branch, Michelle, Crow, Sheryl, Loeb, Lisa, Navarro, Dave, Santana, Carlos, Stevens, Cat, Musical Styles, Pop, Musicworld, Feature, Type, International Michelle Branch may be only 18 years old, but she makes music with the maturity of an old soul. Unlike so many teen acts these days, Branch is not the product of a producer’s commercial vision. Rather, she’s a fully formed singer, songwriter and guitarist whose debut album, The Spirit Room, has sold a million copies.

Though still young, Branch has been enraptured by music for a long time. “For as long as I can remember, and from what my family recalls, I was always singing,” she explains. In fact, her musical development may have prenatal. “When I asked my mom what music she listened to while she was pregnant with me, she told me that she sang along with the radio in the car to The Beatles a lot. Perhaps that’s why The Beatles are my favorite band. Who knows?”

Branch began years of vocal lessons, and for her 14th birthday got her first guitar. “A day later, I wrote my first song,” she recalls. “I remember telling my parents that I had written a song. They didn’t really believe me.”

Her relationship to music is a primal one. “Music has always been in me,” Branch asserts. “When I sing, I have a sense of peace, I feel like my brain turns off, and I become the core person of who I am -- the essence of me. I feel connected to whatever is out there. It’s almost like I leave my body and get to watch.”

By her late teens, she had gotten a manager, recorded an album-length demo to sell at shows and get the music industry’s attention, and landed some concert dates opening for Hanson. Maverick Records executive Danny Strick caught Branch in Los Angeles on that tour, and she was soon after signed to Madonna’s record label. And at age 17, she recorded and released her first album.

“Everywhere,” Michelle’s first single, rose to number 5 on the pop charts, followed by “All You Wanted” and “Goodbye To You,” establishing Branch as a certified star. Her chart success has translated into international tours, multiple guest spots on “The Tonight Show,” an appearance in the movie The Hot Chick, and a collaboration with Carlos Santana on the single “Game of Love.” She has recently been finishing up her second album, which features such guests as Sheryl Crow and Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction.

The New Kids may have been Branch’s initial inspiration, but her influences are far deeper. Her favorite acts include The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Cat Stevens and Lisa Loeb, perhaps one reason her music has such broad appeal. “I have kids and their parents coming to my show,” observes Branch. “It’s really cool because my lyrics appeal more to the older people and the actual sound of the music appeals to younger people.”

Branch says that her musical creations come from a mystical place, including her dreams. “I have dreams when I write and entire song, chords and everything. I wake up and hope I can remember the dream-song, and find hat I’ve already written it all down, and I just pick up the guitar and play it,” she says.

For all her success, Branch finds that the biggest reward she has enjoyed has been the effect her music has on listeners. “I’ve received hundreds of e-mails with wonderful comments like, ‘when I’m having a bad day I listen to your songs and I feel better.’ That, to me, is the best reward.”

She would also like her music to prompt others to create, just as the music she loves did with her. “I hope I can inspire people my age to play music,” Michelle says, “There are so many “put together” musical acts today. Younger girls write and tell me, ‘They all dance and sing and look so perfect, and it’s hard to watch them. Then I heard your music and now I’m writing songs.’ I hope that continues. I want to be able to speak the truth and make a difference.]]> 2003-01-14T17:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/entry/233459 Artists, Angel, The, Jane's Addiction, Navarro, Dave, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The, Musical Styles, Rock, Musicworld, Hitmaker As a founding member of the pioneering alt-rock band Jane's Addiction, Dave Navarro has helped redefine rock guitar. During his brief, mid-'90s stint with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Los Angeles axeman solidified his reputation as one of modern rock's most innovative accompanists.

But with the recent release of his Capitol Records debut album, Trust No One, Navarro has emerged as a solo artist in his own right. Fans expecting indulgent displays of instrumental heroism will be pleasantly surprised. Though the album features plenty of Navarro's apocalyptic guitar, there's also a delectable surfeit of acoustic guitar textures and curious production sounds. But ultimately, Trust No One showcases Navarro's heretofore unsung songwriting talents, most notably his impressive lyrical skills.

In fact, Trust No One is one of the most honest and insightful meditations on rock stardom in recent memory. Songs like "Avoiding The Angel" and "Very Little Daylight" chronicle the guitarist's spiritual struggles, while the single "Rexall" cleverly rebukes idealistic music fans. "I hate my life . . . I want the life you think I have," Navarro sings in a voice dripping with irony. Shunning trendy fatalism, Navarro has created an earnest masterwork that offers a revealing peak inside the surreal world of rock & roll.

As if the album didn't offer enough insight into Navarro's psyche, the guitarist recently released his autobiographical book, "Don't Try This At Home" (Regan Books; $29.95 hardcover). With its sordid tales of band politics, romantic breakups, failed drug rehabilitations and professional mishaps, Don't Try This At Home - like it's musical companion Trust No One - dispels the myth of the glamorous, carefree rock & roll lifestyle.

"The music on this record was written because these four people get off on making music with each other."
-press statement for the Red Hot Chili Peppers album, Californication.

They have survived the death of a founding member, numerous personnel changes and highly publicized struggles with addiction. Yet despite all the upheavals, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have retained the optimism and prankish humor that made them alternative rock legends. On their latest Warner Bros. Records album, Californication, the Chili Peppers exorcise their personal demons without stooping to cynicism or self-pity. In fact, the album opens with singer Anthony Kiedis declaring that "life is beautiful around the world."

Laughing in the face of adversity is standard procedure for the Chili Peppers. Unlike some of their alt-rock peers, the foursome never succumbed to fashionable moodiness. On hit albums like Mother's Milk, BloodSugarSexMagik and One Hot Minute, the band combines chest-thumping funk rhythms with r&b-inflected melodies and uproariously lusty lyrics. The Los Angeles quartet is also renowned for its camaraderie. In performances and interviews, founding members Kiedis and Flea (real name Michael Balzary) openly declare their love for one another and their bandmates. The band seems to delight in challenging staid, macho notions about masculinity.

But the band's controversial antics have never overshadowed their music. Bassist Flea and drummer Chad Smith make up one of the most respected rhythm sections in modern rock. Recently, the band welcomed innovative guitarist John Frusciante back to the fold. Frusciante, who co-composed such Chili Peppers classics as "Give It Away" and "Under the Bridge," left the band in 1992 at the height of their success. Some critics credit Frusciante with rekindling their creative fire.

Founded in Hollywood in the early '80s, the Chili Peppers immediately carved a niche by being the first rock band to combine edgy punk attitude with hardcore r&b rhythms. The band had released four critically acclaimed recordings when founding guitarist Hillel Slovak died of a drug overdose in 1988. Bowed but undaunted, the group recruited Frusciante and Smith and scaled the pop charts with their 1989 recording, Mother's Milk.

In the wake of Frusciante's 1992 departure, the band recorded their 1995 album, One Hot Minute, with former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro. A four-year hiatus ensued, but fans attending the 1999 Woodstock Festival in Rome, New York discovered the foursome had lost none of their raucous appeal. During the band's frenzied performance, concertgoers ignited bonfires and toppled scaffolding. The story made headlines worldwide and added further fuel to the Red Hot Chili Peppers' hellraising mystique.