Everything about By The Way totally explained
By the Way is the eighth studio album by
American alternative rock band
Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on
July 9,
2002 on
Warner Bros. Records. It sold over 282,000 copies in the first week, and peaked at #2 on the
Billboard 200. The singles from the album included "
By the Way", "
The Zephyr Song", "
Can't Stop", "
Dosed" and "
Universally Speaking". The lyrical subject matter vocalist
Anthony Kiedis addresses in
By the Way is a divergence from previous Chili Peppers albums, with Kiedis taking a more candid and reflective approach to his lyricism.
By the Way was applauded by critics as a departure from the band's previous styles, and is recognized for the melodic and subdued emotions given by the Chili Peppers. Guitarist
John Frusciante is credited with writing most of the album's melodies, bass lines, and guitar progressions, therefore changing the direction of the recording dramatically: "his warm, understated guitar work and his doo-wop style vocal harmonies are king this time around."
By the Way contained virtually none of the signature punk-funk
fusion the band had become known for playing. Frusciante considered that writing "
By the Way [was] one of the happiest times in my life."
Background
Following a life threatening drug addiction that caused him to leave the Chili Peppers in 1992, Frusciante made a full recovery after a month of
drug rehabilitation in the early months of 1998. Shortly thereafter he was asked to rejoin the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Frusciante's return generated much response from critics, who recognized the album as a commercial revitalization from their previous record,
One Hot Minute. A two year long, international tour followed, which included several festival appearances, including
Woodstock 1999 and
Rock in Rio.
The writing and formation of
By the Way began immediately following the culmination of
Californication's world tour, in the Spring of 2001. As with
Californication, much of the creation took place in the band members' homes, and other locations of practice, such as a recording studio stage. Kiedis recalled of the situation: "We started finding some magic and some music and some riffs and some rhythms and some jams and some grooves, and we added to it and subtracted from it and pushed it around and put melodies to it." For Kiedis, "writing
By the Way...was a whole different experience from
Californication. John was back to himself and brimming with confidence." Rubin had, in the past, granted the Chili Peppers creative freedom on their recording material; this was something they thought essential for the album to be unique, and could only occur with his return.
Writing and composition
The album's guitar and bass ensemble was primarily dictated by Frusciante, rather than a collaborative effort between him and bassist Flea. Therefore the record took different direction than any previous Chili Peppers' album. Frusciante sought to create an emotional and poignant soundscape throughout the recording. Songs such as "Body of Water", "Someone" (both B-sides), "By the Way", "I Could Die for You" and "Warm Tape" all digressed into the many sides of love. Drugs also played an integral part in Kiedis' writings, as he'd only been sober since December 2000. Tracks like "This Is the Place", "Don't Forget Me", and "Dosed" expressed his intense dislike for narcotics and the harmful physical and emotional effects they caused him. He referenced late Chili Peppers guitarist Hillel Slovak in "This Is the Place", and describes how drug use forced him to miss the funeral: "On the day my best friend died/I couldn't get my copper clean". "Venice Queen" was composed lyrically as an ode to Kiedis' drug rehabilitation therapist, Gloria Scott, who died shortly after he purchased her a home on
California's
Venice Beach. "Throw Away Your Television", while not having any rapidly sung lyrics, also contained a funk oriented bass line, though hinted at experimental rock due to the heavy use of distortion throughout the verse and chorus. Other "experimental" tracks include the trumpet based "On Mercury", a centered largely on
ska. "Cabron", the only track to be played entirely on acoustic guitar, has visible Latin influences. "Tear" had a minor piano part, and "Warm Tape" was composed almost entirely on a
keyboard.
Technically,
By the Way saw the Chili Peppers employing several devices to distort and alter guitar and vocal sequences. "Don't Forget Me" utilizes a mellotron,
wah pedal, and echoing techniques to convey an emotive atmosphere, while Frusciante uses a
Big Muff for the solos on "Minor Thing". Chad Smith commented that
By the Way is "very honest, raw, emotional music. It's a very dynamic, rich and lush album. Probably the best collection of Chili Peppers songs we've ever put out."
Warner Bros. Records promoted the album heavily in the months prior to the record's 2002 release, especially targeting the online market in order to steer customers away from illegal downloads. It was certified gold just a few months later on
October 26,
2002. Five singles were released from it; of these, the title track "By the Way" was the most successful, peaking at #2 on the UK charts and #1 on the Billboard rock charts. Although the album sold fewer copies than
Californication,
By the Way managed to peak at #2 on the
Billboard Top 200, one spot higher than
Californication. Around the world, the album debuted at number one in the UK, Switzerland, New Zealand, Austria, and Sweden; and number two in France.
By the Way included two previously unreleased tracks ("Runaway", and "Bicycle Song"). The original album tracks were not remastered, although the bonus tracks were.
Critical reception
The album received a mostly positive reaction from critics, who praised
By the Way for its melodic, multilayer and textured styles.
All Music Guide's Zac Johnson said that the album was "sophisticated...the Peppers have not sacrificed any of their trademark energy or passions for life, universal love, and (of course) lust". Giving the album 5 stars out of 5,
Q called
By the Way "A fantastic record; full of wonder." Kimberly Mack of
Pop Matters commented on how the album "...showcases a more sophisticated, lush sound that only today's Peppers could have conceived", and that "Anthony Kiedis' lyrics are more personal than ever."
Blender considered
By the Way to be an indistinguishable sequel to
Californication, calling it "Californication 2". It further condemned the Chili Peppers for not varying their style and remaining extremely similar in sound. Newspapers such as
The Village Voice criticized the band for trying too hard to change.
Entertainment Weekly praised
By the Way for being well refined and a superb collaboration, but criticized the Chili Peppers for playing it safe and keeping the album's energy mild; for being "more fascinating for what it symbolizes than what it is."
All Music Guide considered the song "By the Way" to combine "fiery Hollywood funk, gentle harmonies, a little bit of singing about girls, [and] a little bit of hanging out in the streets in the summertime." The Chili Peppers played at
Madison Square Garden in
New York City on
June 3,
2003 to a sold-out crowd and an enthusiastic response from critics. Kelefa Sanneh of
The New York Times reported that "on Tuesday night, the [RedHot Chili Peppers] came to Madison Square Garden for an extraordinary two-hour performance...On 'Don't Forget Me', [Flea] strummed chords, while Mr. Frusciante contributed a gorgeous guitar line that bubbled and hissed like some sort of chemical reaction." The US leg ended on
June 21; the band took a small hiatus before performing at
Slane Castle on
August 23, to a crowd of over 80,000.
Live at Slane Castle, the result of the concert, would become the Chili Peppers' second live DVD, after
Off the Map.
Following several Japanese and Australian performances, the Red Hot Chili Peppers planned three nights at London's
Hyde Park. Over 240,000 tickets were sold within hours, and roughly 80,000 people saw each show on June 19, 20, and 25, respectively. It became the highest grossing concert at a single venue in history, accumulating an estimated $17 million gross revenue. Finally, they played at the
Rock am Ring festival as one of the final performances of the
By the Way tour.
Artwork
All paintings, photography and art direction is credited to
Julian Schnabel and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The woman featured on the cover of
By the Way is Stella Schnabel, Julian Schnabel's daughter and Frusciante's then-girlfriend. Several pages of the album's booklet, and single for "By the Way" contain paintings of a goat head. A somewhat blurry, black and white photograph of the band in a desolate field, and each band member individually, is also present.
The majority of the booklet's artwork are various scenes of replica grass and plants, stars and indistinguishable objects, which appears to be a miniature pole, placed in dirt. Single covers for "The Zephyr Song" and "Can't Stop" both feature this same background, although angled slightly differently. The lyrics for
By the Way are placed on top of the landscape, hand written by Kiedis in pink lettering.
(*) designates unordered lists.
Track listing
All songs written by Red Hot Chili Peppers unless otherwise stated.
"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" – 6:07
iTunes bonus tracks
"Runaway" – 4:30
"Bicycle Song" – 3:23
B-sides, out-takes and non-album tracks
Chart performance
Album
| Chart |
Peak position |
| Billboard 200 |
1 |
| New Zealand |
1 |
| Austria |
1 |
| France |
1 |
| Switzerland |
1 |
Singles
Personnel
Anthony Kiedis – lead vocals
John Frusciante – guitar, backup vocals
Michael "Flea" Balzary – bass, backup vocals
Chad Smith – drums
Rick Rubin – producer, engineer
Julian Schnabel and Red Hot Chili Peppers – art direction
Vladimir Meller – masteringFurther Information
Get more info on 'By The Way'.
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