Red Hot Chili Peppers professed to be the band you called upon when you desired bone-crunching funk. By the time they recorded “Blood Sugar Sex Magik,” however, they were a group ready to embrace more sounds than ever before and styles and even deliver a few slow songs.
“Blood Sugar Sex Magik” is legendary! But is it any good? I’m trying to make up my own mind by reviewing and revisiting the album that made RHCP a household name.
Red Hot Chili Peppers Road to Making “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”
Who did the Red Hot Chili Peppers think that they were anyway? Rock gods delivering funky, good-time music performed with the manic intensity of hardcore punk and most often in the nude? Sure. The confidence of the group lead by Anthony Kiedis and Flea had never much been in doubt.
But their rise had come slower than they had wished. Their early albums were a mix of funk, rap and Jimi Hendrix. They acquired fans and built a Los Angeles scene around themselves despite not being a platinum-selling, stadium-filling band.
When they lost guitar wizard Hillel Slovak to a drug overdose and drummer Jack Irons to depression over the former’s death, they hired musicians who could mimic the originals’ music the best that they could. Imitating the formula landed the Peppers their first hit, “Mother’s Milk.”
But by 1991, the group was done imposing limits on their sound or on the creativity of new guitarist John Frusciante. A musical mastermind who had gone through phases of worshipping Steve Vai, Jimi Hendrix and Slovak, Frusciante was to be the band’s secret weapon on “Blood Sugar Sex Magik.”
The other significant change was that of the producer. Rick Rubin, already a legendary figure in the rap world, was brought. Rubin, notorious for his esoteric views on songwriting, played the atmosphere. He encouraged the group to branch out but play fewer notes. He encouraged Kiedis to sing, not just rap.
Review of “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”
“Blood Sugar Sex Magik” was no accident. The Red Hot Chili Peppers was a marvellously ambitious group that always dreamed of making a big time. It is also a gigantic step forward, whether or not fans of the group’s original sound would accept it or not.
It is not merely the fact that the group splits the record between playing aggressive funk-rock with soulful ballads and pop-rock. Allowing Frusciante to write more material and to develop a unique sound has a ripple effect. Flea and drummer Chad Smith are forced to make moves to accommodate the guitarist.
Frusciante and Flea are not overplaying anymore, either. Many of the songs are built from short, to-the-point guitar phrases. The title track reduces a funk riff to its essence before exploding into the chorus. “Funky Monks” and “Suck My Kiss” allow Kiedis to deliver his bravado rapping, but the songs are structured like pop tunes.
And the aggressive jazz funk of “Mellowship Slinky in B Major” or “Sir Psycho Sexy” makes the boys from RHCP seem more like funny cartoon characters than macho rockers talking about how tough they are.
Sure, these aren’t the songs that made “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” sell millions. It was the alternative rock songs that could be played on pop stations. “Breaking the Girl” is a beautiful mid-tempo piece utilising Frusciante’s acoustic guitar. “I Could Have Lied” is a revealing rock ballad that is miles away from anything the band produced on previous albums.
Then there’s “Under the Bridge,” one of the biggest rock songs of the 1990s. Using Kiedis’ honest confession about addiction and loneliness and Frusciante’s Hendrix-inspired licks, the Peppers finally created a mood that millions could relate to.
Having found the key to mainstream acceptance, they apply the formula to their funk-pop songs as well. “Give it Away” is an updated, improved version of the James Brown-like funk-raps they’d employed on previous albums. And “If You Have to Ask” delivers to those not converted to the miracle of funk, a sing-along hook.
Is “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” that good? Yes and no. It is incredibly well performed, recorded and produced. The band finally achieved its potential with this release. The singles are superb and rightfully still feature on rock radio.
Will it be easy for you to move through the entire 73 minutes of runtime and through the many funk tunes? Unless you are a fan of this funk-punk hybrid and ready to jump up and down the room, yes.
While slightly overblown and certainly unedited, “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” is a great alternative-rock album.
Legacy of “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” and RHCP
At the height of alternative rock, “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” placed RHCP at the very centre of things. The band’s quirkiness, willingness to play with great intensity live, and charisma of the performers meant that supporters of Nirvana, as well as fans of Ice Cube could accept the group.
“Blood Sugar Sex Magik” has sold 14 million units. It is widely considered, including by Alt77, the best album made by The Red Hot Chili Peppers. And, the record has been included on numerous lists ranking down the best albums of all-time.
The success, however, briefly pulled the group apart. John Frusciante quit the band after several fights with Anthony Kiedis. This line-up of the band reunited in 1999 and achieved more mainstream success before the cycle was repeated once more.
By the 2020’s The Red Hot Chili Peppers were still searching for songs that could resonate with millions, sometimes finding them, and remained one of the few alt-rock bands to sell out stadiums all over the world.
