10 Legendary Rock Albums That Were Produced Terribly

10. Freaky Styley - Red Hot Chili Peppers

The differences between the Red Hot Chili Peppers of today and the one that got started back in the '80s is practically night and day. While funk had always been a trademark part of their sound since day one, they were still a more primal band for their first handful of releases, with Anthony Kiedis only rapping rather than singing all that much. So pairing them with a legend of funk should have helped them, right? Not exactly.

Despite being a fairly local California band, The Peppers managed to get George Clinton to produce their record, which ended up turning to hell from the minute that they started. Original guitarist Hillel Slovak was back on board, only to be pushed to the side in the mix to make room for Flea's basslines. Though the low end is a big part of the Peppers' sound, everything else seems to be really messy listening back to it, which might have to do with the partying going on.

Around the time that the album was being recorded, the misbehavior going on in the studio is the stuff of rock and roll legend, with George being out of his mind on cocaine most of the time and even giving his dealer a vocal cameo on the album when he didn't have enough money to pay him. Compared to the Rick Rubin years, this almost barely qualifies as a Red Hot Chili Peppers record. It's more of a fun experiment by George Clinton that didn't quite pan out.