10 Amazing Albums Turning 30 In 2021
7. Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chili Peppers
When looking at the start of the '90s, there was no real guarantee that a band like the Red Hot Chili Peppers would become the next big thing. Aside from their chaotic shows across the California area and the recent addition of guitarist John Frusciante, the funk punk sound of the Peppers felt far more suited to a niche audience than anything else. This was the '90s though....the era when the niche became the norm.
Hooking up with famed producer Rick Rubin, Blood Sugar Sex Magik is as purely concentrated as the Peppers got in their '90s prime, with songs that hit like a smack in the face. Compared to their earlier records like The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, Sex Magik feels far more like an experience going from one track to the next, with funk bangers like Suck My Kiss and The Power of Equality meshing up perfectly with slower cuts like Under the Bridge and I Could Have Lied.
This is also where you start to see John Frusciante hitting his stride with the Peppers, with melodies and harmonies that prove he was the right guy for the job after Hillel Slovak's tragic passing a few years before. Coming almost concurrently with the grunge revolution, this was a taste at what the more chaotic side of alternative rock could sound like.