10 Best Red Hot Chili Peppers Albums - Ranked!
3. By The Way (2002)
The band’s eighth studio album is a real road-trip record, with windows-down tracks like Can’t Stop and By the Way you just want to put pedal to the metal. But the album is also infused with softer melodies that will lend a dream-like quality to any journey.
There’s an understated hopefulness to the tracks, with guitar skipping over constant soothing bass lines and lyrics underpinning a real appreciation of life through the reflection of addiction, love and the acceptance of friends passing.
Again, Frusciante took creative control on this record. After the success of Californication, and with his confidence as a musician growing, he led the band in a new direction, writing closely with Kiedis to produce some truly ethereal vocal harmonies, which led to a unique-sounding album in the Chilis repertoire.
However, despite critical and commercial acclaim, Flea has described a sense of alienation during this period, with Frusciante also writing most of the bass melodies.