10 Perfect Rock Singles On Bad Albums
7. The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie - Red Hot Chili Peppers: I'm With You (2011)
It's turning into a patten that every time John Frusciante leaves the Chili Peppers, they flounder in uncreative sludge. After he helped push the band to mainstream success with Blood Sugar Sex Magik, he left in 1992 to pursue a life of tortured heroin binges. It wasn't until his return in '99 that they started to create albums like Californication, By The Way. But, with his second departure in 2009 the band once again seemed stumped. I'm With You, failed to deliver the funky sauce Chilis fans had a taste for.
Josh Klinghoffer has his merits as a guitar player, and his second album with the Chilis demonstrated his ability to deliver high octane riffs. But, for the most part, his guitar playing on I'm With You, was overly reserved, robbing the album of any spark.
For all that, the first single Rain Dance Maggie, hinted the Chilis were headed in an interesting direction. Klinghoffer's approach suited the mellow groove of the rhythm section. The chorus had a hook you could get onboard with, and as always, Flea's bass playing was tantalisingly bouncy.