Red Hot Chili Peppers: Ranking Their Albums From Worst To Best

9. Mother's Milk

Now this one potentially is controversial. Released in 1989, Mother's Milk was the first album to feature John Frusciante and Chad "Will Ferrell" Smith and is often regarded as the bridge between the earlier records and their more commercial post-Blood Sugar Sex Magic work. Actually, Mother's Milk is very much its own beast - it's by far the most "punk" album of their discography, with aggressive cuts like Taste The Pain and Stone Cold Bush being obvious nods to the Stooges and the Sex Pistols.

The funk was also dialled back considerably, with producer Michael Beinhorn favouring a more noisy, visceral approach. It's uneven, if at times brilliant. The chemistry of these four musicians (which would be developed further on later releases) is evident on the wonderful guitar/bass duelling on opener Good Time Boys and the ferocious cover of Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground - one of those songs it's just impossible to listen to without moving some part of your anatomy.

Kiedis was also becoming a more versatile singer, with Knock Me Down a tribute to his late buddy Slovak, featuring his most melodic vocal work by that point. It's Beinhorn's conscious decision to push that unmistakeable Chilis funkiness into the background that really hurts the album for me. During recording, Frusciante clashed with the producer repeatedly over the latter's insistence on using heavy distortion and crunchy metal guitar tones. In a 1991 interview with Total Guitar, the axe-player admitted his dislike of the album and his overly "macho" playing. Indeed, for a man hugely responsible for shaping their 90s sound, it's easy to forget he's actually on the record.

That's not to say his psychedelic leanings are completely ignored - Pretty Little Ditty allows the guitarist to flex his melodic muscles and hints at what was to come later - it's also one of the album's stand-outs.