Something else I was thinking about, this time while sitting on the floor at the New Years party in this Odds N' Sods Journal Post: "There used to be a time in my life when I was a huge fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. What the fuck happened? I mean, it's not like they regressed as musicians/artists. But, somewhere between John Frusciante's quitting in 1992 and his illustrious return to the band in 1999, they morphed from a jam/funk SoCal band to a Wet/Sandy Vagina band." Let me elaborate. First and foremost, let me say now that Flea always was and always will be a badass, no matter what. Now, throughout the 80s, Anthony Keidis was little more than a Punk-Rapper, and their music reflected this accordingly by being simple, rough, and funky. People, I don't think, realize that they've been around since the early 80s, releasing four studio albums before they hit it big with "Under The Bridge" from what has turned out to be their greatest album "Blood Sugar Sex Magik." However, through each of those first four albums, they steadily improved, broadening the scope of their sounds and talents. "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" was their breakout album - produced by Rick Rubin - maximizing their funk mastery and mixing it with their melodious finest. During the tour for that album, though, Frusciante left the band, let his heroin addiction nearly kill him, and left the band reeling creatively. They released one album in the next seven years - with Jane's Addiction lead guitarist Dave Navarro filling in rather poorly - that had a few singles based on the previous album's success, but was no where near the quality. When Frusciante got clean and returned, they released "Californication." A nice, breezy, well-crafted album that doesn't stand up to repeated listenings, sadly. From then on, they've adopted this ultra-poppy, wimpy style of hippie music that just makes me want to stab my brain with a Q-Tip. Three albums now, I can't stand it! First of all, none of the songs distinguish themselves as particularly interesting to listen to; they all end up as one big pile of lovey-dovey mush. Like I said, they sound Nice, but that's about as far as it goes. "By The Way" was God-awful, and the new double album isn't much better. Apparently, someone was able to distinguish singles from the other songs that don't sound particularly better or worse. Same hooks, same soft-vocals, same whimsical guitar solos. The Red Hot Chili Peppers have morphed from a funny, funky, fresh-sounding group of wide-eyed characters to a boring, adult-contemporary-meets-Generation-X group of erectile-dysfunction-inducing saps.