If you asked John's fans 12 years ago that he would be making an electronica album in the future, they would probably burst out laughing. As he was not even in a fit state to play the guitar never mind venture into territories you wouldn't associate with Frusciante back then. But times have changed and `Sphere' sees Frusciante and Klinghoffer make a successful venture into the world of electronica. This is the fifth album out of the six albums Frusciante released in 6 months on the Record Collection label, and his 9th overall. I would say this is the most challenging and experimental album Frusciante has ever produced. Using a range of different instruments from synthesizers to string ensembles, making the complexity achieved stand out amongst his other albums. With 7 tracks it is difficult to know whether this classifies as a full length album or an EP. It certainly does not have EP in the title which seems to be customary for EP's. Furthermore at just over 38 minutes it certainly looks as if it is long enough to classify as a full length album.
The album has a good flow to it. Starting off with `Sphere', and then turning it up with the funked up `Afterglow'. The pair then take it to the next level with `Walls' which at points is just insane, as its just feels they are out of control creating a frenzied wall of sound . Due to the sheer intensity of `Walls' it is as if their energy levels are gradually decreasing through the rest of the songs, as they gradually get slower and slower because John and Josh used all their energy up all in this track. By the time the last track comes around it feels like its crawling along at snails pace with album closer `My life'. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, in fact quite the opposite. It works really well, and even though `My life' comes in at 1 minute 23 seconds; by that time it's like they have nothing more to give. Even the vocals have slowed right down when John sings "Life was never what you thought". It is an appropriate pace, which makes the listener hone in on the deep and meaningful lyrics.
The experimentation and the sounds the various sounds achieved by Josh and John on this album are a testament to how they are always looking to keep things fresh and to keep pushing the boundaries of their music. A fine example of this is in `Communique' which sounds like wind channelling through a small passage, accomplishing a kind of whooshing effect which adds an air of eeriness to the track. Likewise `At your Enemies' has some nice effects through it, like the echo effect used on the synthesiser. Combined with Josh's vocals, this is yet another great chilled out track, but at the same time has that ghostly feel to it like `Communique'.
The album is unique in the sense that is the only Frusciante to release which is credited to not only John Frusciante, but Josh Klinghoffer as well. It does surprise me a bit because Klinghoffer has appeared on at least 5 albums by John, and while he does get credited in the sleeve notes, this is the first album that the artist is `John Frusciante and Josh Klinghoffer'. It could be that this is the first time where it was felt that Josh contributed to the song writing, production etc in an equal proportion to the Frusciante. Maybe it was Josh who didn't want to be accredited in the artist title because compared to Frusciante, as he is a lot lesser known than Frusciante and it would be more like `Frusciante and who?'. Who knows, but one things for sure, like Ataxia, Josh's vocals add so much to tracks like `Surrogate people'. This track in particular, I think is the best vocal combination song they have done. The two of their vocals combined just works so well.
Overall this is a really good album. I would say out of all the albums he has done, it is the one requires the most patient in order to fully appreciate it. It's album which stands out as John's most adventurous, which is saying a lot considering some of the experimentation on his other albums. So much so, that although I've listened to this album a lot, I still think I need to listen to it more, as I think there are more layers I still haven't unearthed. This though, is where the real beauty of the album lies.
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