Now I have reviewed ten of Frusciante’s albums, ( I realise I have not done Ataxia 2 but I have not had a chance to really get into it yet). I thought it would be good to conclude my findings and also throw in my other thoughts which have gathered along the way but never really fitted into any of the reviews. But first off I’ll give you my top 10. So in order of preference:
1. Shadows Collide with People.
The first Frusciante album I ever bought and still my
favourite. Upbeat Pop/rock songs mixed
with slow down tempo reflective songs with some cool but weird instrumentals.
2. Inside of Emptiness
The album Frusicante fans would have expected at the
start. Worth it for the guitar solo in
‘Look on’ alone. The rest of the album
is great too though.
3. Curtains
Frusciante goes acoustic.
Great stuff, interesting song structures as ever, and amazing vocals.
4. To Record Only Water for ten days
On here is my favourite instrumentals he has done like
‘Ramparts’ and ‘Murderers’. ‘Going
Inside’ is also total genius.
5. A Sphere in the heart of Silence
Frusciante teams up with Klinghoffer producing a fine
electronica record, from the great beats of ‘Afterglow’ to the slow and
reflective ‘My Life’
6. The Will to Death
I seriously cannot believe this is number 6! I love this album. But it just shows how good Frusciante
is. This is actually quite an upbeat
record despite the title. Its more about
accepting death will happen rather than being a morbid record.
7. DC EP
4 solid tracks, nice and chilled out.
8. Ataxia – Automatic Writing
This is Frusciante goes prog. Personally I felt this was a bit slow, but
there are a few highlights such as ‘Sides’ and ’Another’.
9. Niandra &Usually just a T-shirt
Disappointing Debut, with some highlights such as ‘Been
Insane’. But otherwise it is just a mess.
10. Smiles from the Streets you hold
And just when you thought things could not get worse he
released this pile of rubbish
Good if it was a comedy record.
Frusciante has released so many songs at the same time that
some people may wonder how he decided which songs went on what albums, did he
just record all the songs then group similar sounding songs together. Like going fishing then grouping all the
trout together that you’ve caught. Personally
I think he made the albums separately just like any other artist. The difference is, a) he got on with the job
at hand; b) He is a lot more talented than many of his peers, meaning songs are
easier to write.
I find it interesting that John chose not to really publicise
his releases. Now I realise that John
probably did this because he is in the fortunate position that he can just
release music that he wants to and is not doing it for the money. But by not really publicising it, he is only
going to reach out to Chili fans. I know
there are a lot of them and there are many of the fans who like his material,
and will buy all the records. However,
there will be a lot of people who don’t like the Chili’s who I think these
records would appeal to. Maybe not all
the albums, but for example, someone really into their electro music may like
‘Sphere’ and someone into their sing-along guitar albums would love ‘Shadows’
or ‘To record’. Although I feel
fortunate enough to have found Frusciante’s music I feel there is a whole host
of people who is music would appeal to.
Now I don’t hold this against him in any way and respect his decision
for doing what he is doing. But can you
imagine if he did release ‘Time goes back’ from ‘Shadows’ or ‘Going Inside’ as
singles. With his solid reputation
already, they would surely have been massive hits. But at the same time it’s nice to know that
if he does ever play live in Britain
again (FINGERS CROSSED!). It will be a
small venue and would be easier that it would have been to get tickets!
Personally I feel John released these albums too
quickly. The concept was a nice idea and
not well heard of but especially albums like ‘Sphere’ and ‘Ataxia’ take quite a
few listens to get into them. By the time
you start getting into them; the next one is released and I have to start again
and the previous releases kind of get forgotten about. Of course by doing it this way as well you
kind of force feeding the listener and then making them starve for 2 or more
years till the next release. What I
think he should have done is spread them out to every 5 or 6 months. That way
the momentum is still there and the listener gets more time to digest each
album on there own merit.
I think the key to Frusicante which differentiates from a
lot of other artists is that there are no boundaries to his imagination. I think a lot of artists have these
boundaries which limit their creativity which is often associated to the level
of risk. For example, the further away
from mainstream, the higher the risk. Not
only this, but the further away from their comfort zone they go; the higher the
risk. Maybe its not even there comfort
zone, it could be that they want to stay cool.
Perceptions fans have about the band, maybe important to why they like
them and if they change, they may fear they will loose all there fans that got
them there in the first place. Some
people its all in the mind as they don’t even realise what they are capable
of. They think they are not a creative
person and can only go so far. But that
mindset is exactly what is stopping them and can be removed just with a change
in attitude and realising that anything is possible. Through all the albums John Frusciante has
produced both as a solo artist and in his band, it is clear there are no limits
to his imagination. It is not that he
doesn’t care what his fans think, but he wants to make music that he wants to
make. He doesn’t want to just re hash
the same music year after year like bands like Iron Maiden. He is always looking to stretch the
boundaries in his music, whether it’s learning new instruments, new
collaborations or listening to other peoples music and learning things from
them. This way, things are kept fresh
and exciting. The way music should be.
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