I first got into the Chili's pretty randomly. It must have been around 1999 (So I would have been 15) and I was on a family holiday in the states. We used to go to a lot of CD shops on these holidays. This was around the time Californication was out and I came across the album a lot. I hadn't actually heard anything by them at this stage but bought the album purely on the basis that it had a cool cover. I really liked the album and got my friend Stephen into them too. We use to listen to it while gaming all the time. It was funny though as we would mainly listen to the first half of the album up to track 7 "Easily" then put it back to the start again. There are so many good tracks and moments throughout this album though. Kicking off with the thunderous "All around the world", the guitar work on "Scar tissue", the epicness of the title track "Californication"; Right through to the kick back track of the year "Road trippin" to close off the album.
I think I did investigate their back catalogue a bit at this time and I think I bought "Blood, Sex sugar magic" which had great tracks "Under the bridge" and "Give it away" which both still get airings in their live sets today. But other albums I either never bought or never got into. "Californication" was a new era for the band after years of battling their demons and drug use. Their next album was "By the way" I felt was even better and a more complete album than "Californication". Ready made anthems such as "Can't stop", "By the way" and "Zephyr song". The Chilis were a well known band before these 2 albums but I feel these albums really propelled them further and made them natural festival headliners. I'm not sure why but I never went to see them live over these 2 albums.
That all changed when "Stadium arcadium came out. This was a double album ram packed with amazing songs. "Wet Sand", "She's only 18" and "Especially in Michigan" amongst my favourite songs on that album and probably remains my favourite album by the Chilis. For this album I went to see them twice on tour. First at T in the park in 2006 then at Hampden park in 2007. I have done write ups of both gigs which are in this blog. The Hampden park gig still remains one of my favourite gigs of all time.
That was the last album the Chilis did with John Frusciante. To me he was one of the most talented gutarists on the planet and I did wonder about the future of the Chilis. Then they brought in Josh Klinghoffer. I was already aware of Josh as he appeared on a number of John Frusciante's solo albums. But I was unsure how he would fit into the Chilis. Flea and John particular had such great on stage chemistry that it would be impossible to replicate. I thought their first album with Josh, "I'm with you" was pretty average. I did however go to see them on this tour with my brother at the SECC. It was a gig I didn't enjoy as much. Josh basically avoided doing all the guitar solos. Now I'm not a guitarist and I have no idea how hard these solos are but that was my lasting memory of the night.
Then there was their most recent album "The Getaway" which was out in 2016. This was a huge step up from "I'm with you". It's almost like the last album was a transition album and now Josh had gelled into the band properly and has a true connection with the other band members. I didn't go to see them live during this tour but I have seen a number of live gigs on you tube and you can see how Josh flourished and connected with Flea the same way John did. It's unfortunate Josh left the band but equally I'm excited to see John back in the band again and hopefully creating something magical once again.
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