Red Hot Chili Peppers. Californication (1999)

Californication is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on June 8, 1999 on Warner Bros. Records. Produced by Rick Rubin, Californication marked the return of John Frusciante, who had previously appeared on Mother's Milk and Blood Sugar Sex Magik, to replace Dave Navarro as the band's guitarist. Frusciante's return was credited with changing the band's sound altogether. The record was a notable shift in style from what was produced with Navarro. The album's subject material incorporated various sexual innuendos commonly associated with the band, and introduced themes of lust, death, contemplations of suicide, and drugs. Californication produced several hits for the band, including "Around the World", "Otherside", "Californication" and the Grammy-award winning "Scar Tissue". Californication peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard 200. It is the Chili Peppers' most commercially successful album to date, selling more than fifteen million copies worldwide; a revitalization in comparison to their previous album, One Hot Minute. The record marked a change in style for the band; Rolling Stone's Greg Tate noted that "while all previous Chili Peppers projects have been highly spirited, Californication dares to be spiritual and epiphanal."

Guitarist John Frusciante departed from the band mid-tour in 1992, while touring their critically acclaimed album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. It took over a year before the band found a new guitarist to officially begin recording with. Dave Navarro, formerly of Jane's Addiction, was invited to join the Chili Peppers after Arik Marshall, who had finished the remaining tour dates for Blood Sugar Sex Magik, was fired. Navarro influenced the band's ensuing album, One Hot Minute, by incorporating various elements of heavy metal and psychedelic rock, which was something that the Chili Peppers had not previously been notable for. One Hot Minute was a commercial success, selling roughly five million copies (although a let down compared to Blood Sugar Sex Magik). Critics, however, dismissed the album, claiming it was weak and unfocused. Shortly after the release of One Hot Minute, Navarro was fired due to internal differences.

In the years following Frusciante's departure from the Chili Peppers, he had developed a heroin addiction that left him in poverty and near death. He was talked into admitting himself to drug rehabilitation in January 1998. In April 1998, following Frusciante's three month completion, Flea visited his former band-mate and openly invited him to re-join the band, an invitation an emotional Frusciante readily accepted. Within the week, and for the first time in six years, the foursome gathered to play and jump-started the newly reunited Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Track Listing

All songs written by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

1. "Around the World" – 3:58
2. "Parallel Universe" – 4:30
3. "Scar Tissue" – 3:37
4. "Otherside" – 4:15
5. "Get on Top" – 3:18
6. "Californication" – 5:21
7. "Easily" – 3:51
8. "Porcelain" – 2:43
9. "Emit Remmus" – 4:00
10. "I Like Dirt" – 2:37
11. "This Velvet Glove" – 3:45
12. "Savior" – 4:52
13. "Purple Stain" – 4:13
14. "Right on Time" – 1:52
15. "Road Trippin'" – 3:25

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