Best Albums !: Red Hot Chili Peppers. One Hot Minute (1995)

One Hot Minute is the sixth studio album by American alternative rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on September 12, 1995 on Warner Bros. Records. The worldwide success of the band's previous album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, caused guitarist John Frusciante to become uncomfortable with their status, eventually quitting mid-tour in 1992.

It would be the first and only album former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro would record with the band. His presence altered the Red Hot Chili Peppers' sound considerably. One Hot Minute contains fewer sexual themes than previous records, and explores darker subject matters such as drug use, depression, anguish and grief. It also integrated use of heavy metal guitar riffs. Vocalist Anthony Kiedis, who had resumed addictions to cocaine and heroin in 1994 after being sober for more than five years, approached his lyricism with a reflective outlook on drugs and their harsh effects.

One Hot Minute was a commercial disappointment despite producing three hit singles and reaching #4 on the Billboard Top 200. Blood Sugar Sex Magik had sold twice as many copies as One Hot Minute and received far more critical acclaim. Navarro was ultimately fired from the band due to creative differences in 1997. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of All Music Guide said that "One Hot Minute is as musically ambitious as Blood Sugar Sex Magik, but is even more unfocused, which means it provides the fewest thrills of any of the group's albums."

The Red Hot Chili Peppers had released Blood Sugar Sex Magik in 1991. The album was an instant hit, selling over seven million copies in the United States, and turned the band into international sensations. Guitarist John Frusciante was having difficulty coping with the band's newfound fame, and started to dislike it. Frusciante often argued with his bandmates, and sabotaged performances. He began experimenting with heroin, and steadily increased his usage of the drug as time progressed. Frusciante quit the band in 1992, during their Japanese leg of the tour. He returned to his home in California and became a recluse.

Stunned, the remaining Chili Peppers, who had no suitable replacement for Frusciante, hired Arik Marshall to play the remaining dates after being forced to reschedule. Upon returning to Hollywood, the band placed an ad in the L.A. Weekly for open guitar auditions, which Kiedis considered to be a waste of time. After several months of unsuccessfully looking for a suitable guitarist, drummer Chad Smith suggested Dave Navarro. He had always been the band's first choice, but had been too busy following the 1991 breakup of Jane's Addiction. Navarro eventually accepted the position after productive jam sessions.