The Red Hot Chili Peppers will unleash a two-CD set, STADIUM ARCADIUM (Warner Bros.), on May 9, 2006. The collection will contain 28 songs divided between two discs, one dubbed
"It's a double dose from a band at the top of its game," reported the
Los Angeles Times. Rolling Stone called STADIUM ARCADIUM "most
anticipated," while the U.K.’s Q predicted it would be "the biggest album of
2006 -- and the most ambitious."
Singer Anthony Kiedis, bassist Michael "Flea" Balzary, guitarist John
Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith actually wrote 38 songs, recording all
of them with producer Rick Rubin in the same house in the Hollywood
Hills where they recorded 1991's groundbreaking, multi-platinum
BLOODSUGARSEXMAGIK.
"We set out to write 13 songs," says Kiedis. "But as has been the case
every time we've tried to do that, we ended up with 30-some-odd songs.
The difference this time was we ended up liking all of those songs and
finishing all of those songs, and it actually became a very difficult
process to even whittle it down to 28."
"Every album we do, we try to have a concept and a sense of direction,"
Frusciante explains. "The most important idea for this album was
movement." Smith elaborates, "Something new is constantly being introduced,
in every chorus or verse, whether it's a backing vocal or a guitar
part, a different rhythm or an unexpected style."
"The chemistry was in better order than in a long time," Kiedis told
Spin earlier this year. "Everyone is frighteningly happy at the moment."
Although he says he's again exploring "the dark and nefarious side of
Los Angelesâ€? in his lyrics, he clarifies, “but not in a judgmental
sense," venturing, "It's all about the joy of dysfunction."
The lead single, "Dani California," will debut worldwide on April 3.
It will be supported by a video directed by Tony Kaye ("American History
X") portraying a history of rock 'n' roll. The video will debut in the
U.S. on MTV April 4 at 11:00 p.m.; in the U.K. on Channel 4 April 5 at
11:00 p.m.; and throughout the rest of the world on April 6.
STADIUM ARCADIUM'S Jupiter CD track listing comprises: "Dani
California," "Snow (Hey Oh)," "Charlie," "Stadium Arcadium," "Hump de Bump,"
"She's Only 18," "Slow Cheetah," "Torture Me," "Strip My Mind," "Especially
in Michigan," "Warlocks," "C'mon Girl," "Wet Sand" and "Hey."
STADIUM ARCADIUM'S Mars CD track listing comprises: "Desecration
Smile," "Tell Me Baby," "Hard to Concentrate," "21st Century," "She Looks to
Me," "Readymade," "If," "Make You Feel Better," "Animal Bar," "So Much
I," "Storm in a Teacup," "We Believe," "Turn It Again" and "Death of a
Martian."
STADIUM ARCADIUM will also be available in a limited-edition black box
that includes the 28-song, two-CD set, plus a DVD with the "Dani
California" video and behind-the-scenes “making of the videoâ€? footage; a
one-hour band interview; a 28-page booklet; original artwork by the
band; and "special space-age discoveries."
Kiedis says of the double album’s title: "I hope it means something
different to everyone, but to me, in the chorus of the song 'Stadium
Arcadium,' I get the feeling of being off in the wilderness with a large
group of people creating a huge light, playing music for those people
and reflecting the love that's going on between us and them."
"I think we're aware that we're all vehicles of something much bigger
than ourselves," Flea allows. "And we also know it's up to us to do the
footwork to get in a position to receive all this energy flying around.
Spirituality can be a pretty vague term, but each of us in our own way
is interested in looking beyond what's directly in front of our face."
STADIUM ARCADIUM is the ninth album from the Chili Peppers and the
first since 2002's BY THE WAY, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200.
All told, the band has sold more than 50 million albums, logged seven
multiplatinum CDs and scored eight #1 Modern Rock hits.
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