Doppio botto per i cari vecchi peppers. I losangelini fanno le cose in grande per il loro nono album in studio: 28 tracce, e tutte molto differenziate tra loro. Quella dell'album doppio è una moda che sembra aver rialzato la testa: in questi ultimi due-tre anni si sono susseguiti con questa trovata i Foo Fighters ("In your Honor"), I System of A Down ("Mezmerize"/"Hypnotize"), Ben Harper ("Both Sides of the Gun"), e i redivivi Eagles ("Long Road out of Eden"). Pare anzi che in origine Frusciante & co. avessero definito quaranta tracce su tre cd da uscire spalmati lungo tutto il 2006!.. Pesante! Giustamente la Warner ha detto "Altolà!".

Posto che ogni album doppio è per definizione una esagerazione musicale (non si è salvato da questo nemmeno il beatlesiano "White Album"), "Stadium Arcadium" non fa eccezione: episodi molto riusciti e di sicura presa si alternano a tracce che ti lasciano interdetto. Questa però non vuol essere una recensione track by track, e tanto meno di entrambi i dischi: tra i tasti skip e forward sul telecomando del mio stereo si è delineata una sorta di selezione naturale delle tracce di questo cd, legittimata infine dal mio masterizzatore. Risultato di questa lotta per la sopravvivenza nella tracklist sono comunque la bellezza di 18 tracce, nell'ordine:

 

Stadium Arcadium (bella, Bartok!'s edit)

 

  1. Dani California
  2. Tell Me Baby
  3. Charlie
  4. Stadium Arcadium
  5. Hump de Bump
  6. She's only 18
  7. Slow Cheetah
  8. Torture Me
  9. Hard to Concentrate
  10. Especially in Michigan
  11. Warlocks
  12. We Believe
  13. 21st Century
  14. Hey
  15. She looks to Me
  16. So much I
  17. C'mon Girl
  18. Death of a Martian

 

Vorrei sottolineare che comunque un album di 18 brani buoni è una rarità di questi tempi, per cui dopo aver criticato la scelta di pubblicazione spezzo subito una lancia in favore dei peperoncini. Altra cosa da sottolineare è la varietà stilistica delle tracce e degli arrangiamenti; certamente è stato fatto un bel lavoro in tal senso.

La traccia che inizia l'album, "Dani California", come attacca ricorda a tratti "Parklife" dei Blur. La particolarità di questo singolo è il penoso videoclip parodistico delle leggende del rock: idea poco originale ma di sicuro successo presso la mtv generation. Va bene scimmiottare Beatles, Kiss, Misfits, Van Halen e compagnia bella ma... ehi!... giù le mani dalla buon'anima di Kurt! Un po' di rispetto!.. La canzone non è male, buon apripista.

"Tell me Baby" segna un piacevole ritorno alle sonorità funky dei bei tempi andati. Avrei scelto questa come primo singolo, ma va bene così. La piacevole sorpresa di questo disco è proprio che ci sono vari pezzi funkeggianti molto molto carini ("Charlie", "Hump de Bump", "21st Century", "C'mon Girl") e viste le sonorità del precedente "By the Way" non è poco. Le ballate ci sono, ma vi è in esse il tentativo di evitare banalità: "Hard to Concentrate" riprende sonorità semi-caraibiche (la chitarra di Frusciante, mai così versatile come su questo disco, a un certo punto arriva a sembrare un ukulele) e "Hey" é uno slow rock latino con tanto di assolo alla Santana.

Le tracce migliori di "Stadium Arcadium" sono però senza dubbio "She's only 18", un funk rock settantino che si configura come uno dei pezzi più belli dei peppers dai tempi di "Around the World", e poi "Especially in Michigan". Questo è un pezzo che spinge da subito, comincia con un riff che sembrano gli U2, e invece alla fine scopri esserci anche la chitarra del grande Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, directly from The Mars Volta, mica cavoli! "We Believe" ne è il proseguimento ideale; alle strofe soffuse e melanconiche si interpone un ritornello deciso, costruito su accordi semplici quanto suggestivi. I The Mars Volta sembrano anche quasi omaggiati nelle ritmiche sincopate di "Torture Me", altro pezzo tirato.

A chiudere questa selezione (così come l'intero album) una ballata, "Death of a Martian", sentita e struggente abbastanza per chiudere questa lunga avventura musicale.

Due righe sulle escluse, contando che tra quelle ne sono usciti ben due singoli: "Snow (hey oh!)" sembra una nuova "Universally Speaking", cioè il classico pezzo volutamente ripetitivo buono per le radio, ma a me personalmente dopo due passaggi aveva già spaccato i marroni. Quando poi ho sentito in heavy rotation pure "Desecration Smile" ho pensato che o non capivo nulla di marketing musicale o mi si erano rincretiniti i dirigenti della Warner. Per il resto pezzi noiosi, b-sides buone per allungare il brodo.

Peccato che abbiano voluto strafare, poteva essere un cd veramente buono. Il mio giudizio si fa così in due: 4 stelle alla selezione così come l'avrei fatta io e 3 al disco così come è stato concepito.

Elenco tracce testi e video

01   Dani California (04:42)

Getting born in the state of Mississippi
Papa was a copper
And Mama was a hippie

In Alabama she would swing a hammer
Price you gotta pay when you break the panorama

She never knew that there was
Anything more than poor
What in the world does your
Company take me for

Black bandanna, sweet Louisiana
Robbin' on a bank in the state of Indiana
She's a runner, rebel and a stunner
On her merry way sayin', "Baby watcha gonna"

Looking down the barrel of a hot metal .45
Just another way to survive

California rest in peace
Simultaneous release
California show your teeth
She's my priestess; I'm your priest

She's a lover, baby and a fighter
Shoulda seen it comin' when it got a little brighter
With a name like Dani California
The day was gonna come when I was gonna mourn ya

A little loaded she was stealin' another breath
I love my baby to death

California rest in peace
Simultaneous release
California show your teeth
She's my priestess; I'm your priest

Who knew the other side of you?
Who knew what others died to prove?
Too true to say goodbye to you
Too true to say say say

Push the fader, gifted animator
One for the now and eleven for the later
Never made it up to Minnesota
North Dakota man was a gunnin' for the quota

Down in the Badlands, she was savin' the best for last
It only hurts when I laugh
Gone too fast

California rest in peace
Simultaneous release
California show your teeth
She's my priestess; I'm your priest

California rest in peace
Simultaneous release
California show your teeth
She's my priestess; I'm your priest

02   Snow ((Hey Oh)) (05:34)

Come to decide that
The things that I tried
Were in my life
Just to get high on

When I sit alone
Come get a little known
But I need more
Than myself this time

Step from the road
To the sea to the sky
And I do believe
That we rely on

When I lay it on
Come get to play it on
All my life to sacrifice

Hey oh
Listen what I say oh
I got your hey oh
Now listen what I say oh

When will I know
That I really can't go
To the well once more
Time to decide on

When it's killing me
When will I really see
All that I need to look inside

Come to believe
That I better not leave
Before I get my chance to ride

When it's killing me
What do I really need
All that I need to look inside

Hey oh
Listen what I say oh
Come back and hey oh
Look at what I say oh

The more I see, the less I know
The more I like to let it go
Hey oh, woah

Deep beneath the cover
Of another perfect wonder
Where it's so white as snow

Privately divided
By a world so undecided
And there's nowhere to go

In between the cover
Of another perfect wonder
Where it's so white as snow

Running through the field
Where all my tracks
Will be concealed
And there's nowhere to go

When to descend
To amend for a friend
All the channels
That have broken down

Now you bring it up
I'm gonna ring it up
Just to hear you sing it out

Step from the road
To the sea to the sky
And I do believe
What we rely on

When I lay it on
Come get to play it on
All my life to sacrifice

Hey oh
Listen what I say oh
I got your hey oh
Listen what I say oh

The more I see the less I know
The more I like to let it go
Hey oh

Deep beneath the cover
Of another perfect wonder
Where it's so white as snow

Privately divided
By a world so undecided
And there's nowhere to go

In between the cover
Of another perfect wonder
Where it's so white as snow

Running through the field
Where all my tracks
Will be concealed
And there's nowhere to go

I said hey, hey, yeah
Oh yeah, tell my love now
Hey, hey, yeah
Oh yeah, tell my love now

Deep beneath the cover
Of another perfect wonder
Where it's so white as snow

Privately divided
By a world so undecided
And there's nowhere to go

Deep beneath the cover
Of another perfect wonder
Where it's so white as snow

Running through the field
Where all my tracks
Will be concealed
And there's nowhere to go

I said hey, oh yeah
Oh yeah, tell my love now
Hey, yeah, yeah, oh yeah

03   Charlie (04:37)

All aboard... stitch in time
Get yours... got mine
In a minute... I'll be there
Sit tight... get square

You can do it at the hippodrome
Slide back, trombone
Anybody got a TV tome?
That's right, unknown

When I pick up on that smell
Pick it up and run like hell
Little woman save me some
Better get up on your run

So much more than Charlie's wakin' me
To my core and Charlie's shakin' me
Tell my story and Charlie's making me
And Charlie's making me smile

Everybody... do the twist
Get the the message... on Flea's fist
Move around like a scientist
Lay down... get kissed

Big picture and it never lies
Big daddy will advise
Eveready in disguise
Sunset... sunrise

When I pick up on that smell
Pick it up and run like hell
Little woman save me some
Better get up on your run

So much more than Charlie's wakin' me
To my core and Charlie's shakin' me
Tell my story and Charlie's making me
And Charlie's making me smile

My heart, your skin, this love I'm in
We don't arrive without a suprise
You're right, I'm wrong, be free, belong
Intimate sight has come in to light

When I pick up on that smell
Pick it up and run like hell
Little woman save me some
Better get up on your run

All I ever wanted to
Was pick it up and run with you
Slip it into a summer spell
Double up and run like hell, ooh

So much more than Charlie's wakin' me
To my core and Charlie's shakin' me
Tell my story and Charlie's making me
And Charlie's making me smile, woah now

My heart, your skin, this love I'm in
We don't arrive without a suprise
You're right, I'm wrong, be free, belong
Intimate sight has come in to light

My heart, your skin, this love I'm in
We don't arrive without a suprise
You're right, I'm wrong, be free, belong
Intimate sight has come in to light

04   Stadium Arcadium (05:15)

Bells around St. Petersburg
When I saw you
I hope I get what you deserve
And this is where I find

Smoke surrounds your perfect face
And I'm falling
Pushing a broom out into space
And this is where I found a way

The stadium arcadium
A mirror to the moon (mirror to the moon)
Well I'm forming and I'm warming (to you)
State of the art until the clouds come crashing

Stranger things have happened both
Before and after noon (before and after noon)
Well I'm forming and I'm warming (to you)
Pushing myself, and no, I don't mind asking now

Alone inside in my forest room
And it's storming
I never thought I'd be in bloom
But this is where I start

(Derelict days and the stereo plays
For the all night crowd that it cannot phase)
And I'm calling

(Tedious weeds that the media breeds
But the animal gets what the animal needs)
And I'm sorry

The stadium arcadium
A mirror to the moon (mirror to the moon)
And I'm forming and I'm warming (to you)
State of the art until the clouds come crashing

Stranger things have happened both
Before and after noon (before and after noon)
Well I'm forming and I'm warming (to you)
Pushing myself, and no, I don't mind asking now

And this is where I find

Rays of dust that wrap around
Your Citizen
Kind enough to disavow
This is where I stand

The stadium arcadium
A mirror to the moon (mirror to the moon)
Well I'm forming and I'm warming (to you)
A state of the art until the clouds come crashing

Stranger things have happened both
Before and after noon (before and after noon)
And I'm forming and I'm warming (to you)
I'm pushing myself, and no, I don't mind asking

The stadium arcadium
A mirror to the moon (mirror to the moon)
Well I'm forming and I'm warming (to you)
State of the art until the clouds come crashing

Stranger things have happened both
Before and after noon (before and after noon)
And I'm forming and I'm warming to you

05   Hump de Bump (03:33)

40 detectives this week
40 detectives strong
Takin' a stroll down Love Street
Strollin' is that so wrong
Can I get my co-dependent

Hump de bump doop bodu
Bump de hump doop bap
Hump de bump doop bodu

Oh no!

Bump de hump doop bodu
Hump de bump doop bap
Bump de hump doop bodu

Bump bump

Must have been a hundred miles
Any of a hundred styles
It's not about the smile you wear but
the way we make out

When I was another loner
Nothin' but a two beach comber
Anybody seen the sky? I'm
I'm wide awake now

Workin' the beat as we speak
Working the "belle du monde"*
Believe in the havoc we wreak
Believin', is that so wrong
Can I get my co-dependant

Hump de bump doop bodu
Bump de hump doop bap
Hump de bump doop bodu

Bump de hump doop bodu
Hump de bump doop bap
Bump de hump doop bodu

Bump bump

C'mon!

Must have been a hundred miles
Any of a hundred styles
It's not about the smile you wear but
the way we make out

When I was another loner
Nothin' but a two beach comber
Anybody seen the sky? I'm,
I'm wide awake now

Hump de bump doop bodu
Bump de hump doop bap
Hump de bump doop bodu

Oh no!

Bump de hump doop bodu
Hump de bump doop bap
Bump de hump doop bodu

Bump bump

Listen to me what I said
Try to get it through your head
A little bit of circumstance and
A chance to make out

Livin' in a citadel
It's hard enough to be yourself
Waiting for the bell to toll and
I am wide awake now

Must have been a hundred miles
Any of a hundred styles
It's not about the smile you wear but
the way we make out

When I was another loner
Nothin' but a two beach comber
Anybody seen the sky? I'm
I'm wide awake now

06   She's Only 18 (03:25)

She's only 18
Don't like the Rolling Stones
She took a short cut
To being fully grown

She's got that mood ring
A little sister rose
The smell of Springsteen
A pair of pantyhose

This talking picture show
Is leaking from a silhouette
She said my man you know
It's time to get your fingers wet

Your hustle's busted when
You can't afford a cigarette
The last I heard from you
You were screaming "handle it"

Knock the world right off its feet
And straight onto its head
The book of love will
Long be laughing after you are dead

Fascinated by the look of you
And what was said
Make a play for all the
Brightest minds and light will shed

I heard some P-Funk
Out on the road again
To get your head shrunk
Is what I recommend

It's in your bloodline
A perfect Frankenstein
Out on that lone pine
I'm gonna make you mine

It's understood you wrap
Your voodoo right around my neck
You've got some glitter on your
Kitty at the discotheque

I put my lovin' in your oven
Not a head to check
The last I heard from you
You were screaming "resurrect"

Knock the world right off its feet
And straight onto its head
The book of love will
Long be laughing after you are dead

Fascinated by the look of you
And what was said
Make a play for all the
Brightest minds and light will shed

Knock the world right off its feet
And straight onto its head
The book of love will
Long be laughing after you are dead

Fascinated by the look of you
And what was said
Make a play for all the
Brightest minds and light will shed

07   Slow Cheetah (05:19)

1-2-3-4

Waking up dead inside of my head
Will never never do, there is no med
No medicine to take

I've had a chance to be insane
Asylum from the falling rain
I've had a chance to break

It's so bad, it's got to be good
Mysterious girl, misunderstood
Dressed like a wedding cake

Any other day and I might play
A funeral march for Bonnie Brae
Why try and run away

Slow cheetah come before for my forest
Looks like it's on today
Slow cheetah come it's so euphoric
No matter what they say

I know a girl she worked in a store
She knew not what her life was for
She barely knew her name

They tried to tell her she would never be
As happy as a girl in a magazine
She bought it with her pay

Slow cheetah come before for my forest
Looks like it's on today
Slow cheetah come it's so euphoric
No matter what they say

Everyone has so much to say
They talk, talk, talk, their lives away
Don't even hesitate

Walking on down to the burial ground
It's a very old dance with a merry old sound
Looks like it's on today

Slow cheetah come before for my forest
Looks like it's on today
Slow cheetah come it's so euphoric
No matter what they say

Slow cheetah come before for my forest
Looks like it's on today
Slow cheetah come it's so euphoric
No matter what they say

08   Torture Me (03:44)

09   Strip My Mind (04:19)

10   Especially in Michigan (04:00)

Life is my friend
Rake it up to take it in
Wrap me in your cinnamon
Especially in Michigan
...Well I could be your friend

White clouds I'm in
A mitten full of fisherman
C'mon huckleberry finn
Show me how to make her grin
...Well I'm in Michigan

Cry me a future
Where the revelations run amok
Ladies and gentlemen
Lions and tigers come running
Just to steal your luck

A rainy Lithuanian
Who's dancing as an Indian
Painted in my tiger skin
(Especially in Michigan)

Double chins and bowling pins
Unholy presbyterians
Land is full of medicine
I find it when I'm slipping in
...Into Michigan

The tainted new librarian
Who fainted when she tucked you in
Let's float away like zeppelins
(On stoic gusts of northern wind)

Out on the farm we'll be
Swimming with the mother duck
Deep in the mitten where
Lions and tigers come running
Just to steal your luck

Life is my friend
Underwater violins
Order now from ho chi min
A porcelain that comes in twins
...When I'm in Michigan

Throw me in the looney bin
Cause I can take it on the chin
The cleavage of your pillow skin
(Is moving like a violin)

11   Warlocks (03:25)

Warlocks in wonderland
I've got a megatropolis in my hand
And a subterranean marching band
Making noise for the boys in the Vatican

A little package and off we go
Oh, ticky ticky tackety tic tac toe
I know everybody's Eskimo
We've got another thing coming and that's our show

Every night I go looking for you
Everyone in the world adores you
A little packet of something kind
To find your reason

Coming up on it everyday for
Look at me and it's what I stay for
A little locket of fantasy
That we believe in

Lilacs and contraband
I've got Santa Monica in my hand
A little Beatlemania when I can
I've got two big bags of old Japan

Ring side and blow-by-blow
Another main event at the old rainbow
We're comin' right on top of the tupelo
When she looks just like Bridgette Bardot

Every night I go looking for you
Everyone in the world adores you
A little packet of something kind
To find your reason

Coming up on it everyday for
Look at me and it's what I stay for
A little locket of fantasy
That we believe in

Make a deal with Uncle Weezer
Sign your name to claim
China Chow will try to please her
Sweetness come from Jane

Warlocks in wonderland
I've got a rockapotamus in my hand
With a happy ending that's made of sand
With a little bit of loving is all I plan

Every night I go looking for you
Everyone in the world adores you
A little packet of something kind
To find your reason

Coming up on it everyday for
Look at me and it's what I stay for
A little locket of fantasy
That we believe in

Every night I go looking for you
Everyone in the world adores you
A little packet of something kind
To find your reason

Coming up on it everyday for
Look at me and it's what I stay for
A little locket of fantasy
That we believe in now

12   C'mon Girl (03:48)

13   Wet Sand (05:09)

My shadow side, so amplified
Keeps coming back dissatisfied
Elementary, son, but it's so...

My love affair with everywhere was innocent
Why do you care?
Someone start the car, time to go...
You're the best I know

My sunny side has up and died
I'm betting that when we collide
The universe will shift into a low

The travesties that we have seen
Are treating me like Benzedrine
Automatic laughter from a pro

My, what a good day for a, walk outside
I'd like to get to know you a little better, baby
God knows that I really tried

My, what a good day for a, take out bride
I'd like to say we did it for the better of...

I saw you there so unaware
Those hummingbirds all in your hair
Elementary, son, but it's so...

The disrepair of Norma Jean
Could not compare to your routine
Balarama beauty goin' toe to toe

My, what a good day for a, let it slide
I'd like to say we did it for the better of...

I thought about it and I brought it out
I'm motivated by the lack of doubt
I'm consecrated but I'm not devout
The mother, the father, the daughter, yeah

Right on the verge, just one more dose
I'm traveling from coast to coast
My theory isn't perfect, but it's close

I'm almost there, why should I care?
My heart is hurting when I share
Someone open up, let it show

My, what a good day for a walk outside
I'd like to think we did it for the better of...

I thought about it and I brought it out
I'm motivated by the lack of doubt
I'm consecrated, but I'm not devout
The mother, the father, the daughter

Oh, you don't form in the wet sand
You don't form at all
Woah, you don't form in the wet sand
I do, yeah

You don't form in the wet sand
You don't form at all
Woah, you don't form in the wet sand
I do, yeah

Carico i commenti...  con calma

Altre recensioni

Di  Vito Alberto

 Non ringrazierò mai abbastanza la rete per questa possibilità: certo, ero in astinenza da Red Hot Chili Peppers ma il singolo in radio aveva edulcorato l'astinenza, non parliamo del video: in un sol termine, geniale!!

 "Stadium Arcadium" rappresenta pienamente la genialità e la sregolatezza di un gruppo di quarantenni che non saranno più Hard come un tempo, ma la loro droga adesso è solo la musica.


Di  Jack_85

 Un album da evitare, da scongiurare (come direbbero i Flaminio Mapphia).

 Non è un disco che fa ballare, ma una ripetizione che rischia di addormentare.


Di  JohnFrusciante

 Finalmente i Peppers si sono risvegliati!!!

 Ci sono canzoni in Stadium Arcadium in cui i Peppers ci danno veramente dentro!


Di  joe strummer

 I Red Hot Chili Peppers non sono più una band di rock alternativo almeno da Californication.

 Le canzoni più belle le troviamo quando i RHCP non ci pensano a ciò che stanno facendo e suonano per come sono ispirati.


Di  zago

 Probabilmente proprio questo voler accontentare tutti ha portato alla realizzazione di un doppio cd da ben 28 canzoni.

 Non si poteva pretendere 28 capolavori, ma sicuramente un po' di energia in più e un Anthony meno concentrato sul canto e più sull'esplosività non poteva che rendere l'album più interessante.