Unlimited Loverelease date: Apr. 1, 2022
format: digital (17 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Rick Rubin
label: Warner Bros. - nationality: USA
12th studio album by RHCP following nearly 6 full years after The Getaway (Jun. 2016). Aside from Rubin is back as producer, the biggest news is that this new album welcomes back John Frusciante, who then replaces Josh Klinghofer - the substitute for Frusciante for eleven years but also a guitarist who only contributed to the band's discography on the 2011 album I'm With You and on the 2016 album.
With Frusciante back, the band is reformed in its most potent line-up and Unlimited Love is just one of two full studio albums of the year - and with its 17 tracks and a total of 73 minutes running time, it's not even a short one!
Fans cheer and jump in joy - that's what they do, when their idols release new stuff, right! But it's been awhile since I saw myself as a "real" fan. I really enjoyed I'm With You, but since then, I found they mostly just seemed to lean back in the seats resting on their merits to live their own idolised rock star lives. Granted, it must be difficult to reinvent themselves, but with this it seems they just give it a go - perhaps thinking: "let's be loose, let's jam along and see where it takes us." And yes, a lot of people respond positively to this their certified most laidback album ever. Frusciante adds his neo-psychedelic electric vibes, Flea and Smith provide a punchy rhythm section as back bone, and Kiedis... well he mostly just babbles on, the way only he knows and the end result is solid RHCP. It's just without new strong songs - in fact there's hardly one great tune, but who give a shjite? It's RHCP, and they are entitled to release whatever they feel like. So that's it. Not an immediate favourite. Not in near future. In fact, not ever, but they play well together sounding like a RHCP copy band copying RHCP giving it as RHCP...
[ allmusic.com, Classic Rock 3,5 / 5, Pitchfork 5,4 / 10, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]
