Simon RushworthRed Hot Chilli Peppers – The Getaway (Warner Bros.)
Genre: Alt Rock
It’s taken a while for the RUSHONROCK team to pluck up the courage to give The Getaway a whirl. Once upon a time we loved RHCP. With a passion. Above all other alt rock acts.
But there was no rush to check out the band’s latest long player. Fear, rather than optimism, was the overriding emotion. There was a real worry that this would be the latest in an increasingly long line of RHCP duds that’s fast eroding this once great band’s now flimsy reputation.
It would be a relief to report The Getaway represents a turning point: a nod to the glory days and a taste of an exciting future to come. But there’s no relief here. Or at least not until the final note of set closer Dreams Of Samurai. This is wretched stuff from start to finish.
It’s difficult to understand where it all went wrong for a band that once pushed the boundaries and set pulses racing. Single Dark Necessities is dull in the extreme while Go Robot and Feasting On The Flowers are the kind of filler RHCP would never have allowed near their classic releases.
Danger Mouse will be mightily pleased with his production – it’s crisp, current and spotlessly clean. In fact it’s the very antithesis of what RHCP were all about and the reason they’re rapidly becoming utterly redundant as a rock and roll band.
RUSHONROCK RATED: 3/10 Lukewarm Chilli Peppers