Coming together nearly forty years ago, along the way, Red Hot Chili Peppers have created plenty of hit songs that everyone knows and love. Unique to most other bands out there, the Los Angeles rockers reached new heights in 1991 with their album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, blew listeners away in 1999 with Californication, and continued to ride a wave of musical genius with 2002’s By the Way.
Pumping out plenty of other quality matter before and after these three monumental records, the band has also received tons of awards, toured everywhere, and always seem to draw attention. That in mind, it has been six years since they have last released an album. So here it is, their twelfth overall studio album Unlimited Love, out on Friday, April 1, 2022 through Warner Music Group.
No April Fools Day joke, everybody get excited because Unlimited Love comes with a whopping seventeen songs and lasts for well over one hour. Featuring the classic lineup of Anthony Kiedis on vocals, Flea on bass, Chad Smith on drums, along with John Frusciante on guitar, they once again teaming with legendary Producer Rick Rubin, and let us tell you in advance, Unlimited Love is certainly some time well spent.
It kicks into gear with “Black Summer” featuring some smooth guitar work and a tone that is catchy, yet still very strong musically. This is before the rhythmic “Here Ever After” begins with some spoken words, leading seamlessly into Kiedis’ singing. Then you have the jazzy “Aquatic Mouth Dance,” mellow, thoughtful “Not The One,” and dynamic “Poster Child.” Then on the more melodic side of the spectrum there is “The Great Apes,” before the bittersweet story of “It’s Only Natural,” and irresistible “She’s A Lover.”
At this point pretty deep into the album, the band keep your interest with “These Are The Ways,” the groovy “Whatchu Thinkin’,” while “Bastards of Light” features some great hooks, and “White Braids & Pillow Chair” envelopes you with a timeless arrangement. Showing even more diversity, “One Way Traffic” has a faster pace/sound reminiscent of the something out of the ’70s, “Veronica” is a bit more serious, and “Let ‘Em Cry” finds a way to tattoo itself onto your brain. And in the end RHCP close out strong with the big sound of “The Heavy Wing” and the silky smooth finale of “Tangelo.”
If you are a Red Hot Chili Peppers fan you are aware the band has certainly mellowed out some from their younger years. Naturally so, they still can get wild when they want to and Unlimited Love certainly offers a decent balance of everything. That in mind, the album might seem calmer than previous Red Hot Chili Peppers albums, however, it is still chock-full of the usual spirit that this band always puts into their music. Showing extreme diversity and taking on a life of it’s own, Cryptic Rock gives the whole sum of Unlimited Love 5 out of 5 stars.
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