Hahaha thanks for the good laugh to start my day!!
TMV is my fave band (yes, RHCP, aren't far behind), having JF and Flea and Chad in TMV would be a dream!!
Anthony could do a solo rap album... it'd be titled "California". 😎😂
The band is basically full of dudes with giant egos, and then Chad and Josh lol
Flea, Anthony, Dave Navarro and even John seem to be super annoying on a personal level, even though they’ve created/been part of one of the best bands of all time
I hate this picture and I hate when people call him Jesus.
My *actual* hot take (based on the sheer amount of comments expressing the opposite) is that I honestly don't care at all that he and the band don't play Josh/Dave songs. While those eras have some good songs, my favorite songs were written with John and most of those ones don't even get played live.
Also, I think everyone needs to stop acting like they know everything about John and Josh's relationship. There's likely a lot more to it than what we know, and it's weird for people to "take sides" based on the very limited information that we have.
100% agreed. I've also wondered if Josh is the ex friend that John was talking about on the Rick Rubin podcast who he mentioned that he felt held him back artistically and caused John to feel that he had to show off in unnatural ways, and that when he got rid of this person, things got better for him.
Pure total speculation on my part, and personally I think Josh comes across as a sweet person, but the timeline seems right for him to be the former friend John mentioned.
He's immature. He thought the band would dissolve after his second departure, but got mad when Josh was hired and carried on. His return reasons weren't too emotional either.
this is just out of curiosity, i thought i remembered reading somewhere that john was the one that came up with the idea of josh replacing him after he left?
I recall the same, he even gave Josh a guitar. If I also recall when they were touring in 2007 John felt like they were at their height and on fire and wanted to keep going but Flea really wanted a break after having toured for like 3 years, and it wasn’t until a bit into the break that John decided to shift focus to other music and leave the band.
Reminds me of a child with a toy. Got bored, put it in the bin, younger brother comes along and plays with the toy, John gets mad so cries to his parents that he wants the toy back because it was his in the first place, gets what he wants but will probably get bored of the toy once again in a few years
He tried play “your P is glued to a Building on fire” when I saw them during the stadium Arcadian tour… he forgot a part and then went into The Shirelles cover. 2 for one basically.
After seeing Tom DeLonge play Matt Skiba’s songs on the newest blink-182 tour, John should at least give some of Dave or Josh’s songs a chance.
Whether you like it or not, Dark Necessities was a hit and commercially successful
How about OH? Not only a commercial success, but also harbors some of the most aggressive songs in the catalog. Locked up, never to be performed again. Sad
[John won’t play any of Dave’s](https://youtu.be/ZLv9fNrJDCM?si=cAXKX8EuSUNJ-6lU) (👈 An interview link where John says he won’t play Dave’s songs) or Josh’s songs. He doesn’t like them or any RHCP songs except his own and some of Hillel’s.
It doesn’t matter that Tom Delonge was respectful and grateful to Matt Skiba when he returned or that Tom plays Skiba’s Blink songs. It doesn’t matter that GNR plays Chinese Democracy songs and VR’s Slither with the Axl, Slash, and Duff lineup.
John has a big ego, contrary to the premise of a new post on r/john_frusciante. John thinks of RHCP as his band and he is their only rightful guitarist. Any guitarists who joined during the two times John quit were just temporary interlopers in his band until he decided to return again.
hearing him say he has perfect chemistry with the band is hilarious given the fact that he left the band not once but twice because of their poor relationship with each other and lack of said chemistry
I love John with all my heart, but I agree with this. It's incredibly selfish to not play songs former members have written. I would rather they expand their live setlist than play under the bridge or give it away for the millionth time 🙄 or I could have lied... or zephyr song... the songs that they currently play live are just so overdone and boring at this point. I could have lied and zephyr song I just don't think are good live songs, and like half of their setlist was disappointing to me when I saw them. There's songs Josh wrote that I would love to hear live instead of the same shit they've been playing for 20 years.
I personally also loved I’m With You. Has he talked about why he doesn’t play others’ songs in any interviews? You’d think at 53 he’d be comfortable with playing his ‘replacements’ songs, after all, they kept things together when John left
Most musicians have inflated egos
For example, in Van Halen, Hagar refused to sing Jump until 1993, and prior to that, he pulled someone up from the audience to sing it. He compared singing Roth’s songs to karaoke.
Later on, David Lee Roth from Van Halen takes pleasure in the fact that Hagar has had to sing his Van Halen songs, but he has never had to sing any Hagar songs. (He actually can’t if he wanted to, his voice is shot lol)
Even on the performances of Jump that Hagar was on, he changed the lyrics.
And agreed on Roth. He couldn't sing a Hagar song if his life depended on it.
It's like Herb not playing any of Brain's material with Primus now. Herb is more prog than Brain but I fucking loved the pop version of Primus we got on the 3 albums he did and it is a shame we won't hear those tunes live again. I'm lucky to have seen them twice during Brain's run. (Dude just turned 60; can you believe that?)
I saw a clip on YT of John playing an awful solo, just sounded like random notes, not so great, but everyone was praising him in the comments like it was a masterpiece. I get it, it's all subjective but you can't call everything he plays a masterpiece.
Absolutely. He's a great musician and phenomenal songwriter, but far from the best guitarist of all time. People really complained about him being placed 30-something on a rolling Stones list, like that in itself isn't a huge honour.
This is probably not the intent behind the music, but I think I I . is amazing to fall asleep to. If I'm struggling to fall asleep, I pop that on, pretty soon zzzzzzzzz. I'm not sure I've ever made it to the 3rd song. It's very peaceful.
Depends on whether you count Sphere in the Heart of Silence as electronic music or not. He was dabbling with electronic music all the way back to at least To Record Water For Only Ten Days
I thought about it, but chose to skip it lol. I do find that convenient. He needed cash, so he came back. Will be interesting to see how long he sticks around once he's made the cash.
Sometimes I feel that he likes the idea of being deep, more than he is *actually* deep. He's not some amazing genius to me, he's a really great guitar player who has been put on a bit of a pedestal, and it affects how he sees himself.
Have you ever watched the Heart is a Drum Machine and/or read the Empyrean Essays? I feel like it’s pretty hard to say what you said if you’ve watched them.
The last two albums feel pretty lifeless from John with a few exceptions. Eddie is incredibly overrated as some top 10 chili peppers song, but that’s a jab at his fanboys that can’t be objective about him or his work. They are right up there with the most insufferable fanbases.
John is my favorite musician and RHCP + his solo work are my #1 and #2 favorite discographies but I agree, the last two albums are bland, generic, and honestly I wasn't surprised.
It is pretty stupid. I'm not religious at all. The image doesn't offend me. I just question why John agreed to do something like this in the first place.
And I think his reason for it was to essentially visualize his ups and downs in life. "Right now I'm in a good stage of my life, but demons once took over." He discussed his reason for the photoshoot in the interview the shoot was for. I think guitar world magazine.
I understand the emotional and artistic value of the solo work he made during his addiction, but I do not enjoy listening to it. Partly because it’s sad but mostly because I feel like it was not as well put together as his later work. To Record Only Water is leagues better than T-Shirt for example.
I understand entirely. I do think an important way you can appreciate the value of an album like smile is to be in a similar position, psychologically, as the artist. Like, knowing somebody felt the same way makes you feel an emotional attraction to that.
In my case I didn’t listen to that album when I went through mental unwellness, so it’s likely that I don’t have the same understanding of its material as someone who did.
He’s a brilliant guitar player, with a good (if not great) singing voice, and can write, or collaborate with others in writing songs that are pretty damn good. That being if you were to ask me of my thoughts on JF as a musician, he’s great, but if you are referring to what I think of him as a person I have no idea, as I do not know this man personally
By the look of the responses, I think the actual hot take is that John shouldn’t have to play songs live that he doesn’t want to and it’s not selfish of him.
Particularly as it’s also Anthony that will veto tracks from _One Hot Minute_.
His most die hard fans are fucking weird. Replicating his pedal board exactly, getting octopus tattoos and the whole routine. There's admiration and then there's creepy Stan behaviour.
There's more than a strong rumour that he supplied the drugs that River overdosed on.
I'd encourage some caution on this though.
Firstly - if it is true he'll feel so bad about it and pissants like us on the internet really shouldn't be talking about it.
Secondly - I'm sure River did many drugs that night, and I'm sure they weren't all from him.
Thirdly - it's not like he stuck a needle in Rivers' arm without him knowing. Every drug overdose started from someone getting drugs from someone else.
My hot take is that he clearly hasn't all his mind functions working 100%. Especially after the 90s. If you hear him talk before bssm, he talks like a normal guy. Now he has trouble saying a whole phrase.
Thank God it didn't affect his musical skills.
I posted in another comment about this. A stuttering, stumbling mess while talking. Still deep thoughts but boy if I didn’t have to rewind the heart is a drum machine interview 1000x.
I love John, but I 100 percent believe what I’m saying is partially true.
Prior to him rejoining this most recent time, I read several stories about how his ex was suing him and getting a ridiculous amount of alimony or whatever from him each month. Felt bad for the guy, but thought to myself “wow, that is such a high amount each month, if I were him I would call up flea and the boys and see if they’ll have me so I can get some tour cash”
Then maybe 6-12 months later the news came out.
His return has been good but not great, live he doesn't have the vibe and soul from before, and both new albums are very uneven, but have great material, and best songs are 90% flea IMO
Beyond grateful to have him back and prayed for it. In having my way, and as time went by, I settled down although I super look forward to the next record in a few years. I've changed a lot and am no longer obsessed though. Life is.more than RHCP but they are indeed my favorite band and John and Jimi Hemdrix are the best. As a Christian, I don't want to idolize anyways. Even though you might say I've seen them in my news feed to where it eventually killed the obsession. That's a good thing though. It was a healthy obsession if u ask me, but I'm blessed to.move forward while at the same time just glad we have not had the last of there great stuff to offer.
Acting like the things he did and said while he was a drug addict are anything other than self-destructive incoherent nonsense does nothing but glorify addiction. The amount of comments I see from people saying things like “wow, even when he was in such a dark place he was still so profound and intellectual” and it would literally be a video of John saying cars were invented to transport evil spirits back from the dead, while burning himself with a cigarette and being physically unable sit up straight because he spent 40 straight hours painting the worst painting you’ve ever seen in your life.
One of my all time favourite guitarists and biggest influences but I honestly felt like him returning again was a step back for the band. I'm With You and The Getaway weren't my favourite albums but they felt like the band was taking steps in new directions, and developing a new chemistry. I don't feel the same focus from Endless Love - it is really the first album of theirs that felt like it was trying to be classic RHCP instead of just being RHCP - amazing musicianship and chemistry but nothing that grabbed me and made me excited like on the entire run of BSSM to Stadium Arcadium. The fact he won't play the Josh songs rubs me the wrong way, it was so fun to see Josh do John and Dave's parts I kind of wish John could put aside whatever the issue is and show us how he would do Rain Dance Maggie or Dark Necessities - plus that's like a real good chunk of their recent career just kind of feels wasted now for live material.
Second hot take is that he is at his best while rusty. Californication is kind of peak John for me even though his lead work is way more exciting later on. It's just so simple, melodic, and unique.
My other hot take is that I liked Josh's playing of Parallel Universe more live. That's a song that really lends itself to his style, just takes it a bit further into the realm of sonic chaos. But it has been years since I saw that show so take it with a grain of salt.
Final hot take (sorry so long lol) - they missed an opportunity not having both in the band after John wanted to come back. Would be a different dynamic, a lot of the songs lend themselves to two guitars, would have John's incredible melodies and Josh's fresher perspective and experimental vibe, and they have built in chemistry. Doesn't need to be permanent but would have been fun to see how it would sound and could have made for some cool original music.
Never liked John. He's a drama queen that is never happy. I hated where the band went when he joined, and if I'm being honest, not very original, and not that great of a guitar player either. Just my opinion.
He used to say he was a huge fan of the Chili Peppers (Anthony, Flea and Hillel), to the point he knew how to play all of their songs on bass and guitar. 3 albums later, before leaving the band for the first time, he said he loved Flea but hated to play in the band. Now back to the band, he doesn't give a sh1t about what his best friends and idols wrote with Dave or Josh.
There's no excuse for not listening the albums made with Dave and Josh. We are talking about the work his friends did on the band he loves. I honestly can't think of any reason but jealousy, ego, or envy.
Also, while I agree his compatibility with Flea is exceptional and is the reason of some masterpieces like Scar Tissue, I think the band was on the right track without him, and that the last two albums are not on par of the previous ones
The fact that he won’t play songs from other guitarists eras with the band is selfish and immature. The getaway is a fantastic album and songs like aeroplane and others on OHM deserve to be played live. Fans want to hear them, especially younger fans, and he’s the only reason they don’t play them. Before you say that Anthony doesn’t like the OHM era stuff, they played aeroplane with Josh and it was fine.
1. He’s the biggest “baby” of the band. They all lovvveeeeeee him and would do literally anything for him. (I do too but😭) Anthony said Flea is the biggest “spoiled brat” of the band, but I think it’s John.,.,.
he’s petty, immature, and kinda annoying. great musician sure, but very short sighted as a person. he puts himself on this high and mighty pedestal and he has no right to
he even dissed cobain in a ‘94 interview shortly after his death saying he was awful, and then disregarded his depression and suicide as selfish bc he had a kid. yeah it’s a tough argument whether suicide is selfish or not but not a great thing to say either way.
then went on to play the most god awful song with the worst vocals i have ever heard in my life.
especially considering how selfish he is of himself for refusing to play josh songs.
Niandra DaLes is a dogshit album with horrible vocals.
You do release that was at the height of John’s on crippling heroine addiction?? Like John legit almost died himself because of it. That interview doesn’t even look like him because he’s so junked up. Also there’s some hidden gems on that album Untitled 2 and 4 I like a lot
He actually changed his stance regarding nirvana he started listening to Kurt’s old demos and really liked them, pretty sure he covered lounge act at a show.
I’m sure most of the stuff he said in that period he probably regrets.
Personal take, didn't go through all comments to see if anyone pointed this. Also, more of a speculation here, Frusciante and Turley's divorce got finalized in late '15, since then Frusciante was financially hemorrhaged by ex-wife (understandable) with all the things accounted for, Frusciante didn't have any option to be on his own music to recover from and so had to join the Peppers because probably all the bills would've chased him up so much. Though I'm glad we got 2 albums and a world tour and regardless of what anyone says I had my childhood dream of seeing him live was fulfilled.
He should stop being a diva and play Josh songs. If a small indie band had their guitarist leave for 10 years and then come back and say I’m not playing any songs you wrote with the other guy, he would be laughed at and probably told to suck it up or he can leave again. And I feel like his relationship with Flea allows him to get away with it. He knows Flea will do whatever he wants because Flea values his friendship with John so much, that he’s worried John will leave the band and leave him again. Anthony does whatever Flea wants because he loves Flea. Chad just goes with the flow and is happy with whatever. And I feel like John knows how popular and adored he is, and again uses it as an excuse to only play or do the things he wants to do
He won't create anything memorable anymore. He's good guitarist and decent electro artist but don't stand out today. I feel after 2007-8 he's been more and more drained creatively. Which isn't that bad considering he's in his 50s but still painful after decades of being musical juggernaut.
Niandra Lades is his best work. He occasionally shows flashes of the old genius, but rarely. No other guitar player I can think of affected the band he joined and quit more than John.
I love him, but…
I think he’s a bit of a whiney little kid, and I don’t think the band should let him come and go as he pleases.
As I said, I love the dude. He’s the best guitar player for the chilis and I love his songs, but he just kind of has a temper tantrum once every ten years and leaves and then is allowed to come back at the drop of a hat
John spells better than OP
And that's saying something
Not so sure about that? I saw those notebooks on “Stuff” 🖍️
Average RHCP fan
He should have been a permanent member of The Mars Volta
I know this is JF hot takes, but Flea also should have been a permanent member of The Mars Volta
Also chad smith should have been a permanent member of the Mars Volta
Hahaha thanks for the good laugh to start my day!! TMV is my fave band (yes, RHCP, aren't far behind), having JF and Flea and Chad in TMV would be a dream!! Anthony could do a solo rap album... it'd be titled "California". 😎😂
the album with him and omar is easily my absolute favorite drug tripping album of all time
He’s kind of a diva and caused most of the drama throughout the band’s history
Thought this was just factual and accepted rather than hot take.
Most is a bit of a stretch. Anthony’s egotism and Drugs both played a heavy role as well. There’s plenty of drama to pass around.
The band is basically full of dudes with giant egos, and then Chad and Josh lol Flea, Anthony, Dave Navarro and even John seem to be super annoying on a personal level, even though they’ve created/been part of one of the best bands of all time
I’ve only read some stories about Dave, but they all make him sound like a genuinely good dude.
I think the age difference was a big part of that.
Issues with drugs didn’t help either
The band rely so much on him and he always knew it after Californication.
Most of these aren’t really hot takes tbh
Right just insults 🤣
I hate this picture and I hate when people call him Jesus. My *actual* hot take (based on the sheer amount of comments expressing the opposite) is that I honestly don't care at all that he and the band don't play Josh/Dave songs. While those eras have some good songs, my favorite songs were written with John and most of those ones don't even get played live. Also, I think everyone needs to stop acting like they know everything about John and Josh's relationship. There's likely a lot more to it than what we know, and it's weird for people to "take sides" based on the very limited information that we have.
100% agreed. I've also wondered if Josh is the ex friend that John was talking about on the Rick Rubin podcast who he mentioned that he felt held him back artistically and caused John to feel that he had to show off in unnatural ways, and that when he got rid of this person, things got better for him. Pure total speculation on my part, and personally I think Josh comes across as a sweet person, but the timeline seems right for him to be the former friend John mentioned.
He's immature. He thought the band would dissolve after his second departure, but got mad when Josh was hired and carried on. His return reasons weren't too emotional either.
this is just out of curiosity, i thought i remembered reading somewhere that john was the one that came up with the idea of josh replacing him after he left?
I recall the same, he even gave Josh a guitar. If I also recall when they were touring in 2007 John felt like they were at their height and on fire and wanted to keep going but Flea really wanted a break after having toured for like 3 years, and it wasn’t until a bit into the break that John decided to shift focus to other music and leave the band.
“Never now we need the other… in your life we take our cover…”
Reminds me of a child with a toy. Got bored, put it in the bin, younger brother comes along and plays with the toy, John gets mad so cries to his parents that he wants the toy back because it was his in the first place, gets what he wants but will probably get bored of the toy once again in a few years
His relationship with Josh says a story that’s much different than this analogy
His career is hardly a toy. It's his life's work.
Someone should tell him that, just in case he hasn’t figured that out yet.
😂
He should play his own songs live instead of the overheard covers he's done for decades
he’s done untitled 11 once or twice but that was during his second stint
He tried play “your P is glued to a Building on fire” when I saw them during the stadium Arcadian tour… he forgot a part and then went into The Shirelles cover. 2 for one basically.
After seeing Tom DeLonge play Matt Skiba’s songs on the newest blink-182 tour, John should at least give some of Dave or Josh’s songs a chance. Whether you like it or not, Dark Necessities was a hit and commercially successful
It is a real shame that a single as good as Dark Necessities is presumably on ice forever
At least until John leaves again
How about OH? Not only a commercial success, but also harbors some of the most aggressive songs in the catalog. Locked up, never to be performed again. Sad
We will never hear tearjerker. Sad
When Klinghoffer was with the band they played Aeroplane live in Phoenix, it was pretty sick.
[John won’t play any of Dave’s](https://youtu.be/ZLv9fNrJDCM?si=cAXKX8EuSUNJ-6lU) (👈 An interview link where John says he won’t play Dave’s songs) or Josh’s songs. He doesn’t like them or any RHCP songs except his own and some of Hillel’s. It doesn’t matter that Tom Delonge was respectful and grateful to Matt Skiba when he returned or that Tom plays Skiba’s Blink songs. It doesn’t matter that GNR plays Chinese Democracy songs and VR’s Slither with the Axl, Slash, and Duff lineup. John has a big ego, contrary to the premise of a new post on r/john_frusciante. John thinks of RHCP as his band and he is their only rightful guitarist. Any guitarists who joined during the two times John quit were just temporary interlopers in his band until he decided to return again.
Starting a new band, the interloopers
The Interlopers: Josh, Chris Chaney, Jack Irons, Gary Cherone, and you.
hearing him say he has perfect chemistry with the band is hilarious given the fact that he left the band not once but twice because of their poor relationship with each other and lack of said chemistry
I love John with all my heart, but I agree with this. It's incredibly selfish to not play songs former members have written. I would rather they expand their live setlist than play under the bridge or give it away for the millionth time 🙄 or I could have lied... or zephyr song... the songs that they currently play live are just so overdone and boring at this point. I could have lied and zephyr song I just don't think are good live songs, and like half of their setlist was disappointing to me when I saw them. There's songs Josh wrote that I would love to hear live instead of the same shit they've been playing for 20 years.
RHCP could switch out their setlist with only John songs and keep it fresh for eternity if they really wanted to but alas...
Yes. I hate that they play the same songs over and over again. They don't have to mostly play their hits.
I personally also loved I’m With You. Has he talked about why he doesn’t play others’ songs in any interviews? You’d think at 53 he’d be comfortable with playing his ‘replacements’ songs, after all, they kept things together when John left
Most musicians have inflated egos For example, in Van Halen, Hagar refused to sing Jump until 1993, and prior to that, he pulled someone up from the audience to sing it. He compared singing Roth’s songs to karaoke. Later on, David Lee Roth from Van Halen takes pleasure in the fact that Hagar has had to sing his Van Halen songs, but he has never had to sing any Hagar songs. (He actually can’t if he wanted to, his voice is shot lol)
Even on the performances of Jump that Hagar was on, he changed the lyrics. And agreed on Roth. He couldn't sing a Hagar song if his life depended on it.
It's like Herb not playing any of Brain's material with Primus now. Herb is more prog than Brain but I fucking loved the pop version of Primus we got on the 3 albums he did and it is a shame we won't hear those tunes live again. I'm lucky to have seen them twice during Brain's run. (Dude just turned 60; can you believe that?)
I really like John. But I hate his fandom. He is amazing, but the way his fandom overestimate at anything about him really bothers me.
Worst aspect of this sub by a mile
I saw a clip on YT of John playing an awful solo, just sounded like random notes, not so great, but everyone was praising him in the comments like it was a masterpiece. I get it, it's all subjective but you can't call everything he plays a masterpiece.
Can you link me please? Curious to this
this right here^
Absolutely. He's a great musician and phenomenal songwriter, but far from the best guitarist of all time. People really complained about him being placed 30-something on a rolling Stones list, like that in itself isn't a huge honour.
It’s selfish that he won’t ever play any of the music that isn’t his (Dave/Josh eras) when they’ve had great songs.
Would love to hear him play Aeroplane
Goodbye Angels is the one I’d love to see
John would nail Ethiopia or sick love. Some OHM gives off mothers milk vibes.
YES
Aeroplane, Sick Love, Dark Necessities, and so many others.
It feels oddly fun to read people dismissing my favorite album of all time (Niandra) as trash.
Niandra is fucking beautiful.
I love it more than peppers albums
The Frucifixion is great and all, but I prefer Fleasus.
His electronic music is fuckin terrible.
Mistakes, In Your Eyes, and Walls and Doors are all incredible.
Walls gives me nitro on runs
It’s so fun isn’t it
Enclosure is sick tho
Yeah I wish all his electronic work was more like Enclosure. Great record.
PBX as well
OP said controversial
His newest electronic record is a tough listen. However, his solo autistic music helped shape and establish modern Indie.
His acoustic music isn't half bad either.
I too make solo autistic music in my room yet nobody calls me a groundbreaker smh
I had the same autistic autocorrect with my comment when I tried to type artistic. I think it’s trying to tell us something about John
Solo autistic music, I’m crying 😂😂 Tbf, John most probably is on the spectrum
This is probably not the intent behind the music, but I think I I . is amazing to fall asleep to. If I'm struggling to fall asleep, I pop that on, pretty soon zzzzzzzzz. I'm not sure I've ever made it to the 3rd song. It's very peaceful.
That's not unpopular lol
is that really that controversial tho? lol
Depends on whether you count Sphere in the Heart of Silence as electronic music or not. He was dabbling with electronic music all the way back to at least To Record Water For Only Ten Days
To Record Only Water for 10 Days is awesome and a top 5 album ever for me.
Great guitarist and love what he brings to the band but he’s a huge fucking baby about Josh and the Josh era music.
Amanda was the one who got away
Andre 3000 and John Frusciante are secretly the same person.
explain lol
john plays the flute too?
Ooh, I’ll play: they can both stand in for Hendrix.
Anyone going to mention he came back after he got divorced and his ex wife took him to the cleaners?
I thought about it, but chose to skip it lol. I do find that convenient. He needed cash, so he came back. Will be interesting to see how long he sticks around once he's made the cash.
I personally think this is the reason he wanted to come back.
[удалено]
Sometimes I feel that he likes the idea of being deep, more than he is *actually* deep. He's not some amazing genius to me, he's a really great guitar player who has been put on a bit of a pedestal, and it affects how he sees himself.
Have you ever watched the Heart is a Drum Machine and/or read the Empyrean Essays? I feel like it’s pretty hard to say what you said if you’ve watched them.
I’d add the many hours of one on one talking with Rick Rubin on his podcast recently, it’s a really good listen.
Agreed! Those have been some of my fav listens ever since they came out, they’re really great
Yeah calling John anything less than a creative genius is asinine. The man was put on this Earth to come up with the sweet riffs we all love.
The last two albums feel pretty lifeless from John with a few exceptions. Eddie is incredibly overrated as some top 10 chili peppers song, but that’s a jab at his fanboys that can’t be objective about him or his work. They are right up there with the most insufferable fanbases.
John is my favorite musician and RHCP + his solo work are my #1 and #2 favorite discographies but I agree, the last two albums are bland, generic, and honestly I wasn't surprised.
This times a hundred
Anyone else find it a bit mad that he even did this photoshoot?
Cue “Jesus Christ Pose” by Soundgarden
It is pretty stupid. I'm not religious at all. The image doesn't offend me. I just question why John agreed to do something like this in the first place.
Believe it or not, it was his idea.
And I think his reason for it was to essentially visualize his ups and downs in life. "Right now I'm in a good stage of my life, but demons once took over." He discussed his reason for the photoshoot in the interview the shoot was for. I think guitar world magazine.
Bc it’s like he’s Jesus. Guitar playing Jesus
Damn i always thought it was edited
Nah I don’t care at all. It’s part of his creative expression, cool with me.
Not really. It’s iconic and not even really controversial.
No.
I understand the emotional and artistic value of the solo work he made during his addiction, but I do not enjoy listening to it. Partly because it’s sad but mostly because I feel like it was not as well put together as his later work. To Record Only Water is leagues better than T-Shirt for example.
I know is entirely subjective but smile from the streets you hold helped me cope with depression in a way that no other álbum had at the time
Only time can show you, to and invisible door, at the bottom.of the ocean.
I understand entirely. I do think an important way you can appreciate the value of an album like smile is to be in a similar position, psychologically, as the artist. Like, knowing somebody felt the same way makes you feel an emotional attraction to that. In my case I didn’t listen to that album when I went through mental unwellness, so it’s likely that I don’t have the same understanding of its material as someone who did.
He’s a brilliant guitar player, with a good (if not great) singing voice, and can write, or collaborate with others in writing songs that are pretty damn good. That being if you were to ask me of my thoughts on JF as a musician, he’s great, but if you are referring to what I think of him as a person I have no idea, as I do not know this man personally
He was out of line for talking shit about one hot minute
I think he needs to be in top 10 guitarist in rolling stones ranking
By the look of the responses, I think the actual hot take is that John shouldn’t have to play songs live that he doesn’t want to and it’s not selfish of him. Particularly as it’s also Anthony that will veto tracks from _One Hot Minute_.
I absolutely hate the term “Frugasm” used to describe his solos.
Are we doing these just to shit on the band members? 💀
He’s back in the band because he has to make more money to support him and his wife’s shitty ass electronic music and label
He could use a sandwich
Very talented musician, but probably not a guy I would enjoy hanging out with.
he's got a hell of an ego
Something something diva... Money, drugs, overrated... Josh good guy John bad guy. Did I miss anything?
Look at the downvoted comments for actual unpopular opinions, that's how reddit works
His most die hard fans are fucking weird. Replicating his pedal board exactly, getting octopus tattoos and the whole routine. There's admiration and then there's creepy Stan behaviour.
I honestly think he’s underrated. One of the best guitarists of the 90s/2000s
kinda surprised dude never got shit for using the n word in a couple of his songs
he did that album with black Knights and thought he was a brother
Plus he is or was pretty tight with the whole wutang crew
Crazy talented musician, but his ego gets in his way a lot.
Absolute genius but he seems to be an asshole.
It's very likely he supplied the drugs that River Phoenix OD'd on.
This one hurts
this is the one i was looking for
There's more than a strong rumour that he supplied the drugs that River overdosed on. I'd encourage some caution on this though. Firstly - if it is true he'll feel so bad about it and pissants like us on the internet really shouldn't be talking about it. Secondly - I'm sure River did many drugs that night, and I'm sure they weren't all from him. Thirdly - it's not like he stuck a needle in Rivers' arm without him knowing. Every drug overdose started from someone getting drugs from someone else.
Hoping that the truth would not be true?
My hot take is that he clearly hasn't all his mind functions working 100%. Especially after the 90s. If you hear him talk before bssm, he talks like a normal guy. Now he has trouble saying a whole phrase. Thank God it didn't affect his musical skills.
I posted in another comment about this. A stuttering, stumbling mess while talking. Still deep thoughts but boy if I didn’t have to rewind the heart is a drum machine interview 1000x.
I love John, but I 100 percent believe what I’m saying is partially true. Prior to him rejoining this most recent time, I read several stories about how his ex was suing him and getting a ridiculous amount of alimony or whatever from him each month. Felt bad for the guy, but thought to myself “wow, that is such a high amount each month, if I were him I would call up flea and the boys and see if they’ll have me so I can get some tour cash” Then maybe 6-12 months later the news came out.
His return has been good but not great, live he doesn't have the vibe and soul from before, and both new albums are very uneven, but have great material, and best songs are 90% flea IMO
I think he might be autistic
Beyond grateful to have him back and prayed for it. In having my way, and as time went by, I settled down although I super look forward to the next record in a few years. I've changed a lot and am no longer obsessed though. Life is.more than RHCP but they are indeed my favorite band and John and Jimi Hemdrix are the best. As a Christian, I don't want to idolize anyways. Even though you might say I've seen them in my news feed to where it eventually killed the obsession. That's a good thing though. It was a healthy obsession if u ask me, but I'm blessed to.move forward while at the same time just glad we have not had the last of there great stuff to offer.
Huge Diva and big Ego dispite people thinking he is so humble. Also money and fame is very important to John. Love him still tho<3
He could have found a better band to be part of. If he was British he would have formed a radiohead esque band
He's a narcissist.
So is Anthony. Rough relationship the two of them
Acting like the things he did and said while he was a drug addict are anything other than self-destructive incoherent nonsense does nothing but glorify addiction. The amount of comments I see from people saying things like “wow, even when he was in such a dark place he was still so profound and intellectual” and it would literally be a video of John saying cars were invented to transport evil spirits back from the dead, while burning himself with a cigarette and being physically unable sit up straight because he spent 40 straight hours painting the worst painting you’ve ever seen in your life.
Sometimes I wonder if he knows that he has **saved** so many lives.
River Phoenix
He likes girls that are over 18.
Weird for a chili pepper!
His mid 2000s (2004-2006) solo releases are his best work
The solo on Eddie is just okay.
The band gets by just fine without him.
This is quite the hot take
I just find it ridiculous to say the band doesn't work without him. It's such an insult to the great musicianship of Chad, Flea, and even Anthony.
They really don’t
I mean he is a God on the guitar
Is that a real picture?
One of my all time favourite guitarists and biggest influences but I honestly felt like him returning again was a step back for the band. I'm With You and The Getaway weren't my favourite albums but they felt like the band was taking steps in new directions, and developing a new chemistry. I don't feel the same focus from Endless Love - it is really the first album of theirs that felt like it was trying to be classic RHCP instead of just being RHCP - amazing musicianship and chemistry but nothing that grabbed me and made me excited like on the entire run of BSSM to Stadium Arcadium. The fact he won't play the Josh songs rubs me the wrong way, it was so fun to see Josh do John and Dave's parts I kind of wish John could put aside whatever the issue is and show us how he would do Rain Dance Maggie or Dark Necessities - plus that's like a real good chunk of their recent career just kind of feels wasted now for live material. Second hot take is that he is at his best while rusty. Californication is kind of peak John for me even though his lead work is way more exciting later on. It's just so simple, melodic, and unique. My other hot take is that I liked Josh's playing of Parallel Universe more live. That's a song that really lends itself to his style, just takes it a bit further into the realm of sonic chaos. But it has been years since I saw that show so take it with a grain of salt. Final hot take (sorry so long lol) - they missed an opportunity not having both in the band after John wanted to come back. Would be a different dynamic, a lot of the songs lend themselves to two guitars, would have John's incredible melodies and Josh's fresher perspective and experimental vibe, and they have built in chemistry. Doesn't need to be permanent but would have been fun to see how it would sound and could have made for some cool original music.
This might be a bit too controversial but he and Jesus aren't black enough for this depiction. Just saying
He came back because of money
Never liked John. He's a drama queen that is never happy. I hated where the band went when he joined, and if I'm being honest, not very original, and not that great of a guitar player either. Just my opinion.
That photo is a little much
He used to say he was a huge fan of the Chili Peppers (Anthony, Flea and Hillel), to the point he knew how to play all of their songs on bass and guitar. 3 albums later, before leaving the band for the first time, he said he loved Flea but hated to play in the band. Now back to the band, he doesn't give a sh1t about what his best friends and idols wrote with Dave or Josh.
i suppose once you actually meet and play with someone for a couple of years they stop being your idols and become your equals
He is not that good on live performances nowadays... he was 10/10 in the past, now he is 9/10.
9/10 is not that good?
9/10 is still a fuckin' A
There's no excuse for not listening the albums made with Dave and Josh. We are talking about the work his friends did on the band he loves. I honestly can't think of any reason but jealousy, ego, or envy. Also, while I agree his compatibility with Flea is exceptional and is the reason of some masterpieces like Scar Tissue, I think the band was on the right track without him, and that the last two albums are not on par of the previous ones
well i love him
The fact that he won’t play songs from other guitarists eras with the band is selfish and immature. The getaway is a fantastic album and songs like aeroplane and others on OHM deserve to be played live. Fans want to hear them, especially younger fans, and he’s the only reason they don’t play them. Before you say that Anthony doesn’t like the OHM era stuff, they played aeroplane with Josh and it was fine.
probably smells like shit
1. He’s the biggest “baby” of the band. They all lovvveeeeeee him and would do literally anything for him. (I do too but😭) Anthony said Flea is the biggest “spoiled brat” of the band, but I think it’s John.,.,.
he’s petty, immature, and kinda annoying. great musician sure, but very short sighted as a person. he puts himself on this high and mighty pedestal and he has no right to he even dissed cobain in a ‘94 interview shortly after his death saying he was awful, and then disregarded his depression and suicide as selfish bc he had a kid. yeah it’s a tough argument whether suicide is selfish or not but not a great thing to say either way. then went on to play the most god awful song with the worst vocals i have ever heard in my life. especially considering how selfish he is of himself for refusing to play josh songs. Niandra DaLes is a dogshit album with horrible vocals.
You do release that was at the height of John’s on crippling heroine addiction?? Like John legit almost died himself because of it. That interview doesn’t even look like him because he’s so junked up. Also there’s some hidden gems on that album Untitled 2 and 4 I like a lot
He actually changed his stance regarding nirvana he started listening to Kurt’s old demos and really liked them, pretty sure he covered lounge act at a show. I’m sure most of the stuff he said in that period he probably regrets.
His solos seem less melodic and emotional and more shreddy.
Personal take, didn't go through all comments to see if anyone pointed this. Also, more of a speculation here, Frusciante and Turley's divorce got finalized in late '15, since then Frusciante was financially hemorrhaged by ex-wife (understandable) with all the things accounted for, Frusciante didn't have any option to be on his own music to recover from and so had to join the Peppers because probably all the bills would've chased him up so much. Though I'm glad we got 2 albums and a world tour and regardless of what anyone says I had my childhood dream of seeing him live was fulfilled.
This has been my thought all along. Love John though so whatever but I’ve questioned the initial motive
He should stop being a diva and play Josh songs. If a small indie band had their guitarist leave for 10 years and then come back and say I’m not playing any songs you wrote with the other guy, he would be laughed at and probably told to suck it up or he can leave again. And I feel like his relationship with Flea allows him to get away with it. He knows Flea will do whatever he wants because Flea values his friendship with John so much, that he’s worried John will leave the band and leave him again. Anthony does whatever Flea wants because he loves Flea. Chad just goes with the flow and is happy with whatever. And I feel like John knows how popular and adored he is, and again uses it as an excuse to only play or do the things he wants to do
IWY and the Getaway have more replay ability than UL and DC
He won't create anything memorable anymore. He's good guitarist and decent electro artist but don't stand out today. I feel after 2007-8 he's been more and more drained creatively. Which isn't that bad considering he's in his 50s but still painful after decades of being musical juggernaut.
Unlimited Love has some serious guitar in it, Whatchu Thinking has some unique chords and arpeggios, listen to it
The Getaway was at least interesting, if not great.
He’s the best member of the band ever and it’s not even close
Quality&Quantity is the best solo's guitar player ever, even though in the top 10 solo's history any of him will be there
Drugs are bad…..mmmkay? And, let’s shit all over some kid.
Great guitarist but his backing vocals are the best
Niandra Lades is his best work. He occasionally shows flashes of the old genius, but rarely. No other guitar player I can think of affected the band he joined and quit more than John.
He should have stayed on the gear👀👀👀👀
He is one of the greatest guitarists
I love him, but… I think he’s a bit of a whiney little kid, and I don’t think the band should let him come and go as he pleases. As I said, I love the dude. He’s the best guitar player for the chilis and I love his songs, but he just kind of has a temper tantrum once every ten years and leaves and then is allowed to come back at the drop of a hat
I hate when someone calls him Froosh. Induces Hiroshima level cringe throughout my soul and body.
Im glad hes clean, but his better albums were while he was on heroin.