Disco de Red Hot Chili Peppers: “Freaky Styley [Japan Bonus Tracks]”

Before they were international superstars known for their soothing, mellow and soulful ballads, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were four poverty-stricken L.A punks making some of the funkiest music known to man. In the spirit of P-Funk recordings from the 70s, Freaky Styley is laden with springy bass lines, funkdafied guitar, and edgy, uneven drum grooves. Far from accessible, Freaky Styley is nonetheless an interesting, unique, and extremely original white-boy funk album.

The most intriguing prescence on the album would most certainly be guitarist Hillel Slovak, whose funky guitar dominates almost any track, lifting all of them to new heights. Tracks such as "Hollywood" and "Jungle Man" are guitar heavy, with super-charged funk-laden riffs that are as musically complex and interesting as much of John Frusciante's work. His noodling will no doubt be respected by listeners of all ages and backgrounds, even if it's not necessarily their kind of music. The virtuoso bassist Flea has some interesting pieces here as well, but don't be expecting any of his genius that comes through on Mother's Milk or BloodSugarSexMagik. He was surely one of the most talented bassists of the eighties, but he had yet to come into his own as a songwriter, as some of the basslines are repetitive and are consistently dominated by the outstanding guitar; Slovak and Flea are both extremely talented, but don't have the chemistry that the Frusciante-Flea team display.

Anthony Kiedis also had yet to become the lead singer he is today, his voice has very little range on this album, and his lyrics are seriously undeveloped. Tracks like "Catholic School Girls Rule" are fun, but will leave the listener wanting more after five songs in a row witht he same lyrical content. His charismatic and confident voice however, makes up for many of its shortcomings, and he definitely connects with the rest of the band. Cliff Martinez gives very strong work here as well, easily rivaling anything current drummer Chad Smith has done over the years.

If you've heard Californication and By the Way and are looking for some of the funkier Chili Peppers, I would suggest starting with BloodSugarSexMagik. If you enjoy tracks on that such as "Mellowship Slinky in B major" and "Sir Psycho Sexy," Freaky Styley would be a great second purchase. Drenched in L.A cool, it's a unique, funky and outright weird experience you won't soon forget.

Freaky Styley is without question not only the funkiest Red Hot Chili Peppers album, but also one of the best funk albums since the heyday of Parliament/Funkadelic. After getting mixed results with their self titled debut, the Chili Peppers stepped up their game musically thanks to the return of original member Hillel Slovak and the strong production by the godfather of funk, George Clinton. Every song is worth listening to, especially Jungle Man, The Brothers Cup, If You Want Me To Stay, and Catholic School Girls Rule. Freaky Styley doesn`t have the strong songs and production of the later albums, but it`s definitely a good old school album.

Somehow, the Peppers' collaboration with George Clinton has found a status as a sort of overlooked 'cult classic', but man, I just can't see why it's so loved. I guess you could say that it's the closest the band ever got to doing a pure funk album, since most of the band's efforts have more than enough trace of rock in them, with horns in the background and Flea's bass playing in perhaps its most prominent role ever. It's not even that I don't like this style either, but there should at least be a good amount of entertainment and groove power to it, and most of these tracks are just so by the numbers and as far from exciting as possible, plus there's the added annoyance of the band cramming in even more stupid filler than any of their other 80's albums (especially those pointless short tracks near the end), which is quite an accomplishment.

There's maybe only one truly awful song in the title track, an awfully simplistic and boring groove that just seems to repeat itself forever and ever with that 'screw em just to see the look on their face' line, but still, the opening two tracks ("Jungle Man" and "Hollywood") come out totally flat and unconvincing, particularly the latter's generic 'party' vibe and plodding tempo, the closing "Yertle The Turtle" has annoying spoken bits to go along with pretty much no melody or excitement (though at least "The Brother's Cup", dumb as it is, has some entertaining moments within). Oh, and there's also a whole bunch of absolutely useless brief filler tracks that serve no purpose except for being idiotic jokes and space fillers (particularly the inane "Sex Rap" and the directionless "Battle Ship").

The saving grace of this album, though, are the two fairly excellent highlights. The band didn't actually write "If You Want Me To Stay" and that phenomenally groovy bassline and vocal melody it has (credit that to Sly and the Family Stone), but it nonetheless possesses such a tight, incredible amount of presence that it's easily the best on the album. The other somewhat impressive song is the hilariously stupid "Catholic School Girls Rule", whose fast tempo, lyrics and chanting are so incredibly over the top and ridiculous that I can never resist it at all. Too bad it's so short at less than 2 minutes. But regardless of those, do not buy this album, since these two gems can be found on What Hits?!.

I first bought this on a cassette back in 1985 when it was released. I wore the tape out. Yes, enough playing can do that. I first hear the single "Jungleman" on an independant radio station. I am disappointed that there are other review on here that compare this tape, album, cd, mp3 to anything current by the RHCP. Does any band sound the same as they did 20 years ago? Would they still share the same success if they did. I agree that there is a heavy funk vibe to this cd. I agree that George Clinton might have influenced the band a bit more then another producer might. But it was the 80's and it was a largly trasitional time for music. Name another time that rap, funk, disco, rock, pop, new wave, metal, glam, goth, punk and dance shared popularity prior to the 80's. This is a gem of an album which gives you an idea of the roots of the band. RHCP have continued with the funk. In this album they discovered it. A must have for anyone who is a fan.

These alternative rockers usually only dabble in funky

rhythms when they can but here on their George Clinton-produced

second album the Red Hot Chili Peppers swing into full funk

mode,complete with Clintonesqe arrangments,JB guiatrs and horns

and {cute} Isaac Hayes like raps.But don't let that make you think

this has high lyrical importance-it's just four young guys having

a good time-nothing more.But on tracks like "Jungle man",the hit

"Hollywood",the beat-heavy tital track,"Brothers Cup" and a big

handful of others this is one of the only 80's post-punk bands

who succeeded in releasing an album that NEVER takes it's eyes

off the one.