Maps of Music

Unlimited Love (2022)

Where the lyrics of Unlimited Love take you, and where it was really made.

Unlimited Love came out of nearly 50 recorded tracks, yet the label split the songs into two separate albums.

Key places

Shangri-La studio in Malibu (2022)

Recording site Shangri-La — The band resumed rehearsals in 2021 at Rubin's Shangri-La studio in Malibu, where they worked on around 100 new songs for this album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Twelfth studio album by the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Released 1 April 2022 through Warner Records
• First album with guitarist John Frusciante since Stadium Arcadium (2006)
• First album with producer Rick Rubin since I'm with You (2011)
• Six-year gap from The Getaway (2016), the longest between two Chili Peppers albums to date

Background

• Writing began after The Getaway tour, with guitarist Josh Klinghoffer
• Frusciante rejoined in December 2019, replacing Klinghoffer
• Frusciante had left in 2009 and moved into making electronic music
• After the reunion, the band played songs from their first three albums
• Frusciante's first show with the band in 13 years came at a memorial service on 8 February 2020
• Festival shows planned for May 2020 were cancelled due to COVID-19

Recording

• Rubin was brought in after the band worked with Danger Mouse on The Getaway
• Rehearsals halted in 2020 and resumed in 2021 at Rubin's Shangri-La studio in Malibu
• About 100 new songs were available to work on
• The band recorded almost 50 tracks, planning one album of 40 spread over seven physical discs

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Los Angeles in 1982 by Anthony Kiedis, Hillel Slovak, Flea, and Jack Irons, classmates at Fairfax High School.
• First performed on December 16, 1982 at the Grandia Room club on Hollywood Boulevard, in front of about 30 people.
• Changed the name to Red Hot Chili Peppers in March 1983.
• Released the self-titled debut album in August 1984, which sold 300,000 copies.

Members

• Current: Flea (bass, backing vocals, trumpet), Anthony Kiedis (lead vocals), Chad Smith (drums, percussion), John Frusciante (guitars, backing vocals, keyboards).
• Former members include Hillel Slovak (guitar, died of a heroin overdose in 1988), Jack Irons (drums), Dave Navarro (guitar, 1993–1998), and Josh Klinghoffer (guitar, 2009–2019).

Career

• Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) was the first major commercial success; "Under the Bridge" reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Californication (1999) became the band's biggest commercial success, with over 16 million copies sold worldwide.
• Stadium Arcadium (2006) was the first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and won Grammy Awards.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 31, 2022.
• Over 120 million records sold worldwide.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: average score 71 from 20 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews"
• Rolling Stone: Brittany Spanos gave four out of five stars
• NME: Ali Shutler gave four out of five stars and wrote of a mix of familiar and fresh elements
• Clash: Isabella Miller gave 9/10 and called it a celebration of union, friendship, and life
• Consequence: Paolo Ragusa praised the lyrics and musicianship
• Kerrang!: Steve Beebee wrote "It's a good record; just not a great one"
• Pitchfork: Sam Sodomsky gave 6.2 out of 10
• Wall Street Journal: Mark Richardson said the album lacked energy and purpose
• The Guardian: Phil Mongredien called it "bloated and self-indulgent"
• Stereogum: Ryan Leas found most of the album unmemorable

Records

• Debuted at number one in 16 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom
• United States: second Billboard 200 number one for the band, first since Stadium Arcadium (2006), with 97,500 equivalent units
• United Kingdom: first chart-topper in 11 years, with 27,426 units in its first week
• Vinyl: 38,500 copies sold, the largest vinyl sales week for an album in 2022

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Rubin said seeing the first rehearsal after Frusciante returned made him cry
• A scheduled Billboard Music Awards appearance by the band was cancelled
• The music video for "Black Summer" won the Best Rock award at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards
• Warner Records resisted the plan to release all the tracks as one album, leading to a compromise that split 34 songs across two albums
• Return of the Dream Canteen was recorded in the same sessions and released on 14 October 2022

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

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