One of the first albums I ever bought as a teenager; I wasn't really bothered by music at that point but humiliating peer pressure forced me to keep up with musical tastes. I think it must have blown me away; so soulful, so funky, so perfectly composed and with real energy and heart.
I remember listening to a tape recording I had taped myself of a gig they did over the radio and I listened to that before doing my final GSCE exams giving me the spunk I needed to get through those papers.
To people not familiar the the Peppers they may be surprised with how much there is to them. They have a range to them that sneaks under the covers of brashness. They have great depth and poetic vocab with excellently executed ideas. They are a band to live with.
I once read that they don't really party but are constantly rehearsing and coming up with better and better songs. It certainly shows as they give great thought to their songs like 'Parallel Universe' and 'My Friends'. 'Suck My Kiss' gives a lot of fun and of course 'Californication' is a straight up classic.
Surprisingly, giving that glowing review, I actually haven't got any of their albums that these songs on their 'Greatest Hits' appear, and maybe that needs to change.
