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John Frusciante
official Web site
articles/contests
Track List:
1. Carvel
2. Omission
3. Regret
4. Ricky
5. Second Walk
6. Everyperson
7. - 00 Ghost 27
8. Wednesday's Song
9. This Cold
10. Failure 33 Object
11. Song To Sing When I'm Lonely
12. Time Goes Back
13. In Relief
14. Water
15. Cut Out
16. Chances
17. 23 Go Into End
18. The Slaughter
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John Frusciante - Shadows Collide With People
(Warner Bros.)
By Greg Prato
Guitarist John Frusciante has been through a lot during his 33 years on this planet, which makes the release of his fourth solo effort, Shadows Collide With People, quite extraordinary. Thrust into the limelight with the emerging Red Hot Chili Peppers at the ripe old age of 18, Frusciante immediately became a major songwriting force in the group and was a big reason the band blossomed into a household name. A pair of classics followed the guitarist's inclusion, 1989's Mother Milk and 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik. And while the public perception was that the four members of RHCP were like brothers, this proved not to be the case behind the scenes.
In fact, Frusciante was finding it harder and harder to deal with his sudden rush of success, withdrawing into a haze of hard drugs and unpredictable behavior (anyone recall the Peppers' God-awful debut performance on "Saturday Night Live?"). In the midst of a Japanese tour in 1992, Frusciante abruptly quit the band and faded from view. The guitarist would reemerge with a pair of rather odd solo releases, 1995's Niandra LaDes And Usually Just A T-Shirt and 1997's Smile From The Streets You Hold, but reports that Frusciante was holed up in a hotel room and doing drugs at such an alarming rate that most of his friends thought he would surely die didn't paint a sunny picture. Fortunately, Frusciante cleaned up his act, mended his relationship with his former Pepper band mates, and was eventually re-enlisted back into the band, resulting in such further hit albums as 1999's Californication and 2002's By The Way. He even found time for another solo effort in 2001 called To Record Only Water For Ten Days.
Which brings us to Shadows Collide With People. Unlike his first two solo releases, Frusciante's latest focuses on good old-fashioned songwriting, rather than howling/yodeling freak-outs. Starting off with some bubbling feedback, listeners might suspect some sort of artsy fartsy record before things kick into gear with "Carvel," a track that perfectly summarizes what follows. Frusciante's vocals are often reminiscent of X's John Doe, while the music is an acoustic-based hodgepodge (with some synth cameos here and there). Despite the presence of acoustic guitar, Shadows Collide With People still manages to rock — it's certainly not the blah stuff one might find at the local coffee house.
Supported throughout by multi-instrumentalist Josh Klinghoffer, the album's cameos include two of Frusciante's Pepper band mates, drummer Chad Smith and bassist Flea, as well as the Mars Volta's Omar Rodriguez on slide guitar. While Frusciante's quirky side is reflected in a few of the album's experimental instrumentals — including "Failure33 Object," which sounds similar to Van Halen's "Cathedral" (off Diver Down) — the highlights of Shadows Collide With People are the more traditional sounding compositions. Tops include the uptempo rockers "Second Walk" and "This Cold," as well as such breezy compositions as "Wednesday's Song" and "Song To Sing When I'm Lonely." It may be easy to assume that the Chili Peppers serve as an outlet for Frusciante's more tuneful songs, while his solo career supports his oddball endeavors, but Shadows Collide With People manages to shoot down this theory with ease.
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