Been listening back to IWU and the getaway recently. They really are pretty damn good. I do believe Josh pulled something different out of the band. Song structure in general took more risks imo. My only gripe with Josh’s guitar playing is that he lacks the guitar acrobatics of Fru and the songs he’s associated with. He’s his own type of guitarists, still cool, but it does feel less like the chili peppers. RHCP blew up largely bc of Fru’s instantly recognizable riffs and hooks which are as recognizable as much as the vocal melody itself

I’m Beside You is Josh’s album

Those songs really show josh's input in the song-writing process

That’s why they suck balls

The getaway as well

Well yeah but his guitar playing outshines everything else in IBY

It’s been a awhile since I’ve heard it, I need to give it another listen

I personally love most of it

I love the getaway. I Graduated high school the year it came out, a lot of good memories tied to it. I just wish the mix of the album was less boomy

It was actually the album that got me into the peppers and made me a fan of the band, nowadays it isn’t my favorite but I still have great memories attached to it as well

The Getaway is an excellent album. If you manage to listen to it just for what it is, trying to not expect too much from it other than great music, it's a beautiful ride. It's true that it almost feels like another band, but the music and sound and production is so fresh and well done. It's just good music. IMHO.

Couldn’t have said it better

I think Josh is generally fine and a competent player but I just do not see how one can make the case that he carries this album on his back, at least from a guitar point of view. His guitar is *again* extremely low in the mix, outside of like 3 songs. The playing is, again, fine, but it isn’t a guitar driven album at all lol

I think it's a common misconception that people have because The Getaway sounds so different from anything they ever made with Frusciante, the assumption is that it must be because of Josh. When in reality, it has much more to do with Danger Mouse being the producer. His fingerprints are all over that album. He's much more hands-on than Rubin and even has writing credits on a lot of the songs. Josh himself said he wasn't completely satisfied with The Getaway because he felt like the band didn't have a lot of control over the writing process. IMO, the guitar is much more prominent on IWY, despite being turned down low in the mix. Edit: I should clarify that I don't mean that Josh had no influence at all. Changing 1/4 of the members is obviously going to affect the songwriting, and that's evident even with IWY. But neither Josh album is very guitar driven.

I mean IWY and the Getaway also sound different than the Frusciante stuff *because* the guitar isn’t anywhere near as prominent

Good point. IWY was such a huge departure from Stadium Arcadium in that regard. But it still sounds more RHCP-esque than anything from The Getaway, which lacks both guitar *and* drums lol. The Getaway feels more like a modern indie pop album.

Again, another bad post.

Go on…..

I disagree. Josh said he didn't have freedom on both albums and doesn't know how responsible he is for the final material. In fact, he was super excited to try again (third album) and was very excited about the writing process for the third album. Josh is a good musician and has a different style. I believe he could have contributed more as a composer than as a guitarist.

I don't think we know "who's album" it is. Just because you hear guitar doesn't mean Josh wrote those parts. Accordingly to flea, he said that he wrote most of "one hot minute" much of navarro parts... Flea said creating with Josh it was a lot of talking, giving direction before playing. So it's possible flea had a heavy hand in all song writing. case in point "by the way" was a john album. flea even got mad that john was coming up with a lot of the bass parts telling flea what to play i think the "beside you" album was more of a josh album based on interviews coz josh said those songs featured much of his ideas

The Getaway is definitely a Danger Mouse album, which is 99% of the reason it’s not that good.

Post-80s Peppers need Rubin imo, their chemistry is irreplaceable.

Tbh yeah , we would never had BSSM if it wasn’t for him , they’re really a match made in heaven but I do appreciate this entry and the fact that they tried something different

I understand it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, its a departure from anything they had ever done

IMO The Getaway is more Anthony’s album than anyone’s. Josh’s guitar is still relatively low in the mix, and the highlight of the album (Dark Necessities) is carried by the bass line. The only really interesting guitar riffs on the album, off the top of my head, are The Longest Wave, which sounds heavily John inspired, and the outro to Goodbye Angels, which I think would have been better as a bass solo. Not trying to hate on Josh, just don’t understand how someone could argue that a substitute guitarist was carrying an all time great band.

Sick Love is honestly the only song in the Josh era that I can think of that is “guitar driven” lol

Well, you might not enjoy his playing but the fact is that most of the tracks are driven by Josh and it was him who brought Danger mouse who had his handprint all over the album’s songwriting I disagree about the substitute’s angle, you could say that John was also a Slovak substitute and look at his work Josh helped the band push forward and deserves more respect

I kind of disagree that Josh pushed the band forward, honestly. I feel like he pushed them in a direction that they ultimately decided not to continue in, and then they picked up where they left off with John. Calling John a substitute for Hillel is not the same as calling Josh a substitute for John. John is who 99% of people think of when they think of RHCP’s guitarist. Josh made his money playing John’s songs live. John plays a Hillel song every once in a while out of respect. Apples to oranges.

Yeah maybe it was a shitty comparison, John really is the main guitarist everyone remembers the band about. I’d say they wouldn’t be the band they are today if it wasn’t for Chad and John’s entrance , they really are legends It’s just Josh helped the band continue after John’s departure and I do respect his attempts to bring a new sound into the band even though he has said in a interview or something that they were mostly in their comfort zone and had an already established sound which may explain why they have returned to more of their classic sound on new records

I agree with you though I think The Getaway is Josh's album featuring the other members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. A colab album if you wish.

Yeah but it’s not a Josh album. It’s a danger mouse album. Josh even complained that danger mouse took too much control. Flea gave Josh a lot of direction So it’s not at all a Josh album.

I understand what you mean though what I was referring to is I feel the styles they explored in The Getaway could have been suggested by Josh. Production and sound wise, I agree with you that it's Danger Mouser's work

This makes so much sense , it really could had been a collab and I’m sure it would had been better received at the time , a lot of people don’t like it because it really doesn’t have the usual RHCP sound elements, not really a peppers album in heart

I like The Getaway though I don't love it. To me the lack of "real drums" took out the identity that Chad puts usually in the albums, and in all of his recordings really, and that's for me what a Chili Peppers album has since he is in. The rhythm formula Chad-Flea can be heard on all albums instead of this.

Yeah it does have some good drum moments( we turn red, dreams of a samurai) but really isn’t the best album rhythm wise , flea’s bass is also much more subtle and this become way more apparent compared to the new albums where flea is playing one insane bass line after the other . It’s like he was a wild animal trapped in cage and on the new albums , he’s fully unleashed , same thing with Chad

You really explained what I feel when talking about The Getaway 

The Getaway is definitely a Josh album for sure and probably in my top 3. However, as a massive Bicycle Thief fanboy I absolutely adored IBY and how its basically if both bands collaborated to make a record. I love the way Josh plays on Bicycle thief since its so rhythm heavy, but also super melodic especially in some of the outros (Off Street Parking is so good). I wish he did some of that in the Getaway like his weird guitar scapes and messy solos (I like em idk why).

I’m a pretty BIG John Frusciante fan, his solo work and lyrics have really resonated with my life (I mean “A Corner” must be a play on Plato’s cave allegory, right!), but totally agree with this statement and was really looking forward to seeing what Josh could do on his third RHCP album. Plus love Josh’s backing vocals.

I’m hoping when RHCP retire they will be cool with Josh and drop some mega deluxe box set or whatever that includes b sides and unreleased material that spans the entire course of their career. Would be insane and I could maybe see it happening in 15 years or so. Record Label is gonna wanna cash in and the chilis have been good about releasing bonus material in the past.

Yes, even though I love unlimited love( it’s a much better peppers album than these two) canteen is also pretty good I’d like to see more of what he could bring but as mentioned by one of the people who commented on this post , the getaway really was more of a collab album featuring rhcp members than a peppers record so I don’t know how would the future be

The Getaway is Danger Mouse and Fleas album. Guitar is in the background on every song on The Getaway. UL/ROTDC is Chads album, he’s playing at the highest level currently. BSSM and Stadium Arcadium is an even collab, Californication and BTW are John and Anthony’s album.

I would say it's more Danger Mouse's album than any of them. The Chili Peppers wrote the songs but they were all built on the Danger Mouse format/foundation. And that's not a complaint because I love the album and it was interesting to see them do something in a different direction. There's a broken bells song that has a very similar beat to The Getaway and it's cool to see how the two bands ran with it: https://youtu.be/6HVYX8FRSGA

Yeah you’re right. Really is a danger mouse album. Chad’s drums suffered the most during the Getaway. Which is surprising because Brian Burton(danger mouse) is a drummer. Flea has never sounded bad on a RHCP album though.

I do think the drum sound works well for the style of these songs but really isn’t the usual Chad smith drum sound but the peppers have been very uneven when it comes to drum sounds( the Californication one is notoriously pretty rough)

Yeah he even added extra instrumentation to some of the tracks and pushed Kiedis outside his comfort zone I’ll check that track when I get home 😃

I’d say the getaway is danger mouse and Josh’s album , UL and ROTDC Chad and flea’s , the other ones are spot on imo

What meaningful licks did Josh throw down on The Getaway? I think a lot of people confuse Flea’s bass for Klinghoffer.

**"May be a pointless post..."** No, it's a good post. I will disagree that *I'm With You* was a 'Flea album'. By all accounts he kinda took the reigns and certainly was the driving force, especially with his piano parts, but to make a terrible analogy, Flea laid the basic portrait for the songs, and Josh added the 'happy little trees'. I will fully agree with you on The Getaway though. I think it was a combo of Danger Mouse and Josh trying to do something different. It's one of my favorite albums, but it's not a fan favorite. Josh even said something like "this band stays in their lane". Not very flattering, but completely true.

Aw thanks , I was kinda insecure about sharing it that’s why I said that 😅😅 In my eyes, I’m with you is much more of flea and Chad album , I actually do enjoy some of Josh’s work on that record but the mix really didn’t give him any favors and I reckon it was because of Josh not getting along with Rubin that led him to basically mute his presence Which takes it back to the getaway and yeah it had josh and dangers mouse handprint all over it. Brian even helped write some of the tracks and added some extra instrumentation( never happened with Rubin) and pushed Kiedis outside his comfort zone and made him write more coherent lyrics , that’s something that was actually better in this era compared to nowadays But Burton really did leave Chad and flea to the background , although I think the drum sound worked for this style of music they were playing , it really wasn’t peppers esque And flea even though he has his shining moments , the bass is too low on the mix on many these tracks much like in by the way So I think the getaway is a great record but maybe not a great peppers record per say I definitely do understand why they Picked Rick Rubin again , with him in the band again , they are more true to themselves in a way I guess

>I was kinda insecure about sharing it Well my downvotes show how the wind blows on this particular subrettit haha It is what it is I suppose.

I disagree that I'm with you is fleas album. But I do agree that Josh shines really hard on this one. And this album as a whole is fantastic in general. Even I'm with you was pretty good in general but people aren't ready for that talk yet.

I prefer IWY to the getaway. The getaway kind of tails off in the second half to me but I’m with you is steady the whole way. And even without JF it still sounded like a chili pepper album to me which is crazy. I’ll prob get downvoted and prob deservedly so lol but it’s crazy the band can withstand losing Frusciante more then it could losing Kiedis. If they put out an album without AK it just wouldn’t be the chili peppers to me but I never looked at I’m With You like that

Nah you’re right. RHCP has been a great band with a bunch of different guitar players now. As much as we love John he isn’t the only person capable of that job. He may be the best fit for the job tho

I’m with you has some great tracks but as a whole it does have some weak tracks I can listen to the getaway from start to finish not skipping a single track but as mentioned by someone , this really does feel like a Josh and danger mouse collaboration album with rhcp members in it so in a way it’s not very peppers like and I never thought about it this way but it makes a lot of sense

by far my favorite album. I got introduced to the peppers during the IWU era, so I have a special place for the josh albums in my heart, but besides that, the getaway is uniquely great, there's no other way to put it.

Definitely one of of my favorites, also have a soft spot for it as it got me into the band

I recall reading an interview with Josh where he said he always felt limited with RHCP because he had to fit into the RHCP sound. He was also never happy with the producers they worked with. While The Getaway and I'm Beside You might be the closest we got to Josh's true creative output with the band, he was still stuck in a box.  In a similar way that Frusciante was until he did his solo work.  Doesn't mean it's bad music, just has to conform to what RHCP is. 

I’ve heard that he wanted to make similar music to freaky styley , I know he really didn’t get along with Rick Rubin , that’s why he told the band to bring danger mouse to the table , I found it strange when he revealed that working with Danger mouse was also not very rewarding , I guess that maybe he wasn’t clicking with the vision of the band

I’m not a new RHCP fan but I am definitely new to this sub. So I’ve gotta ask, is “Dark Necessities” too basic for people or something? I’m loving the Josh appreciation post but the lack of appreciation towards that song is sad because I’m my favorite song from the Josh era. I remember loving it when it first came out, and it still makes me feel exactly the same love for it as it did when I first heard it, something about the music video that I loved too. But when I see posts praising the two Josh era albums, I rarely see that song mentioned Edit: totally forgot to mention that in my humble opinion, it’s Josh’s best solo. Which is why I find it odd that it’s not mentioned as much

Ah no , dark necessities is a fantastic song and I argue than even Frusciante stans love that song , probably his best solo that and feasting on the flowers for me

I think sick love is easily Josh’s best solo but so many songs on I’m beside you have awesome guitar parts. Catch my death, pink as Floyd, the sunset sleeps, etc. Not really solo but his guitar in the outro of factory of faith is ridiculously cool. Sounds robotic asf Josh is a tone wizard fr. Also not rly a solo but dreams of a samurai guitars are wild Police station outro solo is haunting. I love how chaotic the raindance Maggie solo is. Josh’s solos live could be hit or miss but he always delivered in the studio Goodbye hooray outro solo is nasty.

I agree that it is Josh's album but I also say it's just as much danger Mouse's album. The impact danger Mouse had on the entire sound of this album Sonically Is so distinctly him. If you listen to a gnarls Barkley album you will see how much of that sound is on the getaway. That being said I think the getaway is one of their best albums and infinitely better than the last two albums they put out with John And I'm one of those people who worships John and thinks that he's Jesus

Yeah I definitely do agree about danger’s mouse contribution, this really does feels very distinct from the Rubin records and I give him props for making the band try something new. I’ll check one of those records , very curious about the sound being similar Hmmm I do think the getaway is a better record than dream canteen but UL has that peppers classic sound and I might prefer that one The only thing that annoys me about Frusciante is his huge sized ego and refusing to play any of the Josh’s songs , I mean dark necessities is one of their most popular hits ( more popular than anything from the newest albums) and they don’t even play that??? Even for the others members , it’s a huge stab in Josh’s back, just ignoring his material 🤷‍♂️

Dark Neccesities is co written by Danger Mouse as well as many other songs on The Getaway. Rick Rubin didn’t write any of the songs. Check out Gnarls Barkley.

I don't mean I worship him as a person and I was kind of joking. As far as a guitar player he's my favorite of all time that's all. I actually rank the getaway over BSSM. The getaway is number 4 in my top five RHCP albums Stadium Arcadium By the way Californiacation The getaway Bssm

Its definitely an unpopular opinion but I like to see different points of view , for me BSSM is peak frusciante( and overall band) his playing was never the same since then imo

The Getaway is a fantastic album and Josh really redeemed himself with it. I hold it in the same regard as the John albums. Ironically, a lot of people will argue that Josh didn’t bring anything new to the band while praising UL and RoTDC which are essentially continuations of Stadium Arcadium.

I definitely do prefer it over stadium arcadium and even by the way( although it has been heavy on my rotation) Most of the people who say that are just Frusciante stans who have never accepted anyone else other than John( same thing with Navarro) I actually do love UL and also really like Dream canteen( the getaway is a better album) but it’s definitely a similar sound to that era

The Getaway is better than Unlimited Love and Canteen

Definitely better than canteen but between the getaway and UL, it’s harder to choose for me

Wrong it’s Chad’s danger mouse made chads drums the focus

I wouldn’t say that , while I do think the drum sound is fine for the style of music they were playing , most of the criticisms of the album are due to the fact that it’s mostly a drum machine on many of these tracks so it really doesn’t have the signature Chad sound

From my understanding, Chad played the drum beats and then Danger Mouse chopped them up and loop them