Greatest Hits [Warner Bros.]

by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Overview

Spanning nearly a decade and a half, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' first Greatest Hits for Warner Bros. collects many of the band's best-loved songs -- including chart-toppers such as "Under the Bridge" and "Scar Tissue" and modern-rock hits such as "Give It Away," "Californication," and "By the Way" -- as well as the new single "Fortunes Faded." Also available is Greatest Hits and Videos, joining the best-of CD with a bonus DVD containing 16 videos.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/18/2003
Label:	Warner Bros / Wea
UPC:	0093624854524
catalogNumber:	48545
Rank:	6628

Tracks

1. Under the Bridge
2. Give It Away
3. Californication
4. Scar Tissue
5. Soul to Squeeze
6. Otherside
7. Suck My Kiss
8. By the Way
9. Parallel Universe
10. Breaking the Girl
11. My Friends
12. Higher Ground
13. Universally Speaking
14. Road Trippin'
15. Fortune Faded
16. Save the Population

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Red Hot Chili Peppers   Primary Artist
Kristen Vigard   Background Vocals
Vicki Calhoun   Background Vocals
Lenny Castro   Percussion
Flea   Bass,Group Member
Gail Frusciante   Choir, Chorus
John Frusciante   Guitar,Group Member
Anthony Kiedis   Guitar,Vocals,Group Member
Greg Kurstin   Keyboards
Brendan O'Brien   Mellotron
Jack Sherman   Background Vocals
Chad Smith   Drums,Group Member
Merrill Ward   Background Vocals
Patrick Warren   chamberlain
Peter Weiss   Jew's Harp
Iris Parker   Background Vocals
Julie Ritter   Background Vocals
Gretchen Seager   Background Vocals
Bruno Deron   Background Vocals
Wag   Background Vocals
Aklia Chin   Background Vocals
Joel Virgel   Background Vocals
Spinosa   Background Vocals
Babe   Background Vocals
Randy Ruff   Background Vocals

Technical Credits

Red Hot Chili Peppers   Art Direction
Michael Beinhorn   Producer
Flea   Composer
John Frusciante   Composer
Dave Jerden   Engineer
Anthony Kiedis   Composer
Dave Navarro   Composer
Brendan O'Brien   Engineer
Rick Rubin   Producer
David Schiffman   Engineer
Jim Scott   Engineer
Chad Smith   Composer
Stevie Wonder   Composer
D. Sardy   Engineer
Greg Fidelman   Engineer

Editorial Reviews

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Greatest Hits is a compelling listen, culling tracks from the band's 1989 breakthrough, Mother's Milk, to its melodic 2002 release, By the Way. In some ways, one could view this as the best of the John Frusciante years, charting most of the band's work with the talented guitarist after the death of original member Hillel Slovak. The tracks here are all hits, including such stellar singles as "Give It Away," "Under the Bridge," and Frusciante's first single after his phoenix-like resurrection from heroin addiction, "Scar Tissue." It should be noted, though, that as a Warner-issued hits collection such fan favorites as "Taste the Pain" and the touchstone antidrug anthem "Knock Me Down" -- both from the 1989 EMI release Mother's Milk -- aren't included. (Similarly, nothing from the Chili Peppers' rambunctious early efforts -- including 1984's Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1985's Freaky Styley, and 1987's The Uplift Mofo Party Plan -- appears on this hits collection.) Nonetheless, Greatest Hits still portrays the band as one of the most consistently brilliant groups of its generation. Helping to paint this picture are such solid cuts as the group's searing, albeit overplayed, 1989 cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" as well as its rarely available addition to the Coneheads movie soundtrack, "Soul to Squeeze." Not surprisingly, "My Friends" is the sole cut to make it from the band's disappointing one-off effort with Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, One Hot Minute. Throw in two new tracks ("Fortune Faded" and "Save the Population") that easily match the quality of the material collected here, and you've got one of the most consistently listenable Chili Pepper releases since Blood Sugar Sex Magik. For fans who gave up after Frusciante left the band, Greatest Hits is the perfect reintroduction.

All Music Guide - Matt Collar