Red Hot Chili Peppers: “Stadium Arcadium”
ROCK|Warner Bros., released today
Perhaps more than any other band of their generation, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are showing their age.
They had their youth in the late-’80s and early-’90s, but then adulthood came in 1995 (“One Hot Minute”) and especially in 1999 (“Californication”). The music no longer cut it, but it was more anthemic than ever.
The two-CD “Stadium Arcadium,” the band’s ninth full-length album in 22 years, is what you’d expect. Singer Anthony Kiedis still wields the knife, but the once sharp modern rock edge is now dulled and decidedly more adult contemporary. Songs such as “She’s Only 18” and “Readymade” miss the mark completely.
They nail their later-life, radio-ready formula a couple of times, on the early “Snow (Hey Oh),” “Make You Feel Better” and “Wet Sand,” but it’s all expected. With the mystery gone, what’s so red hot anymore?|Ricardo Baca
Neil Young: “Living with War”
ROCK|Warner Bros., released today
One of Neil Young’s defining characteristics – his willingness to try almost anything – has hurt him as often as it has helped him (think 1983’s vocoder-laden trainwreck “Trans”). But on “Living with War,” Young crafts a topical, visceral response to the Bush White House and the Iraq war that reasserts his relevance after last year’s mild “Prairie Wind.”
To Young’s credit, the whole of “Living With War” was written, recorded and released in a little more than a month. Lyrics like, “On the flatscreen we kill and we’re killed again,” reference TV’s stultifying effect on the horrors of combat while a 100-person choir backs up Young’s lacerating guitar riffs.
“Living with War” is a loud, angry and creatively vigorous statement from one of folk and rock’s most enduring figures. Musicians half Young’s age would be lucky to craft a single album like this in their lifetimes.|John Wenzel
Paul Simon: “Surprise”
ADULT CONTEMPORARY|Warner Bros., released today
It would be a surprise for “Surprise” to be a masterwork, but Paul Simon – one of the great singer-songwriters of the ’60s and ’70s – hasn’t released a noteworthy album for two decades. With 1986’s “Graceland,” Simon at least showed some desire to mature.
But “Surprise,” like 2000’s “You’re The One” before it, is little more than a self-indulgent exercise, where Simon proves yet again that while he is one of the all-time greats, he’s not great all the time.
“Surprise” is mostly a collection of songs that don’t appear to share anything with each other. Songs like “Everything About It Is A Love Song” show potential – in this case, an attempt at Postal Service-like electronic beats beneath Simon’s soft-spoken folk – but lack cohesion.|Ricardo Baca
Other releases today:
Snow Patrol, “Eyes Open” (A&M) Last we heard from these Brits, “Final Straw” had sold more than 2 million copies. But this is the record that will either make or break this pop band often compared to Coldplay.
Yonder Mountain String Band, “Yonder Mountain String Band” (Vanguard) These masterful instrumentalists, all residents of the mountains rising above Boulder, offer tasty morsels on their first release on Vanguard.
