Mother's Milk
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| Mother's Milk | ||
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| Studio album by Red Hot Chili Peppers | ||
| Released | August 16, 1989 | |
| Recorded | 1989 | |
| Genre | Funk Metal, Funkcore, Rapcore | |
| Length | 45:02 | |
| Label | EMI/Capitol Records | |
| Producer(s) | Michael Beinhorn | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Red Hot Chili Peppers chronology | ||
| The Abbey Road E.P. (1988) |
Mother's Milk (1989) |
Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) |
Mother's Milk is the fourth album by Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was released on August 16, 1989. It sold to date up to 2 million copies and has achieved a platinum album status.
Videos were made to accompany the tracks "Knock Me Down", their cover of Stevie Wonder's 1973 song "Higher Ground", "Taste The Pain", "Good Time Boys", and their cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Fire".
Before the album was recorded, guitarist Hillel Slovak died on June 25, 1988 which caused drummer Jack Irons to leave the band. Guitarist John Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith replaced them. Originally the album was planned as The Rockin' Freakapotamus, but after Slovak's death the recordings were stopped. Now "The Rockin' Freakapotamus" is the name of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' fanclub.
Not everything was smooth sailing during the recording sessions in Mother's Milk. Frontman Anthony Kiedis noted in his autobiography that Frusciante and producer Michael Beinhorn fought over guitar work. As such the guitar sound on the album is almost overpowering, often drowning out the sound of the other instruments and in particular Kiedis' vocals (This is clearly evident at the end of "Nobody Weird Like Me".)
Nevertheless, this quality helps the album to achieve an epic, powerful feel which is emphasised by the jazz influences. Generally, the sound of the album as a whole reflects an approach towards arena rock which, due to the Chilis turning to producer Rick Rubin for their next album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, would not be touched upon again. The album cover is a reference to Sly and the Family Stone's debut album A Whole New Thing.
Mother's Milk peaked at #52 on Billboard's Top 200 album chart and it was certified gold by mid-1990.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- All songs written by Flea/Frusciante/Kiedis/Smith unless otherwise stated.
- "Good Time Boys" – 5:02
- "Higher Ground" (Wonder) – 3:23
- "Subway to Venus" – 4:25
- "Magic Johnson" – 2:57
- "Nobody Weird Like Me" – 3:50
- "Knock Me Down" – 3:45
- "Taste the Pain" – 4:32
- "Stone Cold Bush" – 3:06
- "Fire" (Hendrix) – 2:03
- "Pretty Little Ditty" – 1:37
- "Punk Rock Classic" – 1:47
- "Sexy Mexican Maid" (Peligro/Flea/Frusciante/Kiedis/Smith) – 3:23
- "Johnny, Kick a Hole in the Sky" – 5:12
- 2003 Remastered Version Bonus Tracks
- "Song That Made Us What We Are Today (demo)" – 12:56
- "Knock Me Down" (original long version) – 4:44
- "Sexy Mexican Maid" (original long version) – 3:59
- "Salute to Kareem" (demo) – 3:24
- "Castles Made of Sand" (live) (Hendrix) – 3:19
- "Crosstown Traffic" (live) (Hendrix) – 2:53
Pretty Little Ditty was also expanded to 3:08 on the remastered version, and more percussion and drums were added.
[edit] B-Sides
- Show Me Your Soul - 4:22 (Appears on the Pretty Woman movie soundtrack)
[edit] Selected Quotes regarding Mother's Milk
In an 2002 interview, John Frusciante stated:
| “ | "Way back when I joined the band and when we were recording 'Mother's Milk' the producer pushed me into this metal-funk department and I therefore played mainly hard riffs on the lower e-string. That didn't really come from the heart, however, in those days it seemed to be a good idea. Although I'm not too proud of 'Mother's Milk', it is probably our most influential album. At least back then a lot of people jumped at it. In some instances we simultaneously put five distorted guitar tracks and a piercing solo on top of the bass." | ” |
[edit] Miscellanea
- "Pretty Little Ditty" was sampled by nu metal band Crazy Town for their song "Butterfly".
- The album includes the Chili's cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Fire", which was the last studio track recorded by the original band line-up before guitarist Hillel Slovak died and drummer Jack Irons subsequently departed.
- The opening bars to the Guns N' Roses guitar classic, "Sweet Child O' Mine" are played by John at the very end of "Punk Rock Classic".
- "Higher Ground" is used in the "Rockin' Space Mountain" attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
- "Good Time Boys" contains samples of Fishbone's "Bonin' In The Boneyard", Thelonious Monster's "Try", and X's "White Girl".
- At the end of "Good Time Boys" the band chants the words "Rockin' Freakapotamus" which is what Mothers Milk would have been titled had Hillel Slovak not died and Jack Irons not quit.
- "Higher Ground" is a playable song featured in the Playstation 2 game Guitar Hero.
- "Higher Ground" is featured in the movie Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.
[edit] Charting singles
1989 Higher Ground Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 26 1989 Higher Ground Modern Rock Tracks No. 11 1989 Knock Me Down Modern Rock Tracks No. 6
[edit] Credits
- Flea - Bass, Trumpet
- John Frusciante - Guitar
- Anthony Kiedis - Vocals, Cover Art Concept
- Chad Smith - Drums
- Fish - Drums (on Taste the pain)
- Jack Irons - Drums (on Fire)
- Hillel Slovak - Guitar (on Fire), Paintings
- Dave Coleman - Cello
- Patrick English - Trumpet
- Michael Beinhorn - Producer, Engineer
- Eddie DeLena - Engineer
- Felix Pappalardi - Producer
- Garth Richardson - Engineer
- Dave Jerden - Mixing
- Vicki Calhoun - Vocals (bckgr)
- Bruno Deron - Vocals (bckgr)
- Merrill Ward - Vocals (bckgr)
- Joel Virgel Viergel - Vocals (bckgr)
- Wag - Vocals (bckgr)
- Jack Sherman - Vocals (bckgr)
- Aklia Shin - Vocals (bckgr)
- Kristen Vigard - Vocals (bckgr)
- Julie Ritter - Vocals (bckgr) (formerly of Mary's Danish)
- Iris Parker - Vocals (bckgr)
- Gretchen Seager - Vocals (bckgr) (formerly of Mary's Danish)
- Henry Marquez - Art Direction, Design
- Peter Shea - Art Direction, Design
- Nels Israelson - Photography
