EPISODE 178: THE WHEEL GOT SPICY

The Wheel of Rock has spoken… and it went full Red Hot Chili Peppers.

That’s right—Episode 178 kicks off as the wheel drops the needle on Californication.

Expect funky bass lines, shirtless energy (at least in spirit), and deep thoughts about California, fame, and why Anthony Kiedis writes lyrics like that.

Was this destiny? Was it chaos? Was the wheel feeling funky?
Hit play and find out as we take a trip straight to Cali—no sunscreen required.

Californication is the seventh studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on June 8, 1999, on Warner Bros. Records. It was produced by Rick Rubin. Along with Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Californication is one of the band’s best-selling albums.

Californication marked the return of guitarist John Frusciante, who’d previously appeared on Mother’s Milk and Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and shifted the band’s style. The lyrics incorporated the sexual innuendos already associated with the band, but added themes including death, California, suicide, drugs, globalization and travel.

Californication is the Chili Peppers‘ most commercially successful studio release to date, with more than 15 million copies sold worldwide, and more than seven million in the United States alone. As of 2002, the album had sold more than four million copies in Europe. The record yielded several hits for the band, including “Otherside,” the title track and the Grammy Award-winning “Scar Tissue.” Californication peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200.

The record marked a significant change in style for the band: Rolling Stone’s Greg Tate noted that “while all previous Chili Peppers projects have been highly spirited, Californication dares to be spiritual and epiphanic”. Another critic, Billboard’s Paul Verna, mentioned that the album brought out “the group’s softer, melodic side”, as opposed to their previous six albums.

Red Hot Chili Peppers
Anthony Kiedis – lead vocals, overdubbed backing vocals
John Frusciante – electric guitar, slide guitar, acoustic guitar on “This Velvet Glove” and “Road Trippin'”, backing vocals
Flea – bass guitar, acoustic bass guitar on “Road Trippin'”, backing vocals
Chad Smith – drums, percussion

Production
Rick Rubin – production
Lindsay Chase – production coordinator
Greg Collins and Mike Nicholson – additional engineering
Greg Fidelman – additional engineering
Jennifer Hilliard – assistant engineer
Chris Holmes – mix engineer
Ok Hee Kim – assistant engineer
Vlado Meller – mastering
David Schiffman – additional engineering
Jim Scott – engineer, mixing
John Sorenson – additional engineering

Additional Musicians
Greg Kurstin – keyboards
Patrick Warren – Chamberlin organ on “Road Trippin'”

Artwork
Lawrence Azerrad – art direction
Sonya Koskoff – photography
Red Hot Chili Peppers – art direction
Tony Wooliscroft – photography

Intro Music/Wheel Spin Music by LiteSaturation from Pixabay