Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Universally Speaking

Label: Warner Bros. Release Date: 15/05/2003

4259
gdobson by Gareth Dobson June 13th, 2003

Damn the Chili Peppers.

Five years ago, they were the coolest; on a one-way road trip to Valhalla, buoyed along on a wave of smack, smack, smack. The legacy had been written; ‘Here lies the hard living, big funking rock warriors; may the remaining calcium from their bones rot away quickly.’

And then they cleaned up and cleared out of junkville, getting on the corporate rehabilitation programme to cash-cow nirvana. Now when they die, it will be in large, well attended-to Hollywood Hills mansions.

...and what do we get in return for this snivelling, shameless opt-out for the yoga and vegan lifestyle?

Tunes. Big, sleek, heart warming, lustrous homages to SoCal soul as graceful as Flea’s nappies were once graceless.

Damn them all the way to paradise.

  • 7
    Gareth Dobson's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Drowned in Sound's Albums of the Year 2025


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing



Left-arrow

Morgan Heritage at Metropolitan University Union, Leeds, Mon 09 Jun

Mobback

The Vines at Camden Electric Ballroom, Camden, Thu 19 Feb

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Drowned in Sound's Albums of the Year 2025

  • 106149
  • news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145

    news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143
  • news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141

    news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139
  • Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138

    Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137
  • Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
MORE


    feature


    DiS meets Interpol

  • 8228
  • Interview


    Ace of Bass: DiS Meets Royal Blood

  • 97097

    Interview


    Going Elemental: DiS Meets Sharon Van Etten

  • 106002
  • Interview


    “We’ve been dismantling the rules since Antidot...

  • 100747

    Interview


    Person of the Year 2014: Meredith Graves - Inte...

  • 98657
  • Discography Reassessed


    Oeuvre Here: An 18 Album Voyage Through Ringo S...

  • 100438

    Interview


    Life, Death and Broken Bells - DiS meets James ...

  • 82768
  • feature


    Conversing with myself and another: DiS meets F...

  • 49768
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2026 DROWNED IN SOUND