John Frusciante is best known as the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but he also has an extensive repertoire of solo music as well as side projects with other musicians. Regarded as one of the best guitarists today, he is also a brilliant songwriter, singer, arranger, and producer, and is skilled at other instruments including bass, synthesizer, piano, drum machine, and other electronic music-making tools. All of this, combined with his virtuosic guitar playing, places him amongst not only the best guitarists of all time, but also amongst the best overall rock musicians of all time. The following videos are of songs I've selected that I feel highlight John's incredible range of musicianship. While there are many great guitarists known today, and while I enjoy their music and respect them as musicians, none of them rival the overall brilliance of Frusciante. The purpose of this post is to give readers a sample of John's music in the hopes that some will be inspired to go explore more.
Intro to Slane Castle (RHCP), 2003 — This introduction amazes me every time I hear it. The sheer power and energy John (and Flea and Chad) plays with is electrifying. Also, seeing how John moves while playing just adds to the experience.
Ramparts — This might be the only piece by John you need to hear to understand that he is truly special. The layers of guitars are all his playing which he simply layers on top of each other. Then the solo just fits perfectly at the climax of the piece, while the background guitars are still playing very intricate and harmonically perfect lines. Simply stunning and beautiful. Also listen to his other instrumental compositions, such as "Murderers" and "Before The Beginning."
Time Tonight — This song showcases John's songwriting skills with a nice vocal line, his own backing vocals, and great instrumentals, especially the guitar parts with the backward effect.
Carvel — After the synthesized sounds that begin the song, it explodes into a powerful and memorable song with great vocals (and his own background vocals, which he does often), lyrics, fantastic guitar playing, and synthesized sounds.
Here, Air — Another one of John's wonderfully artistic and beautiful compositions featuring simple yet perfect and clean guitar playing, backwards guitar effects, and his signature falsetto vocals.
Cabron (RHCP) — On the RHCP album By The Way, this song probably surprised everyone with its upbeat, slightly Latin feel. John also surprised us with yet another style he owns on the guitar. No offense to the other guitar greats, but I'm not sure most of them would venture into this territory. Of course, all of John's work with the Chili Peppers is sublime, in my opinion.
Walls — Another one of John's styles is displayed on the album A Sphere In The Heart of Silence, made with current RHCP guitarist and close friend Josh Klinghoffer. This album features electronic music combined with John and Josh's vocals and guitar/bass/synthesizer playing. John is influenced by an extensively wide range of music, and electronic music is one of them. The last song on the album, however, is just John and a piano. Of course, the song "The Afterglow" is on this album, and you can listen to it on my second blog post below.
[Untitled] - Smile From The Streets You Hold — This song was written back when John was still having major drug addiction issues, but it is still brilliant John Frusciante music. His singing is less mature and slightly unrefined, yet still expressive, emotional, and beautiful. The guitar part is classic John.
0 - with Omar Rodriguez Lopez — Off an instrumental album written with Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez Lopez, this song (zero the number, not the letter 'o') is very John: intricate, virtuosic guitar parts with a very listenable melody and good overall song structure.
Rivers of Avalon (RHCP) — A B-Side from the Zephyr Song single release, this song shows John's radio-friendly side, I would say. If this song had made it onto By The Way, I think it could have been a hit. I've read though that John often votes against 'potentially popular' songs from being on the album in favor of more artistic or unique-sounding ones. Of course many RHCP songs have made it onto the radio, and that makes them no less brilliant.
The Sides (Ataxia) — One of John's side projects, Ataxia still sounds very "John." This song in particular features great vocals from John, and of course wonderful guitars and an awesome guitar solo. Also listen to "The Soldier" by Ataxia.
The Past Recedes — One of John's only songs made into a music video, this song is a nice example of John's singer-songwriter side. The video features his house, with all his guitars, basses, records, CDs, and his own recording studio. Excellent song.
Girls - by Tricky feat. Anthony Kiedis & John Frusciante — Also featuring RHCP singer Anthony Kiedis, this song by Tricky has John on guitar with his unmistakeable sound adding to the rap/rock feel of the track. Another Tricky song with John is "#1 Da Woman," on which John sings and plays guitar, and Flea plays bass.
Dosed (RHCP) — The RHCP song really displays John's invaluable contribution to the sound (and success) of the band. This song is characterized by the several guitar tracks John recorded and layered to create a delicate, ethereal sound. Listen closely to all the guitar tracks, as well as his prominent vocal line. Other RHCP songs with unreal guitar-playing by John are: Snow (Hey Oh), Soul To Squeeze, Under The Bridge, Scar Tissue, This Velvet Glove, Pretty Little Ditty (which Crazy Town used for their song "Butterfly"), Wet Sand, Desecration Smile, Venice Queen, and many, many others.
In My Light — Both this five-track EP, entitled Letur-Lefr, and the new LP, PBX (below), might take some getting used to as they are both examples of John's new style, but they are truly brilliant. John set aside his knowledge as a rock guitarist and songwriter to learn the ways of heavily electronic "progressive synth pop," as he describes it (although he says this title is only a way to roughly categorize the music, and does not say anything about what it sounds like). After he felt comfortable with the new techniques, he picked up the guitar again and created some new, rather intriguing material. The albums even feature some rap courtesy of several rapper friends of John's, including members of Wu-Tang Clan.
Ratiug — PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone LP
Same — Outsides EP
Shining Desert — Enclosure
The Joust (sample) — John Frusciante surprised fans with something unexpected: he produced an album (two now, actually) by hip-hop duo Black Knights. John's sound and even vocals can clearly be discerned throughout the album.
85H — John's latest record was released under the pseudonym Trickfinger and it's 100% electronic. While he's given us several tastes of his new sound lately, this album in particular features a fairly new dynamic and feel. John has said he's more or less abandoned rock-style songwriting.
In My Light — Both this five-track EP, entitled Letur-Lefr, and the new LP, PBX (below), might take some getting used to as they are both examples of John's new style, but they are truly brilliant. John set aside his knowledge as a rock guitarist and songwriter to learn the ways of heavily electronic "progressive synth pop," as he describes it (although he says this title is only a way to roughly categorize the music, and does not say anything about what it sounds like). After he felt comfortable with the new techniques, he picked up the guitar again and created some new, rather intriguing material. The albums even feature some rap courtesy of several rapper friends of John's, including members of Wu-Tang Clan.
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