By the Way
By the Way is the eighth studio album by the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released July 9, 2002, on Warner Bros. Records. It sold more than 286,000 copies in its first week, and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. Singles included "By the Way", "The Zephyr Song", "Can't Stop" and "Universally Speaking". Additionally, "Dosed" was released as a promotional single in the US and Canada. The lyrical subject matter vocalist Anthony Kiedis addresses in By the Way is a divergence from previous Red Hot Chili Peppers albums, with Kiedis taking a more candid and reflective approach to his lyrics.
By the Way was lauded by critics as a departure from the band's previous styles, and is recognized for the melodic and subdued emotions given by the Chili Peppers. Guitarist John Frusciante is credited with writing most of the album's melodies, backing vocal arrangements, bass lines, and guitar progressions, therefore changing the direction of the recording dramatically: "his warm, understated guitar work and his doo-wop style vocal harmonies are king this time around." By the Way contained very little of the signature funk-rock fusion the band had become known for playing. Frusciante has stated that writing "By the Way one of the happiest times in my life." The album went on to sell more than eight million copies worldwide. The album has come to be regarded by many as one of the band's finest works.
Background
The writing and formation of By the Way began immediately following the culmination of Californication's world tour, in the spring of 2001. As with Californication, much of the creation took place in the band members' homes and other practice locations, such as a recording studio stage. Kiedis recalled of the situation: "We started finding some magic and some music and some riffs and some rhythms and some jams and some grooves, and we added to it and subtracted from it and pushed it around and put melodies to it." Frusciante and Kiedis would collaborate for days straight, discussing guitar progressions and sharing lyrics. For Kiedis, "writing By the Way... was a whole different experience from Californication. John was back to himself and brimming with confidence." Prior to recording By the Way, the Red Hot Chili Peppers decided that they would again have Rick Rubin produce the album. Rubin had, in the past, granted the band creative freedom on their recording material; this was something they thought essential for the album to be unique, and could only occur with his return.Writing and composition
According to the 2010 book, An Oral/Visual History by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Frusciante had originally intended for the album to be very different from how it was eventually completed. He wanted an album of two different types of songs: songs that were more "English-sounding" and melodic, and songs that were more influenced by punk rock. Frusciante's punk inspiration came from listening to music by the Damned and Discharge, among others. Rick Rubin was not familiar with the latter bands and sound and thought that the melodic songs were original and more exciting, causing the band to focus mostly on the melodic material. However, one punk rock-influenced song was recorded during these sessions, "Body of Water", but did not make the final cut and was instead included on "The Zephyr Song" single. Many of the more melodic inspired songs came from Frusciante listening to the Beach Boys and the Beatles, along with doo-wop groups and their harmonies. He listened to Emerson, Lake & Palmer every day during the recording of By the Way. Frusciante also drew inspiration from synth-pop artists, using his guitar to emulate the melodies of Kraftwerk, the Human League, Gary Numan, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and Depeche Mode. He explained to LA Weekly, "I was finding that people who were programming synthesizers in this early electronic music were playing in a very minimal way, where every single note means something new and every note builds on what the last notes were doing."These new styles as well as Frusciante being especially prolific during this era came to alienate bassist Flea, who had wanted the band to return to its earlier funk-influenced sound. Frusciante felt the band had already thoroughly explored funk and was more interested in creating something new for the band. According to Kiedis, Flea felt his voice wasn't being heard, and there was a point where he considered leaving the band. While speaking to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, Frusciante mentioned that he listened to guitarists such as John McGeoch for his work on the Magazine's and Siouxsie and the Banshees' albums including Juju, Adrian Fisher of Sparks for Kimono My House, Johnny Marr of the Smiths, Vini Reilly of the Durutti Column and Keith Levene of Public Image Limited. He also credits XTC singer/guitarist Andy Partridge in the 2002 issue of Total Guitar for being an influence on his guitar work for the album.
The album's guitar and bass ensemble was primarily dictated by Frusciante, rather than a collaborative effort between him and Flea. Therefore, the record took a different direction than any previous Chili Peppers' album. Frusciante sought to create an emotional and poignant soundscape throughout the recording. Drawing influences from musicians such as Reilly and McGeoch, Frusciante made use of textured and multilayered guitar progressions on By the Way, using tools such as the mellotron and various effects pedals throughout. In 2006, while promoting the band's subsequent studio album, Stadium Arcadium, Flea reflected on the composition of By the Way, stating: "John went to this whole level of artistry. But he made me feel like I had nothing to offer, like I knew shit."
Kiedis was lyrically influenced by love, his girlfriend, and the emotions expressed when one fell in love. Songs written for the album such as "By the Way", "I Could Die for You", "Dosed", "Warm Tape" and non-album tracks "Someone" and "Body of Water" all digressed into the many sides of love. Drugs also played an integral part in Kiedis' writings, as he'd only been sober since December 2000. Tracks like "This Is the Place" and "Don't Forget Me" expressed his intense relationship with narcotics, the harmful physical and emotional effects they caused him, and the ever-present danger of relapse. He referenced the late Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Hillel Slovak, who died of a heroin overdose in 1988, in "This Is the Place", and describes how he was so intoxicated at the time that he missed Slovak's funeral: "On the day my best friend died/I could not get my copper clean." "Venice Queen" was written as an ode to Kiedis' drug rehabilitation therapist, Gloria Scott, who died shortly after he purchased her a home on California's Venice Beach. It mourned her death as a painful loss: "We all want to tell her/Tell her that we love her/Venice gets a queen/Best I've ever seen."
By the Way diverged from the band's previous styles, containing a few funk-driven songs. "Can't Stop" and the title track were the only songs that revisited their once trademark style of short, rapped verses. "Throw Away Your Television", while not having any rapidly sung lyrics, also contained a funk-oriented bass line, though hinted at experimental rock due to the heavy use of distortion throughout the verse and chorus. Other "experimental" tracks include the melodica-based "On Mercury". "Cabron", the only track to be played mostly acoustic, has distinctive Latin influences. Frusciante has stated that the guitar parts for Cabron were influenced by Martin Barre's playing on Jethro Tull's album Aqualung, with Anthony and Chad's parts contributing to the Latin, or Mexican, influence. "Tear" and "Warm Tape" were keyboard based more so than guitar or bass, the latter being completely written on the instrument. Technically, By the Way saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers employing several devices to distort and alter guitar and vocal sequences. "Don't Forget Me" utilizes a mellotron, wah pedal, and echoing techniques to convey an emotive atmosphere, while Frusciante uses a Big Muff for the solos on "Minor Thing".
Outtakes
Many outtakes from the album have been released or exist. "Time" and a cover version of Dion and the Belmonts' "Teenager in Love" were released on the single "By the Way". "Body of Water", "Out of Range", "Someone" and "Rivers of Avalon" were all released on the single "The Zephyr Song". "Slowly Deeply", which was featured on the single "Universally Speaking", is an outtake from the Californication sessions. The single for "Can't Stop" also features an alternate mix of the song with higher harmonies and a clearer bass line. A cover version of the Ramones' "Havana Affair" was also recorded and later released in 2003 on We're a Happy Family: A Tribute to Ramones. In 2003, the band re-entered the studio to work on their Greatest Hits album. "Fortune Faded", a song first performed live in 2001, was originally recorded and intended for By the Way however this version of the song was never officially released. The song was re-recorded with a different chorus and was released as a single to promote the Greatest Hits album and featured the B-side, "Eskimo", another By the Way outtake. The Greatest Hits sessions also produced enough songs for a new album, many of which have gone unreleased though some of the rough mixes have leaked to the internet. "Bicycle Song" and "Runaway" were officially released from those sessions in 2006 as bonus tracks on the iTunes release of By the Way even though neither song was originally recorded for the album.In August 2014, unreleased tracks from the album's recording sessions were leaked to the Internet. Many of the album's released songs and outtakes are in their earliest forms and feature improvised lyrics by Kiedis. The leak included three songs never heard before, including "Goldmine", "Fall Water" and "Rock & Roll", along with the original version of "Fortune Faded". Many of the songs on By the Way also had different working titles : Soul Train, Coltraine, Choppy Funk, I Would Die, The Most Beautiful Chords Ever, Wolverine, Drone, A Minor One, Television, Trash Your Television and Throw Away, Don't Forget, Lemon Trees on Mercury, The Loop Song, Epic, Gloria's Epic and New Wave. To date, "Strumming in Don J", a song assumed to be an instrumental jam and that Frusciante mentioned during pre-album release interviews, has never been released. "Upseen", another instrumental jam which was said to be 10 minutes long, has also never been released however it is speculated that this song could also have been another title for "Strumming in Don J".
| Title | Source |
| "Time" | "By the Way" CD1 |
| "A Teenager in Love" | "By the Way" CD1 |
| "Body of Water" | "The Zephyr Song" CD1 |
| "Someone" | "The Zephyr Song" CD1 |
| "Out of Range" | "The Zephyr Song" CD2 |
| "Rivers of Avalon" | "The Zephyr Song" CD2 |
| "Eskimo" | "Fortune Faded" CD1 |