September 2004, from TimeOut (Serbia)
translated by me
click the thumbnail to see the scans

The rhythm of publishing one album per month would be really an enterprise if we were talking about any other author. As we all recall, already in Lennon and McCartney's days in late 60s, there was a defined "recipe" of a hit song: publish it on the day when you come up with it and the next day-record it.

During the next 4 months, John Frusciante will publish 4 new albums, which in addition to the two already published will make the end result of 6 albums for only six months. Was there anyone who knows more about the character and works of the last real guitar hero who was surprised by this news? Hardly. Although the term "guitar hero" is itself a suspicious one; especially if we get to remember the 80s hard & heavy/who can play faster maniacs whose treatments of the instruments could as well have turned into some weird paraolympics discipline than be remembered as essential playing worth attention; John Frusciante is a true representative of the straightforward group of guitar-heroes, but also a representative of the likes of 60s and 70s heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Ron Asheton, Brian Jones. At the same time, he's the man who should be thanked the most for having turned Red Hot Chili Peppers from a joke band known for provocativity (back in the days their scene wardrobe consisted of socks only...strategically placed, though) and the madmens' energy they were spreading around to a band having defined their sound and become the biggest attraction around and one of the last real excitements of rock'n'roll.

During the short time of his first being in the sound insanity known as RHCP, Frusciante has seem the both sides of the medal and after only two piblished albums (more than just successful 1989's Mother's Milk and 1991's BloodSugarSexMagik) he was already fed up with it, literally. Unable to resist the balast of fame and having almost completely gotten into the narcotics, mainly heroin, he's leaving the band in the middle of the triumph-like BSSM tour. He was only 22 years old and everything seemed to be like just one sad, almost cliché rock story of a great talent which has burnt out in the flames of fame and forbidden things.

During the 90s he's publishing two fairly obscure albums - Niandra LaDes And Usually Just A T-Shirt was out in 1995 and Smile From The Streets You Hold two years later and at the same time he's also writing short stories and painting. Luckily, in the end he goes to rehab and the treatment is successful. He came back to the scene with RHCP better than ever, which is clearly visible on masterpieces Californication (1999) and By The Way (2002). The guitars on both of the above mentioned albums have stopped being the sound decoration for the hysterical and psychodelic (but, hands on heart, maestral!) bass. Instead of that, they're taking over the role which they truly deserve, according to their quality. Frusciante had also published two more solo albums, To Record Only Water For Ten Days and Shadows Collide With People and then, this summer, he exploded in creativity, having announced that he'll publish six albums in six months, consisted of demo - like records which were developed during only 3-4 days of the time spent in the studio - among these songs, there are the real gems of spontaneosity, the charm of raw sound and the unperfection as the base of a rock song.

Note that John Frusciante is not a guitarist who's pretentious and whose playing is perfect (which you can notice in any live gig). He got the idea of a technically unperfect songs by listening to some of his favourite songs, such as Rolling Stone's classic "Time Is On My Side" where Brian Jones is playing unprecisely and incorrectly and it sounds very, very good all together; so, with the help of his friend Josh Klinghoffer (these two men are playing all the instruments on the albums) during only a couple of days in 16-track studio he's recording The Will To Death.

"Everyone would think that such a short amount of time is not enough for recording an album, but it is," says Frusciante, "We really know that these songs are good. When I sing a song, I sing it only once - there's no need to sing it 20 times. To me, a band, especially a rock band, should be good enough to play some stuff correctly already the first time."

As he promised, he published "Automatic Writing" under the name of Ataxia (besides John and Josh there's Joe Lally from the legendary Washington-based punk/hc band Fugazi) and also DC EP, with a slightly different team.

Until recently, you couldn't say John Frusciante without thinking of RHCP. The way it's started now, the time when the situation is going to be completely different is not so far away.