RTE guide
from RTE guide, Ireland
If The Red Hot Chili Peppers probe the dark underbelly of Los Angeles then their guitarist John Frusciante once again gets busy emitting strange signals from Death Valley on his fourth album. Like his first three solo excursions, the wacko but evocatively-titled Shadows...offers a more experimental alternative to the Chili's rhythmic melodicism; the lovely 'Ricky' sounds like it was recorded in a busy ship-building yard complete with distant clanging sounds and you could drive the family dog mad with the high frequency freak-out that is 'Failure 33 Object'. The playing is as exemplary as Frusciante's work with his fultime band(his voice has Anthony Keidis' soulful resonance too)and the lyrics suggest that the modern day guitar hero has recovered from his former heroin-induced mental state. A fragile yet optimistic album.
---Alan Corr
