February 2004, from The Daily Barometer

Grade: B

John Frusciante's latest effort is a brutally honest aural achievement

Addiction and depression have claimed the lives of countless rockers and John Frusciante could have been yet another name among hundreds. But unlike many of his counterparts, he was able to pry the meat hooks of dependency from his back and persevere where so many have faltered.

The '90s, for Frusciante, were a life-changing decade. Leaving The Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1992, Frusciante found himself in the depths of despair and in the middle of a rock-'n'-roll-sized addiction to heroin. Putting out two solo albums, it was obvious that Frusciante was suffering, as was his music.

Frusciante's latest solo effort, Shadows Collide With People is the aural equivalent of the 12th step of any decent 12-step program; it's a fearless personal revelation, an astounding awakening and an amazing piece of art.

From the opening notes of this album, it's obvious that Frusciante has a new sense of clarity when it comes to his music. Since kicking the drug habit in 1999, his music has been much more polished and focused, and the material on Shadows is no exception. "Carvel," the album's opening track, is an astounding mark of achievement and proves just how far Frusciante has come since 1994's Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt.

Although the album seems to be far less experimental and more straight forward when compared to his earlier solo material, Frusciante still manages to retain the strength and sheer honesty he's famous for.

During the track "Regret," Frusciante manages to repeat the song's only line, "I regret my past," nine times and still make it interesting. Frusciante is not a brilliant lyricist, but that's just a small part of the big picture. Despite the sometimes cringe-worthy lines he rattles off, he still manages to convey an overwhelming amount of emotion.

The album's first single, and definitely one of the stand-out tracks, "A Song to Sing When I'm Lonely," is a sweetly simple folk-rock song complete with the "ooh-wee-ooh" backing vocals and minimal acoustic guitar. It's a wonderfully upbeat song that really showcases Frusciante's newfound confidence. Even though the album features three-quarters of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Flea on bass and Chad Smith on drums), it's obvious that Frusciante has found his own voice on this album and truly made something unique.

At times it seems like Frusciante is a little overzealous. Shadows is comprised of 18 tracks, coming in at just under the 60-minute mark. It's a long journey and much of the material is quite thick, but with the exception of a few synth filler tracks, it's worth the extra effort.

The strange thing is that the album is seemingly devoid of the trademark Frusciante guitar style. His six-string wizardry has taken a backseat to his simple synthesizer riffs and vocals. It's not what you'd expect from Rolling Stone's 18th greatest guitar player. But that's the thing with Frusciante, he's totally unpredictable.

Despite his sometimes impulsive nature, this album manages to walk a fine line and create a near perfect mixture of emotion and music; it's a brutally honest and personal album, but it's far from being sappy and completely self-disclosing. In the past 10 years, Frusciante has made a complete turnaround, and with his newfound freedom, it'll be interesting to see where his 13th step takes him.

---Eric Feigner