TheStatePress.com
from The State, April 2005
John Frusciante’s “Curtains” is everything the Red Hot Chili Peppers are not.
It isn’t filled with punk-funk riffs or feel-good grooves, and the songs — too often musically spare and lacking the polish the guitarist is capable of when recording under the Chili Peppers banner — are clunky ballads that focus often on self-loathing, fear and personal doubt.
And with titles such as “Control” and “Hope” — both of which are sluggish minor-key melodies with regret-filled lyrics — it’s clear Frusciante has baggage.
Recorded on an eight-track tape machine in Frusciante’s living room, “Curtains” has a regrettably rough production quality. It’s a surprise for an artist proved capable of doing so much more.
(two stars)
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