Red Hot Chili Peppers - Return of the Dream Canteen

Rock – Released October 14, 2022 – 17 songs, 75 mins

REID

Before I get going, take a quick read of my May review of RHCP’s first album release in 2022, Unlimited Love. It reads like a kid in a candy store. A long-time fan overloaded with excitement for the band’s reunion and renewed enthusiasm. The cycle clued up nicely as I saw them, The Strokes and Thundercat perform at the Skydome in Toronto in August. It was a fantastic show and I was thrilled they were back together and firing on all cylinders. I had my fill.

In the final paragraph of my UL review, I noted ‘And apparently there is more to come.’. All we knew then is the band wrote and recorded a lot of new material. A few months later, news of Return of the Dream Canteen release was announced and even I was more surprised than excited. Hopefully the rock veterans pull it off but with little momentum or expectation, ROTDC was fighting an uphill battle to begin with.

Let’s start with the positives. The band’s individual prowess and chemistry is there and it always will be. The front half of the album is pretty solid overall, with songs like Peace and Love, Eddie, Fake as F@ck and Roulette each bringing something a little different to the table as strong points. From a visual standpoint, the album art is colourful chaos, feeling like a throwback to the early days of The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987). The fan in me had the limited edition light blue vinyl ordered before its release so it’ll look pretty in the collection.

The glaring and overwhelming negative is two (17!) song albums in six months is simply too much. I went into this with the mindset of treating them separately but it’s difficult to ignore the total package by erasing another album so fresh in memory. The result is a watered down product and one can’t help but question the thought process. Keidis rambles with na na na’s (Tippa My Tongue), ma ma ma’s (My Cigarette) and la la la’s (La La La La La La La La) showing a clear dip in quality from a band that usually has fun with it anyway and isn’t the most thought provoking to begin with. Those two latter tracks along with Bella and In The Snow border on unlistenable. While the remainder of the album is sprinkled with ear worms from Frusciante and crew, there’s nothing really new here to get excited about.

Listen. At the end of the day, these guys are rock legends and can do whatever they want. I mean hell, both albums reached number one on multiple Billboard charts. But in this reviewer’s eyes and with their legacy in mind, there was a much simpler path to success in 2022. Unlimited Love is clearly the better album but it also has a few songs to trim. You package the best of both as a double album with a single release date. Boom, way better. The others can trickle out as B-sides as you so choose.

The fatigue is real on RHCP’s second hour and fifteen-minute release of 2022. It’ll be interesting to see how it ages but for now, Return of the Dream Canteen feels like the clear B album of their return.

Overall Rating: 7.0/10

Favourite Song: Eddie

ROZ

Well it turns out that the Red Hot Chili Peppers really have no chill at all in 2022 as can be seen with another absolute behemoth of studio release - the second in fact since their reunion and resurgence in 2022. Our thoughts on Unlimited Love are well documented and warrant a read if you missed it back in April, but for now the magnifying glass is on this weeks review, their return to the TSR spotlight: Return of the Dream Canteen.

What is the dream canteen you ask? Well, look no further than one of the Chili Peppers themself, legendary front man Anthony Kiedis who states in a recent interview that the albums title describes  "a well of creative prosperity”, due in part by the lengthy pandemic lockdowns allowing the group to write and record at a suitable pace. The raw output in and of itself is nothing short of miraculous as the boys take ample opportunity to stretch their legs, chop it up in the studio and first and foremost have fun together again. It truly is a thing of beauty to see an original band get back together and, not only that, but genuinely seem to be having the time of their lives too. A true rarity.

Now fun is fun, but is the music good? Better yet, is it good enough to warrant this much (officially released) content? With Rick Rubin still managing the studio and with ample mainstream radio airplay, all signs point to yes - this reviewer however, has some concerns. Does Return of the Dream Canteen offer a funky smorgisboard of delectibale tunes? Yes it does. Is Anthony Kiedis doing strange accents again (looking at you, Reach Out) and downright sabotaging almost one third of the album? I firmly believe so. Frusciante delivers everything that one could ever demand on the guitar (Eddie in particular) and Flea is slapping the bass harder than Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars, however as a whole this second effort seems like one giant B-side that could have perhaps been repurposed for a future (and I mean future) album release.

‘We’ve only just begun’, Kiedis proudly proclaims, and honestly these words seem downright scary to hear. Two full studio albums within six months of each other? This may succeed in highlighting each members individual talents but ultimately this second album finds itself bloated with ideas that should have simply stayed in the jam session. Let’s hope that the Peppers keeping having their fun… just maybe off the record for a little while.

Overall Rating: 6.1/10

Favourite Song: Peace and Love

LUNDI

Well if last week wasn’t direct copy and paste, this week surely is. The Red Hot Chili Peppers return with their second album of the year Return of the Dream Canteen. TSR has already laid down their thoughts on Unlimited Love so let’s go ahead and sort through what these rock legends are bringing to the table in late 2022. 

Without being overly critical of the RHCP and knowing full well they’re a favourite band of fellow blogger Reid, the band have never exactly been a great enjoyment for me. Love the hits and enjoy live show, but the overall albums and band itself most often feel like a drag. Everything always seems much too similar and with Dream Canteen coming in at 75 minutes that’s a major problem. I struggled with what RHCP had left to offer on Unlimited Love, aside from a Frusciante return, and struggled even more with that fact on Dream Canteen. It’s simply no more than fan service at this point. I’m sure the California loving gents know they aren’t winning any new fans with either of these albums, but like Metallica, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, or any major rock band of the 90/00’s releasing music today, the RHCP simply love making music together and for that they deserve kudos. I mean, none of the aforementioned bands are exactly breaking any boundaries with their new stuff. Personal enjoyment may lack, but what are they supposed to do? I don’t think it’s in any musician to turn off the amps and walk away. 

In terms of Dream Canteen specifics everything that’s good about Unlimited Love is still good and it even flashes a bit of greatness. There’s throw back sounds to the Blood Sugar and Mother’s Milk days with the trio of Flea, Chad, and John bringing more og Chili pepper funk when compared to their more recent efforts. Their musical relationship is simply difficult to match. They produce extremely tight and masterful musical arrangements across the entirety of album. They are in sync and flawlessly execute their individual parts. While they could certainly see to it that some risks are taken, bringing back Rick Rubin once again boxes the band into the same old shit mentality. An external voice in the process could do wonders if the band plan to enter the studio again. 

Unfortunately everything that is bad about Unlimited Love gets worse. Kiedis is a problem at this point as he spouts gibberish and nonsense across the majority of the tracks. I suppose this is who he’s always been, but he’s a glaring red flag in an otherwise talented band. No one’s listening to RHCP for introspective lyrics but it’s a car crash I simply can’t look away from. He’s the weakest link and is unfortunately at the band forefront. By the time I reach closing track In the Snow and become subject to spoken word Kiedis, I am firmly ready to never listen to this album again, but of course I did it for the brand #ftb. 

Dream Canteen is nothing more than glorified fan service. While the RHCP seem happy to be back making music together, I’m happy to remove this album from my playlist and stick to the band’s classics. 

Overall Rating: 6.1/10

Favourite Song: Tippa My Tongue