What Hits Music Cd

Red Hot Chili Peppers - What Hits

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What Hits!?      Artist : Red Hot Chili Peppers      List Price : $7.98 USD        ProductGroup: Music      Release Date : 1992-09-29      Studio : Capitol      Label : Capitol      Avg. Customer Rating : (47 reviews)

Reviews Customer Reviews for What Hits      Busting out the `hits' in style      Rating:      Ah, early Red Hot Chili Peppers: Flea's throbbing bass line; punchy drumming that's right on cue from Chad Smith; angular guitar work by Hillel Balzary; and the fluent, speedy rap style of Anthony Kiedis. For a band that's been through so much self-imposed heartache throughout its career, the Red Hot Chili Peppers sure wrote lots of fun, optimistic tunes early on. Songs like Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground," "Me and My Friends" and "Fight Like a Brave" are positively life affirming and full of an unbridled energy that can't be feigned. Even today when it's played live, for instance, "Me and My Friends" is a raucous riot that practically blows the crowd back two feet with each perfectly enunciated word during the chorus. Displaying their diversity, however, the RHCP boys were as equally adept early in their career at writing and playing laid-back, melodic fare such as "Behind the Sun" (a great summer tune) and soulful tracks like "If You Want Me to Stay" and "Hollywood." Mostly, though, "What Hits!?" is a splendid, stylish array of some of RHCP's best, most fast-and-furious cuts from the early days. From the dance-worthy "Backwoods" on down, "What Hits!?" is filled with one hyper sing-along after another. In fact, this happily caffeinated CD is so naively vibrant and energetic that the one true "hit" on the album, the overplayed "Under the Bridge," seems somewhat out of place. More at home on the CD are tunes like "Get Up and Jump," "Jungle Man," "The Brothers Cup" and "Catholic School Girls Rule," all of which sound as if, before being perfected in a recording studio, they were finely honed in a basement at someone's high school party or at an after-hours frat party. Saving the best for last, like a great concert encore, "Johnny Kick a Hole in the Sky" properly closes out the CD. I didn't used to dig and respect these guys as much as I do now. RHCP is one of those rare bands who never lost its fans when it completely expanded its sound as time moved along. If anything, RHCP gained fans over the years. The band developed from unique and innovative funk-rock and the slap-happy rapping style of Kiedis to a more layered sound, more guitar-oriented and way more textured, complex and melodic. Though there's something very "underground 1980s L.A." about all these songs, there is also a sense of some massive, bubbling potential and of eventually breaking out -- on the band's own terms.     Customer Reviews for What Hits Cd      Old Chili Peppers = Awesome      Rating:      If you don't want to slap down the money for all of the Chili Peppers' older cds, this is a great alternative for hearing all of their great old Mr. Bungle-like music. Editorial Reviews for What Hits Audio Cd      Amazon.com      An overview of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' formative 1984 to 1989 stint with EMI Records, What Hits? contains plenty of hits, including their first truly huge success, "Under the Bridge," from their 1991 debut on Warner Bros., Blood Sugar Sex Magic. Other highlights here, including 1990's "Show Me Your Soul" (which proves the band learned plenty from working with George Clinton on 1985's Freaky Styley), their superb cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground," and the feel-good funk of "Behind the Sun," show the Peppers paved the way for a school of alt bands who melded funk with rock riffs. There are plenty other less-celebrated moments from the Peppers' early days that shine on their own, and only a few self-indulgent clunkers (what drove them to such a dismal performance of Jimi Hendrix's "Fire"?). This collection will suffice for the casual fan who needs a quick intro to the Peppers' history. --Lorry Fleming