Prompt: "A song that involves lots of banging"
Selected by Brianna
"Breaking the Girl"
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Blood Sugar Sex Magik, 1991
It's been a while, folks. I think it’s time to once again revisit the Red Hot Chili Peppers. A positive discussion today, I think.
When I was doing my first deep dive into the funky world of the Red Hots, I was instantly hooked on Blood Sugar Sex Magik. I would argue it's their best to date, as it so encapsulates their vibe and style as a band. This may be due to this being their first album produced by the legendary Rick Rubin, who has worked with them on almost every album since.
Similar to a story I told a few prompts ago featuring Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, the Peppers had decided to record this album outside of the studio with the hopes of capturing a more creative sound. This time, instead of the English countryside of the formerly mentioned classic rock act, the California centered group decided an LA mansion (possibly once lived in by magician Harry Houdini) would be a better fit. Their experience in writing, recording, and producing the album is captured in a short documentary by bassist Flea's BIL called Funky Monks—found for free on YouTube, I highly recommend checking it out for a peak into the bizarre (and yet perfect for the moment) headspace these guys were in at the time.
In said documentary, we see the creation of this prompt's selection, "Breaking the Girl." My favorite scene is that of the banging itself. As the story goes, the fellas gathered a bunch of garbage from a local dump, including pipes, cans, and bottles—think: junkyard percussion instruments. And then, when the musical interlude presented itself, let their new instruments rip. The result in the final cut is a little less rustic than what we hear in the documentary, but the effect is the same: a layered, authentic moment of percussion that the modern beatpad just can't replicate. It goes to show, not all "banging" is not the same. And in the case of "BtG," the real kind is just so much better.
When I was doing my first deep dive into the funky world of the Red Hots, I was instantly hooked on Blood Sugar Sex Magik. I would argue it's their best to date, as it so encapsulates their vibe and style as a band. This may be due to this being their first album produced by the legendary Rick Rubin, who has worked with them on almost every album since.
Similar to a story I told a few prompts ago featuring Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, the Peppers had decided to record this album outside of the studio with the hopes of capturing a more creative sound. This time, instead of the English countryside of the formerly mentioned classic rock act, the California centered group decided an LA mansion (possibly once lived in by magician Harry Houdini) would be a better fit. Their experience in writing, recording, and producing the album is captured in a short documentary by bassist Flea's BIL called Funky Monks—found for free on YouTube, I highly recommend checking it out for a peak into the bizarre (and yet perfect for the moment) headspace these guys were in at the time.
In said documentary, we see the creation of this prompt's selection, "Breaking the Girl." My favorite scene is that of the banging itself. As the story goes, the fellas gathered a bunch of garbage from a local dump, including pipes, cans, and bottles—think: junkyard percussion instruments. And then, when the musical interlude presented itself, let their new instruments rip. The result in the final cut is a little less rustic than what we hear in the documentary, but the effect is the same: a layered, authentic moment of percussion that the modern beatpad just can't replicate. It goes to show, not all "banging" is not the same. And in the case of "BtG," the real kind is just so much better.
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