Return of the Dream Canteen" album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (RHCP): review, tracks, clips

In 2019 Red Hot Chili Peppers finally reunited with By John Frusciante. A few years later the album "Unlimited Love" was released, but as it turned out - the comeback has only just begun! It is worth noting that this band has always been full of excesses, which were deftly transformed into something phenomenal. Of course, this can also be attributed to the personal life of the participants, who remained rock stars not only on stage, but we are now talking about creativity. And above all, their craving for excess was always evident in the length of their records.

"Return of the Dream Canteen" - album, which contains 17 tracks and lasts more than 70 minutes! For devoted RHCP fans, however, this clearly won't be nonsense. Although it's not exactly a sequel to an earlier release, it's hard not to see this work as anything other than "an inspiring musical feast of old comrades"!

The idea and the record

The material for "Return of the Dream Canteen" was recorded during the sessions "Unlimited Love.". It was a wonderful time for the Red Hot Chili Peppers! The band finally reunited with their guitarist By John Frusciantewho had been struggling with addiction for years and... won! It was a big present for the fans, but hardly anyone expected several releases at once in a year... However, RHCP always know how to surprise.

Produced by Rick Rubin, the record is an expression of the feelings and emotions of the members, who have been through a lot since their ascent. In an interview, the drummer Chad Smith noticed:

"When we reunited, we just locked ourselves in the studio and wrote, wrote, wrote... We ended up writing a huge amount of music! Generally, it's a usual thing for us: we always record more than we release. But this time everything went so smoothly and easily that the volume was enormous. Often we leave such records for later, but all the tracks from "Return of the Dream Canteen" recorded while working on the earlier release were finished.

The musician continues:

"When work on 'Unlimited Love' ended, we realized we still had too much great stuff. It would have been a shame to shelve those songs, so we decided to make another album. They all sounded decent..."

According to the members, neither "Unlimited Love" nor "Return of the Dream Canteen" are conceptual works. However, the tracks were sorted into "the right sequence.":

"We streamlined all the songs. We wanted our tracks to follow each other. It's kind of like, 'Okay: these songs will go together here and these will go together there.' And as a result, we got two consecutive records that we're proud of!"

A gift for fans

Undeniably, Return of the Dream Canteen has become big surprise for RHCP fans who are still reeling from the idols' previous work. It was announced in the summer of 2022. The record's commentary reads:

"We set out to find ourselves as the band we'd always been. Just for fun, we jammed, and soon we began the mysterious process of creating new songs. A beautiful intervention of chemistry that has supported us hundreds of times along the way. Once we found that gliding flow of sound and image, we just kept going... "Return of the Dream Canteen" is everything we are and ever dreamed of being. Made with the blood of our hearts, sincerely yours Red Hot Chili Peppers."

Tracks: list and clips

The album includes 17 tracks. The first single was the opener "Tippa My Tongue"The second single was the composition of the song. The second single was the song "Eddie." - a tribute to the legendary Eddie Van Halen: it was played on October 9, 2022 at the Austin City Limits music festival, thus becoming the first composition from the album to be performed live. The record is filled with both faster and more elegant pieces, which we've compiled below. Enjoy listening to it.

"Tippa My Tongue"

"Peace and Love"

"Reach Out."

"Eddie."

"Fake as F..."

"Bella."

"Roulette."

"My Cigarette."

"Afterlife."

"Shoot Me a Smile"

"Handful."

"The Drummer."

https://youtu.be/zOExaT6QLqI

"Bag of Grins."

"La La La La La La La La La"

"Copperbelly."

"Carry Me Home

"In the Snow."

In conclusion

Perhaps "Return of the Dream Canteen" is not as strong as its predecessors. However, this album is beautiful. It has many great moments, and the band's musical interplay, especially Frusante's lyrical parts (as in the track "Eddie"), is delightful... This record definitely feels Red Hot Chili Peppers characterAnd for any group, that's the most important thing.