'Californication'

I don't know if I've ever given the Red Hot Chili Peppers' lyrics any real thought outside of figuring out "Under the Bridge." Listening to this album, one of their more recent efforts, and then thinking back, it's all a bunch of words put together to rhyme.

None of them make sense and -- not to belittle the Peppers' "message" -- they don't seem to mean anything. This is particularly true, I think, for the faster-pace rap/funk songs.

Songs like "Under the Bridge" clearly have some meaning and the average, ignorant listener can read them and form some sort of logical explanation for what the lyrics mean.

Californication doesn't have a lot of those songs. The songwriter -- Anthony Kiedis or whoever -- just smushes a bunch of lyrics into some cohesive tune that matches the song and rolls with it. The Beatles they are not.

Some other Peppers' thoughts:
1. Has anyone made an easier living than Chad Smith, the Peppers' longtime drummer? By all accounts, he's remained relatively drug free, he's had a pretty good gig for the past 20+ years, he's played with two of the foremost bass players of the past 30 years (Flea and Michael Anthony in Chickenfoot) and he's done a bunch of other records and is probably richer than we can ever imagine.

2. Of all the guys, Flea may be the most level headed. Again, you don't hear much about drugs with the guy unlike 90 percent of all the guys that have come through the group. He's crazy, perpetually naked and goes by the name "Flea," yet, he's really the glue of that group. You feel like they go as far as he wants to take them.

3. Californication is the first album with John Frusciante back in the fold. He left the group during their heyday due to crack and heroin use. After Dave Navarro left, the Peppers' almost split up until they invited a clean Frusciante back and they recorded this album.

4. More than a couple of times, the look of a musician or performer affects the way people evaluate the music. When Eddie Van Halen cut his hair into a flattop, it garnered a lot of criticism for him and Van Halen "softening." The same for Metallica when James Hetfield, Kirk Hammet and Lars Ulrich shorn their locks. For the record, Californication marked the moment when Kiedis cut his hair and got blonde highlights. Simultaneously, I discontinued caring about his band.