Red Hot Chili Peppers - Return of the Dream Canteen ALBUM REVIEW 

Melon just can't understand the genius of Anthony's song writing. When he said "jumping jiminy the cat is in the chimney" I was fighting back tears.

"the goofiest red hot chili peppers album title hands down" ....damn I guess melon forgot about 1987's The Uplift Mofo Party Plan then

Someone tell King Gizz the Peppers stole one of their planned album titles.

I genuinely enjoyed the last two albums, they’re not taking themselves seriously and I love that. They’re not trying to make hit songs or the next Californication, it’s just Flea’s wacky baselines and Kiedis’ absurd lyrics. Good album.

UL = 4 Dream Canteen = 6 4 + 6 = 10 RHCP finally got a perfect 10 from the melon

You just couldn't understand the lyrics because you're a melon (fruit) and this is RHC PEPPERS, a vegetable. I understood the lyrics perfectly.

“Return of the Dream Canteen” is not as goofy as “Uplift Mofo Party Plan” 😂😂

I agree Anthony, this is the best album to ever drop in the last 50 years!

Eddie is one of the best songs since the last time John left the band back in 2009 and god it’s amazing

Glad you enjoyed Peppa's new album as much as everyone else Anthony, she's making some big waves in the underground music spheres

I think "The Drummer" is a masterpiece and one of their greatest songs period.

Eddie and Carry Me Home are some of the greatest RHCP songs I've ever heard. John is peak John.

Say what you will about the Peppers, at least they’re not going the way of KISS and the fucking Beach Boys at this point in their career. They continue to prove that they can put out strong material that tops the charts but is also just cool music on its own merits regardless of chart performance. Should they keep doing this into their 80s? No. They have about 10 years left before it gets weird to see these guys playing the kind of music that they play at an advanced age. As a lifelong fan, I’m enjoying them and appreciating them as much as I can, while I can, because the train only has a few more stops. They’re not pumping out Scar Tissues and Under The Bridges anymore, but damn if it isn’t a really fun time to be a big Chili Peppers fan.

I was just saying to my firend that Eddie is one of the best songs ever for the Peppers. I feel like they have captured feelings of Blood sugar sex magik, Californication and Stadium Arcadium throughout the album.

It's amazing to me how much of music enjoyment is contextual. I am going through an episode of my life where In the Snow spoke to me as if it were my best friend. Hence it's my favorite from the record.

So this is like a 9 out of ten for a RHCP fan

In the snow has gone straight to S tier for RHCP songs for me.

I'm now convinced Bella is actually a song about Anthony's Dog. I thought it was about a woman as well when I first heard it but after listening a couple more times it's obvious that this song is about his or someone close to him's dog. If you listen to it again with this in mind the lyrics make so much more sense

Actually a great album, already listened to it several more times than Unlimited Love

La la la la was one of the highlights imo. I never thought I’d hear a RHCP song with the ambient sounds heard on those Aphex Twin’s SAW II or in a Thom Yorke/ Radiohead- ish fashion (listen to Dawn Chorus or Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes LP)

frusciante does the drum machines... melon you really dropped the ball on this one, this album is a love letter to the peppers past trough their individual music carreers outside of the peppers in a way. John did a bunch of thom yorke-esque electronic stuff, flea plays the trumpet

Reminder that Flea voiced Donnie in The Wild Thornberrys.

Anthony, just because melons aren’t red hot and chilli doesn’t mean you can deduct 4 points.

Idk much about rhcp but this is one of the greatest album covers I've ever seen

Fantano may have hated the final song on the album, but I really think it’s a great and unique sounding song with a lot of melodic emotion. I’ve honestly heard a few people say it’s their favorite song on the album.

Anthony you're really saying that the return of the dream canteen is a goofier name than the uplift mofo party plan.

I think this offering is much stronger musically than Unlimited Love's. Almost like THIS was the band's rebirth with Frusciante.

I enjoyed this one a lot more than Unlimited Love. UL was such a mess but this one was more the return I was looking for. I’d give it a 6.5-7 almost entirely because that final track is so damned smooth

I was happy with this album more more that than their last one, I haven’t listen to either of the more than a couple times bits it’s glaringly obvious the highlights from this album and Melon Boy touched on them all. Lyrics don’t personally bother my much at all, so I guess to each their own, I listen to them for the grooves and good time and stop to other artist for more meaningful lyrics but it is also refreshing for me to here Keitus ramble on about goofy things in my playlists compared to other artists, something I know he can’t be consistent on.

Eddie has definitely become one of my top favorite RHCP songs immediately. It is such an amazing song!

As a teenager, I saw an ad for a concert by the Red Hot Chilli PIPERS (I think they are some kind of cover band). I did not read the ad properly and for 10 Minutes or so, I was super excited that RHCP was coming to my town. I went online and as I saw the low ticket prices, I realized the truth. That was quite a sad moment for me.

Fannytano, you cant just not give them a 10 because you cant handle the spiciness of a red hot chili pepper

Wow, he really shoved that whole chili pepper up there. Good job, melon.

Congrats to RHCP for matching the genius of "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy"! 👏👏👏

Peace and Love, what a chorus on that. Perfect song imo.

The fact that these guys are like almost 60 and put out two albums in one year both with 17 songs deserves a lot of praise

Honestly this album was a very pleasant surprise, and this is coming from someone who hasn't really cared much about The Peps in over 15 years. I think the album's best moments kinda recapture a little bit of the goofy irreverent attitude that I always liked about them. As I get older I appreciate Kiedis's ridiculous lyrical style a lot more in general. Long live The Peps.

Yeah I think this is their best release in a while, it was awesome to hear so much more of John on this. Really reminded me of some great cuts from Stadium Arcadium. Bella is my fav RHCP song in a while

When Anthony started eating his vegan burrito and exclaimed "these peppers are red, hot, and chili." I knew then he had to be one of the reviewers of all time

One of these days, Anthony Kiedis will get the respect he deserves.

Bella is actually about Keadis´ dog, that´s why he wants to feed her and he wants to her live in her farm, where she would have more space to run and play. Also noticable in " Bella lies and that´s alright, she´s *leaking* on my shoulder again. But yeah

To me, the reason I listen to these guys is not for the lyric writing or word meanings. It’s the chemistry the band has and how each instrument collides with one another to create this atmospheric feeling. And I think that’s why I’ve grown to their new stuff too because In The Snow and LaLaLaLaLaLaLa just create such a great feel that makes me want to be in a dark room and project a light show on the ceiling that looks a little like the northern lights. Maybe that’s just the Autism in me…

Somehow, someway, I have missed your reviews for all these years. Truly missed. Now that I’ve discovered your channel, I’m unapologetically binging. Your critiques are perpetually spot-on with a sharp edge that flirts with being cutting, but somehow always strike the heart and mind with disarming honesty, insight, and cleverness. Your reflections take on a poetical appeal all their own, and I feel like I’m plugging myself into the privilege of higher-minded music consumption. Seriously. The lady does not protest too much here. Nor am I attempting to satirize you. Or myself. Thank you for your work, don’t mind me going down the list of my favorite bands, LPs, and otherwise!

Saw the tour for this live, the strokes opened for rhcp right after Thunder cat warmed up the crowed, after the strokes did a song or two Eddie Vedder came out and did a cover of “Juicebox”, I’d never heard juicebox before the concert so now whenever I hear the original song it just doesn’t sound as good as eddie at all, will never forget it.

Shocked this got a 6. I absolutely LOVE this album.

This one is definitely a winner for me. It reminds me of the weirder stuff on Blood Sugar. Its experimental, and really feels like they took the shiny pop stuff and put it on Unlimited Love, and took all of the deeper cuts and put them on this one. This is more my peppers.

I'm glad they made this album. However, I'm still waiting for anything better than The Getaway

*Limp Bizkit Review:* devours spicy dip *RHCP Review:* didn't even visit the deli

Melon calling flea “breedable” for 10 min straight isnt a review

I don't care what anyone says, "Tip of my Tongue" and "The Drummer" are really fun to listen to, always get hyped hearing them on the radio while I'm driving. Glad theres other bangers on the album, gonna check those out

Just merge the best songs off of both albums and it's a pretty killer playlist

Anthony is the OG spiritual lyrical miracle in your swimming pool

This was so much better than unlimited love. The Drummer is one of the best song they wrote, Eddie too, and generally I feel like they matured a lot on writing and harmonising parts, Chad is even more prominent I think than ever. This album also feels a lot more like a live performance most of the times, which is their forte. But my god Kiedis drags everything down, he improved his skills he is more consistent than previous albums, but how is it possible he cannot write anything worth listening?

Album of the year for me . Can't stop listening.

"At the very least, it wasn't boring" is probably the best way to review this album. I really liked it but I understand the criticisms about it, I was more surprised it came out so quick before the last album and that I found out about by an Amazon advert 😅

My fav tracks are Eddie Fake as f*ck The Drummer La La La La La La Carry me home In the Snow

As a person who can't understand a single word AK says without reading the lyrics: He sounds great in this album, especially in that spoken part of "In the snow"

Who's going to tell him that Bella is about a stray dog and that the Bradley lyric is a reference to Bradley Nowell of Sublime due to his love for dogs?

Life long fan of the peppers here, i’d like to share my perspective on their music. Seems like one of Fantano’s major issues with the band is the nonsense in the lyrics, which i totally understand. Personally though, as a non native english speaker, i tend to focus more on the musicality if the words rather than the meaning, and in that department i feel like Kiedis excells. Other than that i feel like the band has never put out anything remotely bad, but i get some of the criticism. Ultimately, if you’re the kind of person that focuses more on the music, the rythm, the groove, there’s always something worth your attention in a chilis lp.

come on guys this has got to be one of the albums of all time!!! it's so full of music!!!

I’ll be honest, at first listen, when “In the Snow” and “My Cigarette” came on, I felt nothing but disappointment. I said to myself “is this what they’ve become?” I’ve been looking forward to this album ever since Unlimited Love was released, I was excited to see where they’d go next. But then I was reminded that, uhhh, hello!! Two albums in 6 months is insane. For someone who’s been waiting over 5 years for the next album to come out and over 10 for Frusciante’s comeback, it’s really a privilege as a major fan to have these being released in my time. Regardless, the album grew on me. I started focusing on the positives of the album rather than highlighting the negatives. “Peace and Love” is a delicious song to listen in the car.“Eddie” is just a masterpiece in my opinion, which will definitely become a classic. “The Drummer” sounds like it came straight out of BTW. “Fake as f@ck” is them squeezing out their well known essence even after all these years in the biz. And some more moments that fulfilled my need as a fan for new music, like “Bella” and “Tippa my Tongue”. I’ll forever love this band, and recognize when they mess up, but on this one, they were far from that.

I have to say I really dig their latest platter. I mean...the album title says it all - this is the LP I've been waiting for since By the Way, my favorite RHCP record. The Return of the Dream Canteen isn't as bloated as Stadium Arcadium, while still managing to cover roughly the same terrain size, so one doesn't feel as overwhelmed by all the different detours and side trips. It's also more consistently fun than both stints with Josh Klinghoffer (though The Getaway comes fairly close), and while it doesn't have a track as ecstatic as "The Heavy Wing", it beats Unlimited Love just for the fact that it doesn't contain a major clunker like "She's a Lover", my least favorite RHCP song since "Pea". The worst song on ROTDC, "Afterlife", sounds pretty much like a SA leftover, but it's still miles better than "She's a Lover" since it doesn't have an overcooked chorus and an ugly guitar sound at the end. "My Cigarette" and "Copperbelly" would be the other two not-all-that interesting tunes here for me, but at least they were trying something different with the former, which makes up for the song's repetitive feel; and while the latter's chorus gives me "One Way Traffic" vibes, the track overall manages to stand on its own and is catchy enough. That's pretty much it for the gripes - the rest of the LP I think is stellar. Yes, some moments of déjà vu do pop up here and there (and they're mostly related to Stadium Arcadium), but that's bound to happen I suppose-especially since RHCP have been using the melodic-alternative-rock-with-the-occasional-funk-workout blueprint since Californication, to various degrees of success. My personal favorite tracks are "Roulette", with its yacht rock guitar licks and grooves; the feel-good "Shoot Me a Smile", which would've fit nicely on BTW; "La La La La La La La La", whose verses kinda remind of what Paul Weller was doing circa Saturns Pattern; and the closer "In the Snow", a six-minute electro-rock/post-punk hybrid with spoken word passages. As for the group members themselves, they're all doing their usual thing...and they do not disappoint. Anthony Kiedis gives a really nuanced performance on "Eddie", a song that didn't do all that much for me initially, but it really thrives within the confines of the album. He can go from crooning to rhyme-spitting, depending on the track. John Frusciante is the MVP here, but he doesn't go overboard like he did on SA. Instead, he plays in a more understated fashion (not dissimilar to the one on BTW), and when he does show off, it makes sense due to the context ("Eddie"). And then we have Flea and Chad Smith, the ever-reliable rhythm section that holds it all together. None of them have a clear-cut standout moment to shine like they had on UL ("One Way Traffic", "The Heavy Wing"), but the LP is stronger for it. Lyrically, it's the same-old-same-old - a mix of pop-culture references, double entendres/innuendos and personal stories. It may be gibberish to some, but I don't listen to RHCP for deep and profound lyrics. All in all, I'm very pleased with the result and if this ends up being their last album, I couldn't complain whatsoever because they would end on a high note. Rating: decent to strong 8

Melon should do a classic review of sex magik

Eddie is easily the best song they’ve released since 2006 and possibly even 2002

In The Snow is a masterpiece. Upon several listens of the outside looking in covered in blankets of snow. It’s just him n his muse. The spoken word does it perfectly placed poetic justification. Something only the someone can understand.

How do you think roulette is average? That song is beautiful!

I find it funny how most people I know dislike this RHCP album but melon gives it a 6/10 never change, melon, never change

when me and my boyfriend listened to this on release day, both our takeaways were "yup, that was certainly a chili peppers album"

Anthony I can't even hear this review where I am present moment, but Id bet u think what I do, which is they could have released 1 perfect record as usual. I honestly feel that both 2022 albums contained 15 great songs and 2 alright ones. I accept they chose their strategy opposed to a more magical approach. Just thankful Frusciante is back. Life feels right with John back and I missed him greatly. Feels so good to not have to talk about his absence when I speak on them now. Those who don't know John is back are after all unable to have a worthy opinion so it just works out really good b/c those with opinions thst matter atleast knew Johm returned. Our Jimi Hendrix that lived twice. Doing great things a whole 10 years off from rock music. Very graetful

Haven't heard this one yet, might listen! Awesome video as usual, Fantano!

Tippa My Tongue is a great funky tune. The "yeah yeah yeahs" is straight from Sly and The Family Stone.

Honestly love this album

With the pervasiveness of streaming services and custom playlists... maybe bands don't have to worry so much about bloated albums. I ended up paring down the 34(!!) total tracks from UL/Dream Canteen to just 11 on YT music. Clocks in at about 47 minutes and once you get them in perfect order, it plays like one of their best ever. As a hard core fan, I'll just pretend like those other 23 songs are b-sides and enjoy the best RHCP album (that I curated for myself) in DECADES!

I really enjoyed this album

3:50 that's exactly what makes it great. The misdirection. The change in tone mid song multiple times.

Melon, give us the damn 1975 album review.

Most peppers albums could be improved by dropping a few tracks. But maybe they just want to throw all the music out there and let people make their own playlists.

I have to admit, I didn't expect such a fairly positive review.

I grew to love this record especially after a few listens. This is a fantastic review of the album with many accurate criticisms I found myself laughing with in agreement.

Screaming “poppa was a copper and her momma was a hippy” at the top of your lungs in Latin isn’t a review, Anthony.

I actually think we should value Anthony's work right now. Even if there's some strange lyrics as usual and there might be some other things we cannot see meaning in, the vocal melodies are really really good and interesting, a lot more worked on. In the Snow's "poems" are one of my favorite things, all the alliterations are rhymes are so good to ear, it's kind of inspiring tbh. My favorite album has always been Blood Sugar Sex Magik and yet I love earing ROTDC right now, I just can't stop listening to it on repeat. I might not be the most imparcial person because I love John and everything he does, in and out the chili peppers, but his electronic inputs in this album are giving me a really good time. I'm glad I'm alive and I'm able to experience what's happening.

Personally, the last time a Chili Peppers album moved me was millennia ago. I mean, seriously. Last RHCP album I kinda liked was One Hot Minute, and that album was everything but perfect. But at least they hadn't turned into a mall/arena rock band yet by that point and there still were some great tunes on that record. With Californication I was off the train already. Once By The Way came around I definitely put a gravestone over them. I'll listen to this anyway.

I love how 'The Peps' is a subtle dig at RHCP, but also kind of slaps

Melon went FULL Unkle Adams when he read those first lyrics. Tell me I'm wrong.

I would love a review of "the empyrean" by John Frusciante, I think is his best album

Carry me Home (one of my favourites of the album) is not a pop rock songs, its actually a blues rock song

I enjoyed it thought it was interesting and fun, the closing song is awesome. "In the snow"

Bella, Eddie, & The Drummer. 3 new RHCP classics in my opinion.

Must be difficult for Anthony, to be in a band with 3 musicians considered by most to be world class with their respective instruments and then Kiedis is just hanging around going ‘shabba dabba California’

Just watched the "funky monks" docu where you can see very interesting details about the recording and producing of BSSM. The work, creativity, musicality, melodies and heart they put in this album... This feeling of listening through that album and thinking: Man, they are geniuses... Somehow they lost it. The last four albums where - for me - just lightyears away from the brilliance this band once had. And I am a little sad because I thought it would come back with John.

This is much better than I could’ve asked thank you

Hey, met Bruce Barber yesterday and told us your story- congrats!!

As for the title, it took me until today to realize what it meant. The "Canteen" of creativity and songwriting after the pandemic was over and it's "Return" to them as a band jusy being able to write music and put it. That "Dream" that they've always had as a band to just play with each other and put it out. The Return of the Dream Canteen.

10/10 beautiful record best band ever

In the Snow I think has potential for the band to move into that direction more in the future, and with further refinement I really think they can nail it. Strong Frusciante 'Enclosure' vibes. I don't mind that track, nor the others using drum machines. Its just Tone's...bad prose and poor old Chad standing to the side that are the major cons.

"Kanye is right about the Jews" - Anthony Kiedis

I'd love to hear Melon to do a spoken word monologue reciting all the lyrics from this album. Somehow he just makes it 10x funnier than The Other Anthony.

I really enjoy Unlimited love but I prefer return of the dream canteen

I love the new album of RHCP, it's so funky and has so many different styles. But one song, Roulette, reminds me so much of Level 42. It has the same style, you can imagine Mark King on bass and Mike Lindup on keyboards playing it. What do you think about that?

This isn’t king gizzard