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Mathew Scott

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Stadium Arcadium

(Warner Brothers)

Two decades on and the Red Hot Chili Peppers display few signs of growing old gracefully.

This two-disc, 28-track opus taps into every vein in the Chili Peppers' body of work - from soulful ballads  to funk workouts, hard rock and sunny pop.

And although it never quite hits the consistently heady highs of 1991's commercial breakthrough Blood Sugar Sex Magik or Californication (1999), there's still more than enough here to keep loyal fans happy - and perhaps convert a few younger listeners.

Which is exactly what lets this package down. It's a relentless assault - and, at times, the tracks seem to  melt into one another. By midway through the second disc you might find yourself looking for the pit lane.

Shining throughout, though,  is the beefed-up presence of  guitarist John Frusciante who,  with bassist extraordinaire Flea,   cuts a swath through whatever mindless lyrical twists lead singer Anthony Kiedis takes.

Opener Dani California - an obvious choice as lead single - is pure Peppers, all layered grooves over Kiedis' half-smarts ('it only hurts when I laugh'), while the likes of Torture Me, Charlie, If and the rollicking Storm in a Teacup and Desecration Smile are as good as anything the band has put out.

But even  producer Rick Rubin couldn't convince the lads to trim some of the fat, such as the vapid Snow (Hey Ho), the clunky She Looks to Me, or the tragically limp Hump De Bump.

This is, arguably, the band's  most indulgent and least-coherent collection of the past decade, but  it's still miles ahead of most of their pale imitators.



Red Hot Chili Peppers