Red Hot Chili Peppers, 'The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie': Review

Foo Fighters, Blink 182, The Strokes and now Red Hot Chili Peppers: perhaps 2011 will become known as the year that some of the biggest bands of the previous decade returned with monumental albums? It may have been a long time coming, but Red Hot Chili Peppers’ tenth album is finally on its way this summer, and what better way to experience the new direction that the band has taken than with the tease of its first single, ‘The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie’.

As their first album since 2006’s ‘Stadium Arcadium’, ‘The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie’ features one of Flea’s catchiest bass lines to date, one that hums and weaves its way throughout the whole song, which alongside the occasional jangling of cowbells, makes for a sound that we haven’t heard from RHCP in a long time.

Resting just below the five-minute mark, the track is also a chance for fans to hear exactly what newest recruit Josh Klinghoffer can do, following the second departure of guitarist John Frusciante. While staying true to the RHCP sound that has made them so popular over the years, Klinghoffer also brings his own style of soft guitar squeals to the song, and it will be interesting to see what the rest of his input is like on the rest of ‘I’m With You.’

Meanwhile Anthony Kiedis’ typically swerving and syncopated verses are offset with smoother choruses, featuring the lyrics, “Hey now. We’ve got to make it rain somehow. She told me too, and showed me what to do, Oh Maggie makes it in her cloud,” as Chad Smith continues to drive the track forward with the varied pace of his drum beats.

“You got the wrong girl, But not for long girl. It’s in a song girl, cos I’ll be gone girl,” sings Kiedis as the songs begins to wind down, displaying the band’s penchant for repetition and mastery of unusual lyrics.

The five years wait, combined with each musician’s individual input into the 14 tracks that will make up ‘I’m With You’ results in a song that both shows a change in direction, and also a progression and return to form after the band’s disappointing last album. With an addictive chorus that was made for festival hollering and that bass line, 'The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie' is sure to become one of the songs of the summer.

‘I’m With You’ will be released on August 30 and features artwork by Damien Hirst, which was revealed last month.

What do you think about 'The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie'? Leave your thoughts in the comment form below.

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