One Hot Minute makes one hot album.

One hot band. Four hot musicians. One hot replacement guitarist.

Alternately contemplative and amorous vocalist Anthony Keidis, virtuoso bassist Flea, and drummer Chad Smith were pretty much up the creek without a paddle once Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante suddenly announced his departure from the band, a band that had solidified their lineup with their breakthrough album Mother's Milk, garnered a reputation with that album, and then set that reputation in stone with their follow-up, the widely-praised Bloodsugarsexmagik.

When Frusciante left the band and became a heroin addict, his future with the band was nonexistant. Pulled in as a replacement guitarist was ex-Jane's Addiction virtuoso guitarist Dave Navarro. The resulting album was One Hot Minute, which lasts for considerably longer than the time professed in its title--this sprawling, dark work of art lasts roughly one hot hour. Long gone was the good-time funk vibe of "gibbitaway, gibbitaway, gibbitaway-nah". Instead, we get "my friends are so depressed, and standing on the brink of emptiness."

The instruments on this album very much make the vibe, although Keidis' songwriting certainly helps. The vibe is moody, and dark--good-time moments are few and far between. This is largely due to Dave Navarro's influence as a guitarist. Flea's bass work keeps the sound largely grounded in their funk roots, but branching out into more punchier and darker alternative rock territory. Anthony Keidis launches into fewer and fewer spastic raps and actually sings for the majority of the record. His songwriting has also influenced the album's darker, more mature sound. He's no longer singing about sex, drugs, and rock and roll while hanging a sock down below--he foresakes this good-time approach for intelligent, thoughtful rock songs.

That's not to say that One Hot Minute will make you want to kill yourself when you finish listening. There are bursts of upbeat giddiness that let the Chili Peppers of old shine through. "Aeroplane," for example, is an intelligent but fun rock song that, ironically, became the album's only real hit. "I like pleasure spiked with pain and music is my aeroplane," proclaims Keidis. Flea's bass playing is top-notch on this track, and Dave Navarro delivers a spot-on screaming solo near the end of the song. "Shallow Be Thy Game" lets loose with an irresistably catchy chorus--and although I don't agree with all the sentiments put forth lyrically in that potentially offensive Catholic-bashing tune, I must concede that the song itself is wonderful. Besides, I'm not even Catholic, I'm Nazarene. I can listen to it.

"My Friends" is probably my favorite song on the album. The melodies throughout are heavenly, and the alternately gently picked and strummed acoustic guitar provides the perfect backing for the soaring tune. It recalls their previous hit, and possibly best-known song, "Under The Bridge". The spacey "Deep Kick" is a highlight too. It begins with a lengthy spoken-word intro courtesy of Mr. Keidis, before slamming into an insane, dark, rambling funk piece chronicling Keidis and Flea's drugged-up exploits in L.A. as teenagers. Near the end of the song, it takes us into a gentler part that gives us the great quote "the Butthole Surfers said it was better to regret something you did than something you didn't do." A top-notch song if you can handle the overall sense of absurdity about it.

"Walkabout" is a great, funky tune that falls into a tight groove backing Keidis' spoken-word vocals. "One Big Mob" is strange, going through various shifts in mood and instrumentation--alternating between Keidis' metallic raps and more mellow verses, all strung together by the punchy, shouty chorus: "One big mob! (Aw yeah, aw yeah!)" "Tearjerker" is an emotive recollection of a relationship gone sour--more of a bittersweet tune than an angry one, though.

Flea also shares center stage on this album. He does a complete solo turn on "Pea," a minute and a half of Flea singing and accompanying himself on bass. It's a profanity-laced, trippy kiss-off to... someone. It's bizarre, trust me, but funny. Flea also pens the lyrics to epic closer "Transcending," which starts out dark and soon gets darker. The ode to Flea's late friend River Phoenix ends on a bit of a disturbing note when the music turns menacing and Keidis' singing turns to screaming. It's completely effective, though, and highly original.

Really, the only disappointer on this album is the opener "Warped". It's too long, too boring, and too weird. Weirdness is cool, but weirdness for the sake of being weird is just... well, weird.

I haven't decided if One Hot Minute is RHCP's best work, but if it's not, it's second only to Bloodsugarsexmagik... maybe even better than that. It shows artistic growth, a sense of maturity, but most of all, taps into the Chili Peppers' obvious vein for hard-edged, experimental rock. All props to the Peppers for creating the greatest CD of their career. (And following it up with the almost-as-great Californication... but that's a different review. Read it if you want to.)