When the Red Hot Chili Peppers released “Californication” in 1999, they propelled themselves into a whole new world of music. The sounds produced on that album could only be defined as the Chili Peppers with its unique poppy vocals and creative music.

“By the Way” is the follow-up to “Californication” and it travels down many of the same paths that “Californication” did musically. But on many tracks there is an obvious lack of something and too much of something else.

If every song on “By the Way” is its own tasty flavor of ice cream, frontman Anthony Kiedis is the chocolate syrup and the rest of the band’s personal touches are the nuts on top. The problem is that this dessert has way too much chocolate syrup and not near enough nuts.

There are sections of this record, mostly the first half, where you can’t help but ask yourself if you’re listening to a Kiedis solo record or a Chili Peppers record.

Usually, you wouldn’t think too much Kiedis is a bad thing. But with mellow song after mellow song focused around his voice with no rock, no funk and none of the other things that make the rest of the band so vital to the Chili Pepper sound thrown in, it can be redundant, if not plain boring.

Still, this band is not like any other rock band and to say that this album is packed with too much Kiedis is just a picky way to try and find something wrong. Along with the title track, there are a number of outstanding tracks that reflect some of the hits from “Californication” with a bit more mature sound.

Songs like the “The Zephyr Song”, “Throw Away Your Television” and “Can’t Stop” will remind you just how sweet this band can be. Though Kiedis’ trademark rapping isn’t as evident in Chili Peppers music now days, he shows on “Can’t Stop” that he can still flow with the best.

With songs such as “Midnight,” which uses a string orchestra in the beginning, and “On Mercury,” which is a flat out ska song, it is evident that the album’s producer, Rick Rubin, had his share of creativity involved in the recording process.

The Chili Peppers have made it well-known that they don’t care what people think, they just want to make music with the people they love. And “By the Way” is once again packed full of great music. But if the Chili Peppers aren’t careful, they will begin to be marketed the same way as Incubus; with the frontman/sex symbol up front and the rest of the band forgotten.

And this is one band where each member is too important to be forgotten.

-Kyle Moss

Did you ever think you would see the return of Whit Crane, former lead singer for Ugly Kid Joe? Serious metal fans know that he did, in fact, front Life of Agony for a short stint after UKJ fell apart, but most wrote him off as that guy who hated everthing about you.

Well, Crane is back and he has brought with him a collection of talented musicians like Logan Madder (Machine Head, Soulfly) and Kyle Sanders (Skrew) for another shot at rock stardom. And Medication is definitely a band that could accomplish this.

Medication combines a driving hard rock punch with cooing melodies on songs like “Loaded Gun” and “Now and Again.” It is the band’s use of melody that could truly set it apart from the cesspool of hard rock/metal bands that infest today’s music.

Madder and fellow guitarist B-Blunt are heavy without getting out of hand and Whit Crane has one of the most distinctive voices in rock. Talk about underrated . this guy could teach a thing or two to today’s crop of young “singers.”

The best moment of the record is probably the acoustic guided “Underground.” Even though soft verses followed by distortion riddled choruses have grown clich‚, thanks in part to habitual abusers like the Deftones, Medication pulls it off perfectly.

“If it hurts to stay then go/ If you go then don’t go far/ Cause no matter where you land/ It’s exactly where you are,” Crane croons.

At times it sounds as if the various members haven’t quite finished cohering together as a band yet.

Tunes like “No Direction” sound like exactly that, quickly thrown together without developing them to the same level as the other tracks on the record.

This is the only setback for the otherwise solid “Prince Valium.” Get your dose of Medication quickly, it shouldn’t be long before this band is a household name.

– Trevor Fisher