CD review Red Hot Chilli Peoppers Greatest Hits (From Barry And District News)

CD review Red Hot Chilli Peoppers Greatest Hits

AS WITH most greatest hits albums, there is an obvious attempt to sum up the history of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

But its focus is firmly on the second half of their career, vastly ignoring the early years in the late 1980s, when the Chili Peppers were an LA band who played a unique fusion of punk and funk, but were being overlooked apart from their loyal, but skint, underground following.

When the band figured out nobody was buying their albums, they turned themselves around and struck gold with Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

Now the Red Hot Chili Peppers have gone on to become one of the most popular bands in the world.

These funky punks have matured and found a whole new audience on albums such as Californication and By the Way.

Their weird but fantastic mix of most times bizarre and sometimes painfully thoughtful songwriting, creates a sound that is uniquely Chili.

Greatest Hits may not please all of their die-hard fans - of which there are millions. But it's certainly a great starting point for the initiate or a fabulous collection for the more casual listener.