Losing
John Frusciante for a second time doesn't send the
Red Hot Chili Peppers into a tailspin. By now, the
Chili Peppers shed guitarists like a second skin, changing their outer layer but retaining their inner core. Such is the case with
I'm with You, the band’s first album since 2006's
Stadium Arcadium. If that double-disc was defined by its unwieldy sprawl, its songs spewed not sequenced,
I'm with You is characterized by its focus, both within individual tunes and the songs as a whole. New guitarist
Josh Klinghoffer -- veteran sideman and longtime pal of
Frusciante who provided secondary guitar on the closing stretch of the
Stadium Arcadium tour -- doesn't compete for center stage the way previous
Peppers did. He doesn't strut, he weaves, disappearing so completely into the arrangements he doesn't seem to leave his signature despite the heavy layers of guitars on each cut. This makes
I'm with You the flipside of
One Hot Minute, where the
Chili Peppers bent over backward to accommodate
Dave Navarro: the
Peppers don't miss a step, they almost seem relieved to be carrying on without
Frusciante. Part of that could be due to a newfound musical elasticity, a reflection of
Flea taking music theory classes at USC during the group’s half-decade gap between albums. Certainly a song like "Happiness Loves Company" -- half
Beach Boys, half
Kinks -- shows a compositional dexterity unthinkable for previous incarnations of the
Peppers, but there’s no showiness here, the album is all about precision. This extends to
Anthony Kiedis, who neither hams it up on the ballads nor goofs around on his raps, he merely serves the purposes of the song like the old pro he now is. Ultimately, the
Red Hot Chili Peppers are served well by that professionalism; they're long past the point of proving themselves, they're no longer here for a party, they're rock & roll lifers, and
I'm with You illustrates they can settle into maturity convincingly. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine