In a perfect world,
the Red Hot Chili Peppers' breakthrough album wouldn't have been 1989's
Mother's Milk, but 1987's
The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, and the history of this groundbreaking rock/rap band (and likely the entire subgenre it created) would've been drastically changed. But
the Chili Peppers created most of the imperfections in their world, especially in the late '80s, and the unusual scenario of four original bandmembers recording together for the first time on that band's third album would tragically prove to be a one-shot deal. Veterans
Anthony Kiedis (vocals) and
Flea (bass) had welcomed back original guitarist
Hillel Slovak for the preceding
Freaky Styley album after using
Jack Sherman on their self-titled 1984 debut, doing the same at this point for original drummer
Jack Irons, who replaced
Cliff Martinez. The energy of having these four friends from Los Angeles back together jumps out of the opening anthem "Fight Like a Brave" and the experimental "Funky Crime"; tracks like the autobiographical "Me & My Friends" and closing "Organic Anti-Beat Box Band" would stay in the group's live repertoire for the next decade or more.
Kiedis' barking rap delivery drives the cover of
Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues," and
Flea's ahead-of-their-time slapping basslines stand out in "Behind the Sun" and "Walkin' on Down the Road," but
Slovak and
Irons brought things to
the Chili Peppers that no one else ever has. The drummer's pounding funk backbeats left a blueprint for his successor,
Chad Smith, and the manic intro to "Skinny Sweaty Man" sounds like
Buddy Rich playing
James Brown material.
Slovak is at the height of his powers on the rap-rock reggae "Love Trilogy" and funky "Special Secret Song Inside," which gained some notoriety for its anatomical undertones. But
Slovak would die of a heroin overdose the following year, with
Irons quitting the band afterward from the depression of the loss.
Kiedis and
Flea would come to grips with their own drug habits and return with
Smith and guitarist
John Frusciante on
Mother's Milk, breaking into the arena circuit with a hit cover of
Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" -- and leaving
Kiedis and
Flea to wonder what might have been. ~ Bill Meredith