Search - Red Hot Chili Peppers :: Essential Red Hot Chili Peppers: Under The Covers

Cover me!!!!

04/02/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"the peppers have been known to cover many bands through out their time(their first big hit was a cover)so it is fiting for them to finally release a cover album.most of this stuff can be found on either their studio albums or imports but it is still cool cause of the book of rare photo that comes with it.not a place for new fans to start out but it's a good cd for a fan of cover songs(i really wish they included their cover of the ramones blitzkerg bop on their...oh well)-jason harshman"

Great compilation of remixes, b-sides, album tracks and live

Johnny Boy | Hockessin, DE | 08/27/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a casual Chili Peppers fan (as in somebody who only owns the basics, like 'What Hits!?,' 'Greatest Hits' or maybe a studio album or two), than I will tell you right away to avoid this. This is not for you.



Now that I have that off my chest, if you are RHCP collector, than you will love 'Essential-Under The Covers.' Remixes, album tracks, live tracks, and rarities are all here. The cover of 'Higher Ground,' which was originally recorded by R&B legend Stevie Wonder in the early '70s is one of the RHCP most famous recordings, so obviously it's here.



Also here are their amazing take on Jimi Hendrix's 'Fire' (trust me when I tell you, they make the song their own), and The Meters' 'Hollywood (Africa),' (The Meters original name for the song was just 'Africa').



The remixes are also pretty good, and also very interesting. The remix of 'Higher Ground' is interesting, and it's nice to finally see it on a compilation, but compared to the 1989 'Mother's Milk' album version, the album version is better every time.



The live tracks are where things get interesting. My personal favorite live track here is their version of country legend Hank Williams' classic 'Why Don't You Love Me.' To be honest, when I first saw this track on a Chili Peppers CD, I didn't have high expectations. But, the Peppers, once again, made the song their own, turning a country music standard into a funky, alternative song.



Again, if you are a casual fan or a new fan, I would not buy this. This was not made for casual fan or a new fan that is just starting his/her Chili Peppers collection. But, if you are a collector or a huge fan like myself who have seen the Peppers in concert or collect their albums and singles, than 'Under The Covers' is made for you.



Overall, I highly recommend this album to Peppers collectors like myself. But, the price of this album may irritate people. The reasoning for the high price is this a collector's item. My advice is buy it now before it goes away completely (it is long out of print).



This is highly recommended for the huge and die-hard Chili Peppers fans, but once again, I can't say it enough, casual fans and new fans should not start here. If you are a new or casual fan, I suggest buying either Capitol's 'What Hits!?' album if you want a close look at their career from 1984-1991, or Warner's 'Greatest Hits' album, which focuses on their career from 1989-2003.



Highly recommended for the die-hard Chili Peppers fans. It's great if you like the Peppers like I do.



ENJOY!!!"

Fun CD of covers

kireviewer | Sunnyvale, Ca United States | 08/25/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"WARNING: Half of the tracks are available on other albums and EP's.



Released in 1998, this was part of series of "Essential" CD's to celebrate Capital records 100 year anniversary. It must not have been that great of a proomotion, I didn't hear about it after the fact, when I picked up some of these Essential CD's in the cutout bins. Capital used to be one of the major forces in the recording industry. They were the ones with the building in Hollywood that looks like a stack of LP's piled up on a record changer. Capital Records was bought out by EMI.



The Essential CD's were nicely packaged. They has a slick cardboard jewel case and came in a cardboard slipcover. They had some extensive liner notes. Other groups had "Essential" releases. A very good one came from Blondie, featuring two live shows.



This is a CD of cover tunes. They come from periods throughout the Chili Peppers Career. They do songs by Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Elton John, Hank Williams and George Clinton. It is 43 minutes long and the sound quality is variable, depending on the song. None of it is excellent. It is a little rough on a few songs, but none of it is really bad.



The perfomances of the songs range from great to why bother. Some of the songs have already been on other albums or EP's. Some of the songs are live concerts, where they were just fooling around.



Red Hot Chili Peppers had a huge hit with Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground. That original version is included here. Also, included is a dance remix of the song which might even be better than the original (and I usually don't like dance remixes).



They do a good version of Jimi Hendrix's Fire, but a rather bland version of Hendrix's Castles Made of Sand. There is no way the group comes anywhere close to matching the guitar on the Hendrix originals. But, what makes Fire good is that they sing it with fire and passion. There isn't any kind of that emotion on Castles.



Other songs that aren't that great are Elton John's Tiny Dancer, except how they joke about it being a punk influence on them and Clinton's Dr. Funkenstein, which is only a minute long.



But, along with Higher Ground, there are other winners on this CD and there is nothing that is really bad. All in all, it is a fun CD and you can listen to it a number of times without being bored.



one other note: My daughter's soccer team voted to call themselves the Red Hot Chili Chicks. The coach was too embarrassed to turn the name into the league, so the team showed up in the standings as having no name."