One Hot Minute is the sixth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on September 12, 1995, by Warner Bros. Records. The worldwide success of the band's previous album Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) caused guitarist John Frusciante to become uncomfortable with their popularity, eventually quitting mid-tour in 1992. Following a series of short-term replacements, the band hired guitarist Dave Navarro in 1993; it was his only studio album with the band. Recording for the album took place at the Sound Factory in Hollywood from June 1994 to February 1995. It marked the second collaboration between the band and producer Rick Rubin.
One Hot Minute moves away from the funk of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, instead favoring heavier riffs and, at times, veering toward a psychedelic rock sound. This shift was primarily due to the influence of Navarro, formerly of Jane's Addiction. Vocalist Anthony Kiedis, who had resumed addictions to cocaine and heroin in 1994 after being sober for more than five years, approached his lyricism with a reflective outlook on drugs and their harsh effects. As such, the lyrics reflect mostly dark and melancholy themes. Bassist Flea sang lead vocals on "Pea", as well as the outro of "Deep Kick" and the chorus of the album outtake "Stretch".
One Hot Minute sold more than two million copies and was certified multi-platinum, and reached number four on the US Billboard 200. It also spawned three hit singles: "Warped", "My Friends" and "Aeroplane". "Shallow Be Thy Game" and "Coffee Shop" were also released as singles outside of the United States. Despite the success of the singles, the album failed to achieve the critical and commercial success of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, with less than half of the sales of that album. Navarro was fired in 1998 due to his drug use, and Frusciante returned to the band shortly thereafter.
Background
Red Hot Chili Peppers had released Blood Sugar Sex Magik in 1991. The album was an instant hit, selling more than seven million copies in the United States, and turned the band into an international sensation. Guitarist John Frusciante was having difficulty coping with the band's newfound fame and began to dislike it. Frusciante often argued with his band mates and sabotaged performances. He began taking heroin and steadily increased his usage of the drug over time. Frusciante ultimately quit the band in 1992, during the Japanese leg of their tour. Frusciante returned to his home in California and became a recluse.
Stunned, the remaining Chili Peppers, who had no suitable replacement, hired Arik Marshall to play the remaining dates after being forced to reschedule. Upon returning to Hollywood, the band placed an ad in the L.A. Weekly for open guitar auditions, which Kiedis considered to be a waste of time. After several months of unsuccessfully looking for a suitable guitarist, drummer Chad Smith suggested Dave Navarro. He had always been the band's first choice, but was busy recording Deconstruction with Eric Avery following the 1991 breakup of Jane's Addiction. Navarro eventually accepted the position after productive jam sessions. In June 1994, the band entered The Sound Factory, a recording studio in Los Angeles, to begin recording its next album. The band completed a few basic tracks before Kiedis began having difficulty singing. He'd been through a dental procedure in which an addictive sedative, Valium, was used. The medication triggered a relapse, and he once again became dependent on drugs. Kiedis had slipped from five years of sobriety and began reusing narcotics he'd sworn never to use again. The band took a short break from recording to perform at Woodstock '94, the first show Navarro played with the Peppers. Months went by, and only small amounts of material were written. Kiedis made a trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan, in December for Christmas, where his family realized he'd resumed an active addiction once again. He returned to Hollywood in late January 1995, when he finally finished recording his vocals. The rest of the recording was completed within the next month.
John Lurie played harmonica on the title track. Kiedis was a fan of Lurie's group the Lounge Lizards. Lurie became a friend of the band and sat in with them occasionally over the years, mainly as a saxophonist.
Writing and composition
Considering that Kiedis had resumed heavy drug use and Frusciante was no longer present for collaboration, songs were written at a far slower rate.
Stylistically, One Hot Minute diverged from the Chili Peppers' previous records, especially Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The album was characterized by prominent use of heavy metal guitar riffs and hints of psychedelic rock. Navarro, unlike Flea and Kiedis, was not influenced by funk music. He told Guitar World in 1996, "It doesn't really speak to me. But then again, when I'm playing with three other guys who I love and feel camaraderie with, it's enjoyable to play funk." Navarro's own style was influenced mainly by classic rock guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Carlos Santana, as well as gothic rock guitarists Robert Smith and Daniel Ash. Continuing a trend that started on Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Kiedis diverged even further away from his signature rapping, only doing so on a few tracks. One Hot Minute took almost two years to write, and its recording and production was not a smooth process. Navarro felt as though he was an outsider to the other members. The track itself was composed of heavy guitar riffs and echoing vocals which attempted to convey a distressed state.
"Tearjerker" was a tribute to Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain. Kiedis felt Cobain's death "was an emotional blow, and we all felt it. I don't know why everyone on earth felt so close to that guy; he was beloved and endearing and inoffensive in some weird way. For all of his screaming and all of his darkness, he was just lovable." "My Friends" addressed more of Kiedis' own somber thoughts rather than those of "his friends":
Outtakes
Thirteen songs from the One Hot Minute sessions made it to the final cut of the album. "Melancholy Mechanics" was released as a bonus track on the Japanese pressing of the album, as well as a b-side to the "Warped" single, and "Let's Make Evil" and "Stretch" (originally connected to the end of "One Big Mob") were released on the "My Friends" single. "Bob" (a song about close friend Bob Forrest) would finally surface 11 years later as an iTunes bonus track in 2006. The song features percussion by Stephen Perkins. "The Junkie Song", which was mentioned in interviews and also features Perkins, remains unreleased. "Blender" (described as a short, chaotic song) was one of two songs ("Stretch" being the other) that was dropped from the album's final cut at the last minute. The song has never been released, but resurfaced as a leak in 2023. "The Intimidator" and "Slow Funk", two songs mentioned in interviews by Chad Smith, have never been released. Flea mentioned in interviews that "The Intimidator" was inspired by Miles Davis" while it has been speculated from comments made by Chad Smith that "Slow Funk" was a working title for "Falling Into Grace". There are also various unreleased rough mixes of the album's tracks that included extra instruments, extra lyrics or extended endings.
{|class="wikitable"
|+Additional tracks from the One Hot Minute sessions
! Title
! Source
|-
| "Melancholy Mechanics"
| "Warped"
|-
| "Let's Make Evil"
| rowspan=2 | "My Friends"
|-
| "Stretch"
|-
| "Bob"
| rowspan=2 | iTunes digital edition
|-
| "Stretch You Out" <small>(with "One Big Mob" ending)</small>
|-
|}
Promotion and release
While piecing together the final components of the album, the band recorded a video for "Warped". They asked Flea's brother-in-law, Gavin Bowden, to direct it. The video feature the members of the band scantily clad and involved Kiedis and Navarro kissing towards the end as a way of breaking the monotony of cumbersome video recording. Thinking nothing of it, they continued to shoot and finished several days later. Warner Bros., however, saw the video and instantly wanted it thrown away, considering it to be unmarketable and that the kiss and the homoerotic imagery would alienate a large portion of the band's fan base. "My Friends" peaked at number one on the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. The song also peaked at number 29 on the UK Singles Chart, and "Aeroplane" at number 11. In the UK, One Hot Minute reached number two, the band's highest-charting album there yet, kept off the top spot by Blur's The Great Escape which was released the same week. Several days following the album's release, Kiedis continued to use drugs despite the numerous interviews he was scheduled to attend.
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One Hot Minute was not as universally well received as Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and was ultimately considered to be a poor follow-up. It did, however, receive mixed to positive reviews from critics. Daina Darzin of Rolling Stone said "One Hot Minute dives into the emotionally deep end of drug addiction and loss", and that the album "is a ferociously eclectic and imaginative disc that also presents the band members as more thoughtful, spiritual—even grown-up. After a 10 plus-year career, they're realizing their potential at last."
AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine retrospectively said that "following up Blood Sugar Sex Magik proved to be a difficult task for the Red Hot Chili Peppers", and "Navarro's metallic guitar shredding should have added some weight to the Chili Peppers' punk-inflected heavy-guitar funk, but tends to make it plodding." Erlewine went on to add that "by emphasizing the metal, the funk is gradually phased out of the blend, as is melody."
"My Friends" was considered by Erlewine to be a blatant attempt to hold on to the mainstream audience gained by "Under the Bridge", and that in contrast, "the melodies are weak and the lyrics are even more feeble." The song also "tries to be a collective hug for all [of Kiedis's] troubled pals."
Tour
The One Hot Minute Tour began several days after the release of the album. The band opened the tour with a European leg. Kiedis felt that as a musician, he was becoming somewhat lackluster. The short European leg ended in early November, and the U.S. portion was scheduled to begin 10 days later; however, it was postponed until early February due to Chad Smith breaking his wrist.
Months went by without any scheduled concerts due to the album's poor sales. Following another relapse and a stint in rehab, Kiedis and the rest of the band prepared for a summer tour, their first in almost seven months. Before the tour began, Kiedis had a motorcycle accident and was rushed to the hospital after severely injuring his hand. Due to his drug addiction, it took seven doses of morphine before the pain was assuaged. Following discharge from the hospital, he was forced to wear a full-arm cast for several months, resulting in the cancellation of all remaining scheduled concerts. Halfway through Kiedis's recovery, the band was asked to play the Fuji Rock Festival in July 1997. By that time, Kiedis's cast had receded down to the elbow and he felt well enough to play. A large typhoon had been forecast to hit the festival several hours before the show. The concert took place anyway, and when the Chili Peppers got on stage to play, the audience was being soaked in torrential rains, and the band found it virtually impossible to play their instruments. After eight songs, the lighting and sound equipment was torn from the stage and the band was obliged to an impromptu finish.
Follow-up album and Navarro's departure
Returning home, the Chili Peppers parted ways and, while Flea and Navarro toured on late 1997 with the vaunted Jane's Addiction "relapse", for the most part, RHCP remained secluded from each other through the rest of 1997. No new material was written during that time, and it was not until the beginning of 1998 that the band began rehearsal.
The band made an attempt to begin writing for a follow-up and had written and began recording a song titled "Circle of the Noose", but it was never completed. The song, the last to feature guitar work from Navarro, was a tribute to the late qawwali-devotional singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Navarro described the song as pop and dirge-like, and said it was one of his favorite songs he created with the band. He said: "The best way I can describe it is it's like pepped-up '60s folk with '90s ideals, but I'd hate to label it as folk because it's not, it moves." According to Flea, it contained a sample of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. On February 3, 2016, a rough mix of "Circle of the Noose," recorded on March 16, 1998, was leaked to the internet.
At this point in 1998, Kiedis and Flea decided it was time to fire their guitarist. Navarro was furious when confronted by Kiedis and Flea, but eventually accepted his termination. The Peppers were fighting, and on the verge of breaking up. Flea was beginning to question the band's future and thought it may be necessary to break the band up.
Chad Smith was asked by fans during a February 2014 online interview about the band's reasons for not performing the songs, and he responded by saying "We don't really feel that connected to that record anymore. No special reason, not to say we'd never play those songs, but we don't feel that emotionally connected to that music right now."
In 2016, "Aeroplane" was performed for the first time since 1997, at the request of then-guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. The song was played often from 2016 up until Klinghoffer's final shows with the band in 2019. It hasn't been performed since then.
Track listing
Personnel
Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Anthony Kiedis – lead vocals
- Flea – bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Pea" and co-lead vocals on "Deep Kick"
- Dave Navarro – guitars, backing vocals
- Chad Smith – drums, percussion
Additional musicians
- Keith "Tree" Barry – violin on "Tearjerker"
- Jimmy Boyle – backing vocals on "One Big Mob"
- Louis Mathieu – backing vocals on "One Big Mob"
- Lenny Castro – percussion on "Walkabout", "My Friends", "One Hot Minute", "Deep Kick", and "Tearjerker"
- Aimee Echo – backing vocals on "One Hot Minute", "One Big Mob"
- Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa – chants on "Falling into Grace"
- John Lurie – harmonica on "One Hot Minute"
- Stephen Perkins – percussion on "One Big Mob", "Warped" and "Bob" <small>(iTunes bonus track)</small>
- Kristen Vigard – backing vocals on "Falling into Grace"
- Gabriel James Navarro – crying on "One Big Mob"
- The Aeroplane Kids <small>(Clara Balzary, Bailey Reise, Askia Ndegéocello, Nadia Wehbe, Sarabeth Kelly, Matthew Kelly, Phillip Greenspan, Perry Greenspan, Veronica Twigg, Remy Greeno, Jaclyn DiMaggio, Hayley Oakes, Nikolai Giefer, Taiana Giefer, Nina Rothburg, Sheera Ehrig, Jade Chacon)</small> – backing vocals on "Aeroplane"
Production
- Rick Rubin – producer
- Dave Sardy – recording, mixing
- Dave Schiffman – additional engineering
- Stephen Marcussen – mastering
- Don C. Tyler – digital editor
Design
- Mark Ryden – album artwork
- Sweetbryar Ludwig – calligraphy
- Anthony Kiedis – art direction
- Flea – art direction
- Dirk Walter – art direction
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Weekly chart performance for One Hot Minute
! scope="col"| Chart (1995–2001)
! scope="col"| Peak<br /> position
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|European Albums (Music & Media)
| 1
|-
|-
!scope="row"|French Albums (SNEP)
| style="text-align:center;"|3
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Italian Albums (FIMI)
|8
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (AFYVE)
|20
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+1995 year-end chart performance for One Hot Minute
! scope="col"| Chart (1995)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 25
|-
! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
| 78
|-
! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)
| 44
|-
!scope="row"| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)
| 69
|-
! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 94
|-
! scope="row"| European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media)
| 34
|-
! scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)
| 27
|-
! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
| 60
|-
!scope="row"|New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
| 37
|-
! scope="row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
| 33
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 109
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+1996 year-end chart performance for One Hot Minute
! scope="col"| Chart (1996)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 34
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 64
|}