Maps of Music

Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)

Where the lyrics of Blood Sugar Sex Magik take you, and where it was really made.

The band recorded this album while living inside a Los Angeles mansion that Harry Houdini allegedly once lived in.

Key places

Recording at the Mansion in Los Angeles (1991)

Recording site The Mansion — The band recorded the album at a mansion in Los Angeles. Rubin suggested the house that magician Harry Houdini allegedly once lived in. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Blood Sugar Sex Magik: fifth studio album by the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Released September 24, 1991 by Warner Bros. Records
• Produced by Rick Rubin
• Musical style differed notably from the previous album Mother's Milk (1989)
• Reduced heavy metal guitar riffs; more melodic songwriting from guitarist John Frusciante
• Subject matter includes sexual innuendo, references to drugs and death, and themes of lust and exuberance
• Released the same day as Nirvana's breakthrough album Nevermind

Background

• Mother's Milk peaked at number 52 on the Billboard 200, the biggest chart position of the band's career at that time
• Producer Michael Beinhorn pushed a heavier guitar tone and more radio-friendly lyrics, and the band felt creatively restricted
• After the EMI contract ended, the band chose Epic, then dropped that deal for Warner Bros.
• Mo Ostin of Warner Bros. called Kiedis to congratulate him on the Epic deal
• Rubin had turned down the chance to produce the 1987 album The Uplift Mofo Party Plan due to the drug problems of Kiedis and guitarist Hillel Slovak
• Unlike earlier producers, Rubin was someone the band trusted for guidance during difficult times

Recording

• Rubin suggested recording in a mansion that magician Harry Houdini allegedly once lived in, and the band agreed
• A crew set up a recording studio and other production equipment inside the Los Angeles house
• The band stayed inside the mansion for the duration of recording, more than 30 days
• Kiedis recorded all his vocals in his room, which was large enough for the equipment
• Smith reportedly refused to stay in the mansion, and he came in each day by motorcycle
• Songs were written at a faster pace than on the previous album
• Many songs grew out of jams; the breakout single Give It Away came from one
• About 25 songs were written and recorded in the sessions, and 17 made the final album
• Flea's brother-in-law filmed the creative process; the film was released as Funky Monks

Cover

• Photography, paintings and art direction credited to filmmaker Gus Van Sant, except the tongue illustration
• Cover shows the four band members' faces around a rose, with black and white thorny vines from their mouths
• Lyrics printed in white lettering on black, handwritten by Kiedis
• Booklet includes photos of the band members' tattoos
• Album dedicated to Mike Watt of the Minutemen and fIREHOSE

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Los Angeles in 1982 by Anthony Kiedis, Hillel Slovak, Flea, and Jack Irons, classmates at Fairfax High School.
• First performed on December 16, 1982 at the Grandia Room club on Hollywood Boulevard, in front of about 30 people.
• Changed the name to Red Hot Chili Peppers in March 1983.
• Released the self-titled debut album in August 1984, which sold 300,000 copies.

Members

• Current: Flea (bass, backing vocals, trumpet), Anthony Kiedis (lead vocals), Chad Smith (drums, percussion), John Frusciante (guitars, backing vocals, keyboards).
• Former members include Hillel Slovak (guitar, died of a heroin overdose in 1988), Jack Irons (drums), Dave Navarro (guitar, 1993–1998), and Josh Klinghoffer (guitar, 2009–2019).

Career

• Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) was the first major commercial success; "Under the Bridge" reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Californication (1999) became the band's biggest commercial success, with over 16 million copies sold worldwide.
• Stadium Arcadium (2006) was the first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and won Grammy Awards.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 31, 2022.
• Over 120 million records sold worldwide.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone's Tom Moon credited Rick Rubin for the change in style and praised the sound for its growing curiosity about studio texture and nuance
• NME reviewer Steven Wells found Rubin's cold precision evident on the record
• Guitar Player magazine credited Frusciante with the band's drastic change in style
• Devon Powers of PopMatters said the album reconfigured her relationship to music, to herself and to her culture
• Philip Booth, editor at The Tampa Tribune, praised the record as a culmination of the band's musical forces
• Robert Christgau gave it an honorable mention in his Village Voice consumer guide
• Chicago Sun-Times critic Michael Corcoran was more reserved, finding the length excessive
• Entertainment Weekly criticized the seriousness of Under the Bridge
• PopMatters criticized the explicit lines of Sir Psycho Sexy

Reappraisal

• Steve Huey of AllMusic called it probably the best album the Chili Peppers will ever make
• Widely recognized as an influential and seminal release of the 1990s alternative rock explosion
• Named by publications as one of the greatest albums of all time
• Flea called it his favorite Red Hot Chili Peppers album in 2023
• FasterLouder called it the cornerstone album of funk rock
• AllMusic considered Under the Bridge one of the purest diamonds on the album

Records

• Peaked at number 3 on the US Billboard 200
• Under the Bridge peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1992
• Give It Away peaked at number 9 on the UK Top 40 and number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100
• Certified gold on November 26, 1991, and platinum on April 1, 1992
• Seven times platinum in the United States
• Sold over 14 million copies worldwide
• Band's second best-selling album behind Californication
• Rolling Stone ranked it number 310 on the 500 Greatest Albums list in 2003, and number 186 in the 2020 revised list

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Give It Away initially did not fare well in the mainstream, and one target radio station refused to air it
• KROQ in Los Angeles began playing the single several times a day, which Kiedis described as the start of its spread into mass consciousness
• Under the Bridge was chosen as the second single after the whole audience sang it at a concert when Kiedis missed his cue
• The outtake Soul to Squeeze became a hit single in 1993 after it was released on the Coneheads soundtrack
• Frusciante quit the band during the 1992 tour and rejoined in 1998

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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