Maps of Music

Stadium Arcadium (2006)

Where the lyrics of Stadium Arcadium take you, and where it was really made.

The band first aimed for a record of about 12 songs, then wrote 28 and released them as a double album.

Key places

Where the album was formed and recorded (2006)

Recording site The Mansion — The album's formation and recording took place at this house, where the band had recorded its 1991 breakthrough Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Sound City Studios in Van Nuys (2006)

Recording site Sound City Studios — Sound City Studios in Van Nuys is linked to the album as a recording location. The point uses the studio's building-level coordinates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Stadium Arcadium: ninth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Double album, first released in Germany on May 5, 2006
• US release on May 9, 2006 on Warner Bros. Records
• Five singles: Dani California, Tell Me Baby, Snow (Hey Oh), Desecration Smile, Hump de Bump
• First fan-made music video, for the song Charlie
• Became the band's first number-one album in the United States
• Originally planned as a trilogy of albums released six months apart, later condensed into a double album

Background

• Followed By the Way; the By the Way Tour ran from July 2002 to a mid-June 2004 date at London's Hyde Park
• Band appeared at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and at Rock am Ring to close out the By the Way tour
• Recorded with producer Rick Rubin, who had produced the band's previous four albums
• Band first wanted an old-fashioned record in the spirit of Meet the Beatles, with about 12 songs
• Ended up writing 28 new songs; Rubin produced all tracks
• Kiedis said the songs were shaped by the relationships band members were in at the time
• Guitarist John Frusciante left the band in July 2009, after the Stadium Arcadium tour
• His next album with the band was Unlimited Love in 2022

Recording

• Formation and recording took place at the Mansion, where the band had recorded Blood Sugar Sex Magik in 1991
• Frusciante recalled feeling that the music came from somewhere other than himself
• Kiedis described a good mood and very little tension during recording
• Nine of the unused songs were released as B-sides
• 37 of the 38 recorded songs have been released to date
• Working titles included Wu-Tang for Dani California and Ghost Dance 2000 for Hump de Bump

Cover

• Storm Thorgerson was asked to create the cover art and offered at least three possible covers
• His ideas were rejected
• Final cover: simple yellow Superman lettering on a blue background with planets

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

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

• Stadium Arcadium received generally favorable reviews
• Rolling Stone critic Brian Hiatt deemed it the band's best album to date and noted Kiedis' growth as a singer and songwriter
• Rolling Stone later ranked it the second-best album released in 2006, behind Modern Times by Bob Dylan
• Q magazine said it was one of the year's best albums
• Andrew Perry of The Observer stated it was relentless, purposeful, as moreish as McDonald's
• Josh Kun of Los Angeles Times wrote that the band had never sounded this good as musicians
• Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic was more reserved, finding the album overproduced and self-indulgent
• Pitchfork critic Rob Mitchum wrote the album is split between slightly askew mid-tempo pop and regrettable relapses into funk and muso noodling

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone included the album on its list of Best Albums of the 2000s
• In 2024, Loudwire staff elected it the best hard rock album of 2006
• Audiophiles have pointed out Vlado Meller's CD mastering as a product of the loudness war, with heavy compression and frequent clipping

Records

• Sold 442,000 copies in the United States in its first week and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200
• Second week: 157,000 copies, down 65 percent, still at number one
• Debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart with 64,000 copies in its first week
• Received seven Grammy Award nominations in 2007, winning four
• Nominations included Best Rock Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was originally planned as three releases six months apart, then condensed into a double album.
• The band first wanted about 12 songs; the writing process produced 28.
• Mansion-related story: the recording location was the house where the band had made Blood Sugar Sex Magik in 1991, and Frusciante described an unusual feeling during the sessions.
• The album was only released on cassette in Indonesia and Malaysia.
• The vinyl version contains an alternate guitar solo on Especially in Michigan.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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