Mother's Milk is the fourth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on August 16, 1989, by EMI Records. It is the band's first album to feature drummer Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante, who replaced drummer Jack Irons and founding guitarist Hillel Slovak, respectively. After Slovak's death and Irons' subsequent departure, vocalist Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea regrouped with the addition of Frusciante and Smith. Frusciante's influence altered the band's sound by placing more emphasis on melody than rhythm, which had dominated the band's previous material. Returning producer Michael Beinhorn favored heavy metal guitar riffs as well as overdubbing. Frusciante perceived Beinhorn's taste as excessive, and as a result, the two constantly fought over the album's guitar sound.
Mother's Milk was a greater commercial success than the band's first three albums, peaking at number 52 on the US Billboard 200. It received widespread airplay for the three singles which are the cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground", "Knock Me Down" and "Taste the Pain", and it became their first gold record in early 1990. Although it was not met with the same positive critical reception that its predecessor The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987) had garnered, Mother's Milk was the first step for the band in achieving international success and, according to Amy Hanson of AllMusic, "turned the tide and transformed the band from underground funk-rocking rappers to mainstream bad boys with seemingly very little effort."
Background After Red Hot Chili Peppers received a record deal with EMI Records in 1983, the group established themselves as a prominent funk rock band with their 1984 debut album The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Disappointed with the results of the production, vocalist Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea replaced guitarist Jack Sherman with founding member Hillel Slovak, who had quit his band, What Is This?, several weeks before.(2002) "Behind the Music: Red Hot Chili Peppers episode". VH1. The group's George Clinton-produced second album, Freaky Styley (1985), was Slovak's first effort with the band. The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, which was released in 1987, saw the return of original drummer Jack Irons who had left the band prior to the recording of their debut album. The album, a critical success that peaked at number 148 on the Billboard 200, is the only Red Hot Chili Peppers album the original members recorded together. Shortly following the ensuing tour, Slovak died of a heroin overdose and left the rest of the group in complete shock; Irons, citing an inability to cope with the death, quit. Kiedis and Flea, similarly devastated, were determined to persevere despite the loss of two key members. In September 1988 they chose DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight, a friend of Clinton's and former member of the funk band Parliament, to replace Slovak on guitar; D. H. Peligro, formerly of the punk rock outfit, Dead Kennedys, replaced Irons.Apter, 2004, p. 173. Band manager Lindy Goetz realized that McKnight and Peligro were not well suited for the Chili Peppers, and the two were fired within several months of joining.
The band was not without a guitarist for long. In October 1988, Kiedis and Flea found a replacement for McKnight in teenage guitarist John Frusciante. Flea had originally directed Frusciante to audition for the band Thelonious Monster. An avid Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, Frusciante was, according to Flea, "a really talented and knowledgeable musician. He [Frusciante] knows all the shit I don't know. I basically know nothing about music theory and he's studied it to death, inside and out. He's a very disciplined musician—all he cares about are his guitar and his cigarettes." Frusciante was also not very familiar with the funk genre: "I wasn't really a funk player before I joined the band. I learned everything I needed to know about how to sound good with Flea by studying Hillel [Slovak]'s playing and I just took it sideways from there."Apter, 2004, p. 181. The band was now once again without a drummer and were forced to hold open auditions. The last to audition, Chad Smith, was a six-foot three-inch tall drummer who, according to Flea, "lit a fire under our asses." Kiedis later said the audition with Smith left "[the band] in a state of frenzied laughter that we couldn't shake out of for a half an hour."
Recording and production Unlike the stop-start sessions for The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, where Kiedis would frequently disappear to seek drugs, pre-production for Mother's Milk went smoothly.Apter, 2004, p. 184. Many of the songs had already been written, and some were even recorded by the time the band started pre-production in January 1989. "Taste the Pain" was recorded before Smith joined, and it featured Philip "Fish" Fisher of Fishbone on drums. The band recorded basic tracks at Hully Gully studios in Silver Lake; songs like "Knock Me Down" were formed from jam sessions without any input from returning producer Michael Beinhorn. According to Flea, the Hully Gully sessions bore fruit: "We played hard and fast more than [at] any other time in our career, I think. A lot of chops were going down [...] we played constantly, got to know each other, and came up with a record."Apter, 2004, p. 185. Kiedis and Flea recognized that Frusciante's presence had become a significant influence on the band's new material as the Hully Gully sessions were proving to be extremely productive; Flea recalled that "[Frusciante] was an immense new element to the sound of our band and a big opening up for us."
The band entered the Ocean Way Recording studio in Hollywood in February 1989 to record Mother's Milk. "It was weird when I first joined the band because we recorded the album after I'd been in the band for just a few months and Chad had actually been in for just two weeks," Frusciante recalled. "I was still a little bit confused about my position and we were just like four individuals. Music is all about welding people into a unit and with all the touring we've been doing we're now like an eight-armed cosmic octopus!"Alexander, Phil (February 21, 1990). "Some Like It Hot." Raw. Beinhorn pushed the Chili Peppers to produce the best possible takes for each of the record's 13 tracks while the band hoped to obtain a hit record.Apter, 2004, p. 188.
Although there had been stress and conflict during the recording of other Chili Peppers albums, the sessions for Mother's Milk were uncomfortable thanks to Beinhorn's incessant desire to create a hit. He recalled that he and the band were at odds, saying, "Suffice to say that I had a very intense personal relationship [with the band] and somewhere along the line I fell out with [them]." Beinhorn constantly clashed with Frusciante over guitar effects. According to Kiedis, "[Beinhorn] wanted John to have a big, crunching, almost metal-sounding guitar tone whereas before we always had some interesting acid-rock guitar tones as well as a lot of slinky, sexy, funky guitar tones."Kiedis, 2004, pp. 239–241. Frusciante was frustrated with Beinhorn's attitude, and he resented his playing on the record, thinking that it was too "macho". Kiedis recalled that, in the end, "I couldn't tolerate his direction any longer. He was trying to squeeze something out of me that I wasn't feeling, and we got in a fight and I knew that I was done with him."
In March 1989, the Chili Peppers embarked on a two-month tour to break-in the new lineup. The "Positive Mental Octopus tour" saw the band play small venues throughout the United States, including several concerts on the East and West Coasts. At this time, Frusciante began asserting more energy and his ego "got a little swollen," according to Flea. "He was running around being rude to girls and getting them pissed off. But that's to be expected, I mean, shit, you're 18 years old and you want to get laid really bad and all of a sudden you're in a band, the girls want to fuck. You're bound to go crazy."Apter, 2004, pp. 186–187. Another incident, following a performance at the George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, caused legal repercussions; a student accused Kiedis of engaging in sexual misconduct and indecent exposure. Kiedis was subsequently arrested and released on bail pending a trial that was to be set for a later date.
Music
The band's style of music developed with the arrival of Frusciante; producer Michael Beinhorn observed, "It was apparent early on that John was the perfect guitarist for the band—he brought the elements of songwriting and composition to the band which they'd never truly had prior to his involvement. I believe that John is a pivotal figure in the Chili Peppers, being that he is such a distinctive songwriter." Frusciante altered the band's sound by introducing melodies, harmonies and more-complex song structures. In contrast to the group's previous albums, which featured groove and rhythm-based songs, Mother's Milk contained melodic compositions that reflected the new guitarist's influence. Per music journalist Jeff Apter, most of the record, due to Beinhorn's presence, is composed of heavy metal guitar riffs and excessive layering.Apter, 2004, pp. 184–190. Musically, Mother's Milk has been described as funk metal, alternative metal, and funk rock.
Mother's Milk features an array of musical styles in its 13 tracks. Among the songs that surfaced from the Hully Gully sessions in early 1989, "Knock Me Down" became one of the most radical shifts in style for the band. The introspective lyrics, which analyze the death of Hillel Slovak and the devastating effect drugs can have on life, were a new approach for Kiedis, who primarily wrote of sexual intercourse and a hedonistic lifestyle. Kiedis did not, however, want the track to be associated with "anti-drug" sentiments, claiming, "[the song] is about letting your friends know that you need help and then being willing to accept the help of others when you need it, whether it's from drugs, or from a number of other personal problems."Apter, 2004, p. 191. According to Apter, the song "Knock Me Down" was "clearly the most important track the band had ever laid down; it proved that these Peppers were more than knuckleheads with socks hanging off their cocks." Musically, the track integrates the Chili Peppers' typical punk influences, but asserts heavier emphasis on melody and harmonics that lead into more alternative territory. "Knock Me Down" was originally recorded to be a duet between Kiedis and Frusciante, but the song was remixed before being released as a single; the new mix inadvertently emphasized Frusciante's voice instead of Kiedis's.Apter, 2004, p. 196.