Ranking All the Red Hot Chili Peppers Albums
From a Megafan and Potentially Controversial
It’s been 41 years since the funkiest band without the names “Parliament” or “Funkadelic” was formed. Originally with Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Cliff Martinez, and the angelic Hillel Slovak, the band now has the superstar lineup of Tony Flow and Mike B. The Flea, Jesus Christ, and Will Ferrel, or if you’re just a casual, Anthony Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante, and Will Ferrell.
Over 41 years, the funk rock group responsible for such classics as “Under the Bridge” has released 13 studio albums across 5 decades and 2 millenniums.
I will rank all of their studio albums from worst to best and share some of my favorite songs on each album in case you are not a fan and want to become one or you are a fan and wish to argue me down. I got all century.
13.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers
For the record, I do not hate the self-titled album at all. It’s cute and quirky, which is the beginning of it all. It’s very clear they didn’t know exactly where they were going, however it’s obvious at that time the world had opened its ear and like what it heard. The Red Hot Chili Peppers is the foundation this whole empire rests upon. I reckon the album is often forgotten as the Chilis likely haven't played a single song from this album since 1991. Maybe Police Helicopter… maybe.
The standout here is “Green Heaven,” where Hillel Slovak displays why he’s such a highly regarded guitar player even though his life was cut tragically short due to a heroin overdose.
After looking at the track listing, I realized these songs don’t hold up to most of their catalog, so that’s why it is last. I still love it, though
12.
Return of the Dream Canteen
I remember after leaving the concert I went to in 2022 during the Unlimited Love tour, I saw the billboard for Dream Canteen and thought, “Eww, what an ugly ass album cover.” Like a dutiful superfan, I listened to it the day it was released and was pretty underwhelmed, sadly. After some time, I went back and listened to the album, and it got better.
Songs such as “The Drummer,” “Reach Out,”I loved because they were funky enough and psychedelic, too, which is always a good sign for a RHCP Album. The song “Eddie” written for Eddie Van Halen is the most popular song on the album, but I’m not too crazy about the solo, I prefer “Reach Out” but it’s still worthy for melting your face.
I will say that many things people don’t like about RHCP are apparent on this album. Some of the whiny delivery and lyrics that are just “what the fuck”ish. I hope whatever they release in 2025 redeems their status as the greatest band in the world because I’m having funky withdrawals.
11.
The Getaway
Ranking the first two was easy work, but I began to feel the stress when I got to the third album. Understand me here, I’m not attempting to appease anyone with the ranking that I’m doing here, this is me sorting out what I like and why.
The Getaway was a reasonable later-day Chili Peppers effort. I wrote an entire story about Josh Klinghoffer, how much his playing had improved since joining the Funky Monks in 2011, and how he might have been better at this point than John.
Having The Getaway ranked so low feels wrong. When it came out I was bumping this shit heavy. Then, with the news that they were working on a new album and potentially going back to Rick Rubin (The Getaway is the first album since BSSM not to be produced by Rubin), after a brief respite, I was excited.
Highlights for me are “Go Robot,” Dreams of Samurai,” and “Goodbye Angels” as some of Josh’s best solos. Critically, the album didn't do too hot, getting a 66 by Metacritic even though it did well commercially because they’re still the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Maybe I’ll change my mind after listening more, but for right now, this is where The Getaway stands.
10.
Uplift Mofo Party Plan
So fucking good. SO FUCKING GOOD! Early Peppers album hosting some heavy and heavy hard-hitting bangers from the 80s. Which bangers do you ask? Well, I’ll tell you, Skinny Sweaty Man, Party on Your Pussy (There are no kids here, right?), the still performed “Me and My Friends”, and my favorite on the album, the simplistic and chaotic “Love Trilogy”. You can feel the sweat dripping from the gap in the teeth of the blessed Michael “Flea” Balzary.
Another forgotten masterpiece lost to time. I guess if you have 13 albums across 5 decades, you cant really play them all. For a long time I believed Uplift Mofo was my favorite album, but after much study I had to reevaluate and reckon that this is not the case. Again, placing Uplift Mofo at 10 makes me shriek a little. As I’m writing this now, I’m saying to myself, “IT CAN'T BE, THE ALBUM IS GOATED,” yet here we are at number 10.
9.
I’m With You
I don't know how people feel about I’m With You in the Chili Peppers discography. The first album of the post Frusciante era (the second time), must have been an unbelievable task. I do not envy the man who has to follow heroin Jesus.
Almost 5 years after going on a hiatus that felt like forever…dare I say FIVEever the Funky Monks were back, baby! Anthony, with his new shaved bob and mustache, was a bit of a problem for me at first, but at least the dude was in phenomenal shape for a 50-year-old, as were the rest of the gang.
There’s something special to me about I’m With You, maybe because they were in a desperate situation, which led them to experiment a little bit. Rain Dance Maggie makes my soul sour because it was the first song that ushered in the new-era chili peppers. Remember the concert on the roof? Maybe its nostalgia that places this album so high, I was halfway through high school when this came out and I was starting to go through “New Chili Peppers Album” shakes.
“Did I Let You Know” is a song that takes the band out of their usual funk-punk rock element and touches on some world music-esque rhythms thanks to Will Ferrel… I mean…. Mr. Will Ferrel
8.
One Hot Minute
Look dude, I feel like I have to defend myself on this one. Not because it’s so high but because I really wanted it to be higher. This era was a totally different flavor than before because Dave Navarro is such an interesting guy, who I suspect is on the same kinda shit Jared Leto is on.
Sadly, the band doesn't even like this album, and outside of “Pea,” it is never spoken about. John Frusciante refuses to play anything from after he left, which I think kind of sucks because, dude, they play all your stuff. I get that 1995 was a tough year for them, but it works in helping me favor this album because performances of these songs are much like many of their albums from music pre-BSSM in that they signify a time. Anthony with long, overgrown hair and sometimes sporting a guitar ( it was weird), Chad with hair, Flea with a fro, and the cute goth chick with nipple rings.
“Stretch You Out” is a deep cut that I had forgotten about about because it doesn’t appear on the original album. It’s one of their songs where they nail the funk right on the head. Aeroplane is one of those songs that should be a staple for their concerts because it is so their style, and it just sounds so fucking good with that shredding solo.
OHM has more of a metal influence due to what Navarro brings to the group, and honestly for the time he was a great candidate as a Frusciante replacement. I wish they could’ve squeezed one more album with Navarro just so there was a larger sample size. If you watch the concerts from around this time period you will be greeted with some face melters for guitar solos.
Oh I forgot, Coffee shop is likely one of Flea’s most powerful solos he’s ever recorded that when it hits…. oouuuu… when it hits.
By the Way (no pun intended) I covered “Pea” on my debut album Alove Alive.
7.
Stadium Arcadium
7th??? Really??? the double album with the best Frusciante solos, and about 100 songs on it, somethings not right. Readymade is the solo I turn to when I’m telling people about Frusciante’s brilliance; like an ogre, it has layers. For a time, SA was the magnum opus of Chili’s and would be once thought to be the final effort of JF. Torture Me. BANGER. So Much I. BANG. Turn It Again likely my favorite on-album solo. “Charlie” is a pleasant return to the sexy funk.
If SA is 7 what the hell is greater than the album that marked the apex of John rejoining. Some of the most dense songs of their entire catalog exist on this album and it is apparent they spent a lot of sweat equity to push out such a gigantic piece of perfection.
6.
Mothers Milk
Ah, yes, the final RHCP album before they became the biggest thing since my ex-wife in an Escalade. They were still churning out the frantic funk, but this is, without a doubt, their punkiest album. “Nobody Weird Like Me” , “Punk Rock Classic”, “Johnny Kick a Whole in the Sky”, Salute to Kareem” and “Magic Johnson” are all punk songs.Still teaming with a vigorous, unrelenting youth, your chest will begin pumping and not stop until the last note.
Subway to Venus is a song I would say is one of those songs that still sounds like it calls back to what the band was. It has the old time twanginess that was resident for nearly half a decade that got them to be so popular in the club scene. “Knock Me Down” features has Frusciante manning the lyrics. There’s something about how he sings that shines like heaven, and clearly, how he writes songs and guitar parts is why he’s considered the greatest player since Hendrix. As good as this album is, it is not their best.
Stone Cold Bush is likely my favorite Flea solo, the slap is so damn good. The album is a sterling blend of funk, punk, and metal.
5.
By The Way
I nearly put By The Way under Mothers Milk, however after looking at the track list, I simply could not. My brain played every song on that album in seconds, and I had to think. Can’t Stop, I believe, is on the list of Greatest Songs of All Time. The guitar work of this album firmly stakes John’s claim not just to be able to shred some serious shit but to make it catchy.
On Mercury is such a good song, so light, and the lyrics are completely fitting. “This is the Place” that touches my heart because it's evident that it is about Hillel, and sonically, it is pleasing.
Universally Speaking just feels good and Chad’s drumming makes jumping on beat satisfying. Oh and this is the same era as the GOAT Chili Peppers concert “Live at Slane Castle”. Dont even get me started, you know I will write a story about that whole concert, with glee. You know what… I will.
4.
Unlimited Love
Here comes the controversy. I was shocked by my own admission, ranking Unlimited Love over By the Way and Stadium Arcadium, hell, even Uplift Mofo, but hear me out, this album is a motherfucker. Personally, since I know the storied history of RHCP like I know my history. Unlimited Love really touched me because it connected me to my younger self who thought Froosh was never coming back, and particularly “The Heavy Wing”.
John Frusciante is a religion to me and many others obsessed with his fretboard wizardry. After all these years it is John who takes the biggest moment of the entire album. When he sang, “Oh, I know that it’s only gold,” I heard the entire universe of the Chilis and John Frusciante, and then the solo brought me to tears. That song is the culmination of their story, I even heard a little Smile From the Streets You Hold song “I May Again Know John” in this song.
Additionally, Anthony freakin Kiedis bringing us back to the 80s with a nonsensical rap in “Poster Child”, absolutely oozing with the FONK. Unlimited Love would’ve been a great send-off album for RHCP to retire on, but let's face it, they’re not stopping anytime soon. Country, Rap, Funk, Alternative Rock, and Disco all exist on this album.
Chad Smith is the MVP of this record and the hero of the new age RHCP, check him ripping up the skins playing “These Are the Ways”
3.
Californication
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS IN FROM 1997–1999 MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE STYLISTIC AND PSYCHEDIELIC ERA. A still recovering Frusciante with no teeth, long hair, and a stoner beard was a fucking wave. By this time nobody in the band was yet 40 so they were still young and full of excitement after John had his dance with death and genius over the last 7 years.
Majority of the songs everybody including your mother know from the Red Hot Chili Peppers comes from this album. Scar Tissue is another entry on Rolling Stones, Greatest Songs of All-Times list and hearing the song live is a spiritual experience. The song “Parallel Universe” is pretty damn good on the album, however the guitar solo that apotheosized JF in my book was at the aforementioned Slane castle concert.
Purple Stain is stylish as hell and funky 70s style funk, while Around the World modernizes the group and charges them forward into a new millennium. Everything before Californication is “old pepper” and everything after is new. Quixoticelixir is their best unreleased song that needs to be played live at least once before they pack it up and call it quits.
Otherside a great ass song that sometimes gets overshadowed by the other bangers on the list. To most people, this is the best Chili Peppers album, which makes sense because this is when they became super-mega stars.
2.
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
I know, BSSM is the definitive album for the Chili’s. I’m not even going to explain this one, it has no bad songs on it so instead, let’s “give it away, give it away, give it away now to #1
Also Sir Psycho Sexy is my go to Karaoke song, it is a classic oversexualized Anthony Kiedis banger.
THE NUMBER ONE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS ALBUM IS
I’M BESIDE YOU
Okay, so seriously, this album is not #1 because it is not technically an album, so consider this an honorable mention. It was released, sure but it’s not an official release. I just really wanted to mention the great work they did with these singles. Technically you can say Josh had 3 albums with the Peppers, however, ain’t nobody gonna talk about this, but I just did.
1.
Freaky Styley
Most people I’ve ever met who are really older Chili fans always say, “Yeah, but I liked their earlier stuff.” I get that totally, in the 80s RHCP was truly a sight to see. Socks on Cocks, wicked fast slap bass lines, unintelligible lyrics that we sing-talk-rapped. Oh… and Hillel Slovak (RIP). Need I also tell you Dr. Funkenstein himself produced the album? yeah, that's George Clinton.
Blackeyed Blonde is a song in which they embodied everything RHCP was in their early years. Sex Rap is funk rap personified le funk. Before they got really big the formula to award-winning superstardom had yet to be discovered so the experimentation is at a high.
They were hungry, drugged out, and experiencing many changes. One of my favorite songs in their entire catalog is “Nevermind,” for no reason other than them announcing, “We’re The RED HOT…CHILI…PEPPERS”, announcing to the world they had arrived and were going to change music history forever completely.
Freaky Styley is the greatest Chili Pepper album in my book, and they’ve spent the better part of 40 years drifting further and further away from the gutter they were previously in 1985. Their youth, energy, and mastery of their respective instruments is unrivaled. FREAKY STYLEY FOR ME.
Well, there you have it!
Every RHCP studio album is ranked, do you agree with my picks? What is your favorite and least favorite Red Hot Chili Peppers album? Feel free to share with anybody guilty of being a fan, and let me know!
