Don't Knock the Hoffer ('I'm Beside You' by Red Hot Chili Peppers)

 New blood = fire alighted.

    On marshaling a record, artists take to adopting a democratic style – not least of which concerns an album's tracklist. Solo and groups alike are predisposed to writing/recording scads of compositions they consider precious, giving them no choice but to pare down the amount necessary for a proper full-length. What doesn't make the final cut is either relegated to outtake status or... just stays unreleased. A heightened grasp on this practice has lent itself to me gaining a fuller appreciation of B-sides no matter the outfit. Reviewing a project like "alt-funk-pop rock" quartet Red Hot Chili Peppers' I'm Beside You was fate. ...Real clever title, guys. 

    A companion piece to 2011's I'm with You, the 2013 special compiles the head counterpart's flip side material. These songs in question were already singles beforehand, with 1-8 of 17 making up an extra disc unique to IWY's Australian edition. Similar to its parent, IBY is far less engrossed with flash, yet (largely) preserves Stadium Arcadium's groovetastic rockjinks. Different from the former is then-current guitarist Josh Klinghoffer's greater presence in the mix, after (prior?) serious sidelining action by the rhythm section and weird utilization of keys on the main outing. Flea and Chad Smith's performances are unquestionably audible and efficient, though muted by comparison. Anthony Kiedis performs... Kiedis-y shenanigans in his flagrant glory.

    The Chilis' "Hoffer" phase – as I'll call it – is a rather contentious period for the band; and considering their dark, psychedelic era with Dave Navarro, that's saying a bunch. In retrospect, Klinghoffer's tenure with them deserved to be so – nay, it NEEDED to be so. The well had started to run dry on Stadium Arcadium, John Frusciante's successor being the sensible pick because of their adjacency; Froosh would rejoin RHCP a second time for their newest LP Unlimited Love, which redefined self-parody. If not IWY or The Getaway, IBY stands as the entourage's most inspirited creation since By the Way.

    IWY feels as lengthy as any Chilis outing post-Mother's Milk and owns a mean incongruity aspect expected from a standard RHCP experience. It owes its buoyancy to the extra freshness Klinghoffer supplies, not to mention several excellent tunes such as the disco-tinged smasher Monarchy of Roses; a celebratory dirge in Brendan's Death Song; and then Police Station beginning to end, a portrayal of the dwindling LAPD metaphorically used for relationship struggles. The number of strong individual tracks off IBY is bigger, whether we're talking the eight-minute stab at prog on In Love Dying; Never Is a Long Time's pithy pop prominence; This Is the Kitt and Victorian Machinery are where the riff work shine brightest; and the spoken word-led Open/Close is an uptempo slapper imbued with mortality – one of a great many Chilis ditties dedicated to original guitarist Hillel Slovak. 

    I'm Beside You is both unfocused and comes off protracted, but it's also a transfixing collection teeming with what-could-have-beens. For starters, Strange Man was intended for I'm with You, only to be muscled out in favor of Goodbye Hooray (thanks, Rick Rubin). Folks can mash IWY and IBY together to form a hypothetical double album – following Stadium Arcadium, however, I myself am good, fam! Fusing the two entries' high points is wholeheartedly recommended.