The eleventh solo album from this enigmatic singer-songwriter and producer, best known as The Red Hot Chili Peppers' guitarist. This concept record features Flea, Sonus Quartet, Johnny Marr, and The New Dimension Singers. ... more »It's a record suited to dark living rooms late at night.« less
The eleventh solo album from this enigmatic singer-songwriter and producer, best known as The Red Hot Chili Peppers' guitarist. This concept record features Flea, Sonus Quartet, Johnny Marr, and The New Dimension Singers. It's a record suited to dark living rooms late at night.
The Best Albums Are Those Which Can Draw No Comparisons
Hans Gruber | AZ | 01/27/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"John Frusciante's web site describes this album as "...the ways in which a person strives for what is beyond his reach. In his effort to go higher with every step, he sometimes dives down, only to find that when he reemerges he is always higher than he was before. The musical dynamics work in tandem with these inner rises and falls he experiences. He necessarily remains in a state of confusion and longing but is grateful for that, as without that he would not be becoming anything."
The record's concept of hitting rock bottom before ascending to heavenly heights accurately reflects the tone of the music, which ranges from solemn piano-guided nocturnes to epic rockers which peak with seemingly unending crescendoes. In between lies lush electronica, VAST-like soaring choirs, eerie orchestrals, and ambient noise. If there is an album with which to compare this to, it remains unknown here; The Empyrean sounds like every other John Frusciante album in that it doesn't sound like any of the other John Frusciante albums. This is the trademark which makes the man's music so sincerely unique; the pinnacle which every great musician must strive for.
Longtime Frusciante collaborator Josh Klinghoffer returns to this recording on keys and drums, while Flea delivers his own unmistakable style to many of the tracks, the lack of The Mars Volta's Omar Rodriguez-Lopez being the all-star lineup's only letdown. Though the album is still new on the market, it has already sunk in it's bittersweet claws in that there are enough odd intricacies, fine details, and moments of repeated track listenings to guarantee this to be a record which will only sink in deeper with time. Forgive the cliche, but The Empyrean reflects Frusciante's entire musical career up to this point as a fine wine which only improves with age."
John Takes His Listeners to the Empyrean
Jeffrey A. Lunt | 02/05/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"John Frusciante is an amazing artist, a unique song-writer, and a remarkable guitarist (so expectations were high when I purchased this album). Initially, after listening to this album once (from track 1 to track 10), my thought was, "Great, John's gone soft. Where's the hard rock? Why do rock 'n' rollers go soft?" After I finished listening to the album, I was disappointed because I was expecting something heavier. (And by the way, this album isn't all soft; there are several moments of hard rockin'.)
Disappointment fades. I listened again...and again, a third time (from track 1 to track 10). Music has a tendency to grow on you when you take the time to appreciate it. Then, after several listens, I grabbed my dictionary and looked up the word, "empyrean." The "empyrean" refers to the highest heaven, or the Celestial Kingdom. Knowing this, I better understood the content and the overall feel of this album.
This piece of music, as John might say, is a representation of the empyrean, the highest heaven. Therefore, this music is meant to sound heavenly (not heavy or rock 'n' rolly). I was expecting a rock `n' roll experience, but John delivered a heavenly experience.
John: thank you for taking us to the empyrean with your guitar; thank you for taking us to a place where rock music almost never dares to ascend.
The Empyrean rocks...in a soft, heavenly sort of way. Buy this album and enjoy!
"
Great Record
Iron Lion | 02/20/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Excellent work. Gets better with each listen. Lush and beautiful melodies abound as we'd expect from John. The instruments and choral vocals are brilliant. Was wishing for a little more rock and roll guitar, but this album's more holistic in its musical approach. The guitar adds texture to these beautiful songs.
John's vocal range is much improved and very expressive. There's still that guttural cry of his every now and again; imperfect but highly expressive. Delicate falsetto brings the best out of the melodies.
Not many if any radio friendly tracks under 4 minutes or whatever, which makes this release all the more worth buying. An excellent record for fans of music."
What an Experience!
Maggie | 02/15/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"After "marinating" in this album for a week or so, I'd say that I feel this is his best album yet. It's quite a spiritual and emotional experience, and words cannot describe how much I'm loving this album right now!! If you're a fan of John and his music, BUY THIS ALBUM!"
A Mixed Review
. | 03/01/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I really, really wanted to like this album. I am confident that John Frusciante is one of our greatest living guitarists, clearly versed in funk guitar both technically and stylistically. His Smile From the Streets You Hold, though sometimes painfully raw, is one of the most beautiful lo-fi records I have ever heard. As one Amazon reviewer of that album put it, "good music is not always easy to listen to." Empyrean operates on the very opposite principle: it's easy on the ears, but with the exception of a couple tracks ("Unreachable" and "Central"), it doesn't have a whole lot of substance. It may be the closest John will ever get to ear candy, but as responsible music listeners it is our job to look for the real music in there.
The first track, "Before the Beginning," might sound interesting to some listeners, but to more experienced funk music appreciators (like Frusciante) it is a blatant rip-off of George Clinton's "Maggot Brain," a classic emotionally charged guitar solo that should not be so freely imitated - at least, not without crediting its sources or advertising itself as an homage to the great master of funk. "Before the Beginning," however, is not able to match Clinton's free-flowing guitar verse, Frusciante's guitar work too caught up in the rigidity of his framework. The song sounds a little guarded. I'm sure many novel music appreciators will find this piece hauntingly beautiful, but for the rest of us it's hard not to draw unfavorable "Maggot Brain" comparisons.
"Unreachable" better matches the sounds of the expert funkadelics who have influenced Frusciante. Although the former half of the song may be too pop-rock for some of his more eclectic fans, he tops it off with a warbled, face-melting guitar riff (my only complaint is that it's too short!). This track alone may be worth the price of the album for some people.
Unfortunately, most of the other tracks on the album rely too heavily on special effects and don't really go anywhere. "God" has a neat bass line, but you'll soon realize it's a one trick pony; the fantastic bass line in "Dark/Light," beautifully rendered by Flea, is covered up by one of the tackier drum machine beats I've heard (a true WTF decision on Frusciante's part) and repeated to the point of exhaustion.
"Central" is my favorite track on the album. It's repetitive, but unlike "Dark/Light," its repetition is necessary to the development of the song and even meditative. The guitar work is sophisticated and extensive without being too showy. One of Frusciante's finer works for sure.
As brilliant as "Central" and "Unreachable" may be, they are surrounded by some pretty mediocre material, and for that reason I knock off two stars. I'm also slightly offended by the George Clinton rip-off. I would have thought a musician as talented as John Frusciante would be too classy for this sort of second-rate Funkadelic stuff."