Lots of great songs have been written before
IJEFF | Milwaukee, WI USA | 08/01/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I'll start by saying I haven't been a huge fan of the RHCP. Just not my favorite musical style, but I've heard enough of their work to appreciate that they are truly one of the better bands to have emerged in the last decade.
That said, Dani California is an excellent song. The 2 extra songs are not bad either, just nothing special. Clearly, Dani California was influenced by Tom Petty's Mary Jane's Last Dance. Too much coincidence here. Does anyone really believe Rick Rubin would not have noticed the similarity? But, that is the essence of Rock n Roll. Beg, steal and borrow. Much of the great rock n roll from icons like the Stones and Led Zeppelin has borrowed heavily from old blues artists and old rock n roll artists such as Chuck Berry.
Not mentioned by the other reviewers, I think some of the references to the Petty song are intentional! Call it tongue in cheek. It works, its good and that's the way T Petty himself views it. Though Dani California is much more subtle and clever it somewhat reminds me of an old Neil Young song on "Tonights the Night" where he says something about stealing this song from the Rolling Stones right in the lyric.
Bottom line RHCP fans? Don't fret. I've been listening to Rock N Roll for over 40 years. There is nothing going on here that hasn't been done hundreds of times before. Just sit back and enjoy!"
Homage
Jesse K. Hao | Fairbanks, AK | 07/26/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I don't yet have the single itself, but the song is great in my opinion. Just thought I'd mention that John Frusciante said himself (from the special edition Stadium Arcadium album DVD) that the main guitar riff is basically the main riff from Jimi Hendrix's 'Foxy Lady', just in a different key. And yes, I can see how it sounds similar to Tom Petty as well. But in the end, they're all excellent musicians who have obviously endured the test of time to be more popular and successful today than they were 15 years ago, after the release of their breakthrough 'Blood Sugar Sex Magic'. Only the best of the best bands in rock music (Tom Petty, for example) can reach out to as many people, if not more, almost a generation later. That said, can anyone really complain if one of their songs sounds kind of like another one?"
