Released: 2022

Genres: Alternative Rock, Funk Rock, Pop Rock, Psychedelic Rock

The Musiquarium’s Return of the Dream Canteen Review Score: 3/5

Arriving only six months after their last album (Unlimited Love), Return of the Dream Canteen is another gluttonous serving of 17 Rick Rubin-produced Red Hot Chili Peppers songs, with this batch being the more experimental of the two, but like Unlimited Love, these songs are just as boring.

On Tippa My Tongue, Anthony Kiedis makes a callback to the Blood Sugar Sex Magik track, Funky Monks. Elsewhere, the album foregoes a lot of the group’s typical funk rock for branching out. Eddie is a soulful tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen, with a glorious John Frusciante solo, though Kiedis’ lyrics are corny, despite an attempt at earnestness.

Frusciante’s guitar on The Police-like dub of Handful is also quite sleek. My Cigarette uses a drum machine and synthesizers, but it sounds as dated as much of the band’s material from the eighties. The Drummer uses prog rock-like synths that should have been left in the seventies, though I suppose it was a uh… “bold” choice for a single.

La La La La La La La La is a slow ballad, though comes off as overly schmaltzy. Carry Me Home is a blues track with Frusciante flexing his love for Hendrix. The closer, In the Snow, has another generic-sounding drum machine, as well as 808 cowbells that would have expired by the end of the eighties.

John Frusciante’s guitar-playing is always top-notch, and Flea is typically reliable throughout Return of the Dream Machine, but this is still an absolutely dreadful listen. Anthony Kiedis’ performances are a mixed bag as usual, with plenty of lyrics that verge on sounding like Dr. Seuss poems, but I suppose he’s as big a part of R.H.C.P. as any of the other members (for better or worse).

Return of the Dream Machine is a more colourful and adventurous album than the relatively safe Unlimited Love (though it’s not necessarily better), but not every experiment sticks. At it’s best, this is one of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ more curious albums, but in the end, it’s still another mediocre, boring album from Red Hot Chili Peppers. How a band with three talented musicians can always sound this dull is beyond me; good luck making it through all 17 songs.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Red Hot Chili Peppers on Discogs.

Back to the 2022 Album Guide or the Red Hot Chili Peppers Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard