Livia WBR

Gold On The Ceiling by @TheBlackKeys a Film by @HarmonyKorine

Blood Sugar Sex Magik is the fifth studio album by Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Rick Rubin, it was the band’s first record released on Warner Bros. Records. The musical styles of Blood Sugar Sex Magik differed notably from the techniques employed on the Chili Peppers’ preceding album, Mother’s Milk, and featured little use of heavy metal guitar riffs. The album’s subject matter incorporated sexual innuendos and references to drugs and death as well as themes of lust and exuberance.

Peaking at number three on the Billboard 200, the album has sold over 15 million copies worldwide and was the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ introduction into worldwide popularity and critical acclaim. Blood Sugar Sex Magik produced an array of hit singles including the hugely successful “Under the Bridge”, “Give It Away”, “Suck My Kiss”, “Breaking the Girl” and “If You Have to Ask”.

Blood Sugar Sex Magik was released the same day Nirvana released Nevermind and it is recognized as an influential and seminal component of the alternative rock explosion in the early 1990s.

All photography, paintings and art direction for Blood Sugar Sex Magik were credited to filmmaker Gus Van Sant.  The cover of the album features the four band members’ faces positioned around a rose. The lyrics are printed in white lettering across a black background, hand written by Kiedis.   The booklet also contains a collage of photos assembled to showcase the band members’ various tattoos, which feature faces of Native American tribal leaders, animals and sea creatures, as well as various symbols and phrases. Photographs of each band member alone, and two photographs of the band as a whole are also included.

Singles released to coincide with the album share little with Blood Sugar’s artwork. The cover of “Give It Away” was a painting of a Chinese infant, surrounded by fish, vegetables, fruits and sushi; “Under the Bridge” is a photograph of a bridge in the city of Los Angeles; “Suck My Kiss” had a black and white photograph of the band, with Kiedis and Flea holding a large fish; and “Breaking the Girl” featured a painting of a human being covered in magma.

Spin magazine charted the album at number 58 on their “Top 90 Albums of the 90s”

The record was placed in slapnpop Magazine “101 Essential Guitar Albums”

included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

Blood Sugar Sex Magik also ranked number 310 on Rolling Stone’s the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” and number 14 on the “100 Best Albums of the Nineties”.

Twenty years later, many of the songs remain constant staples in the band’s setlists. “Give it Away” and Under the Bridge” have been performed at almost every show making them two of the band’s most performed songs. On the band’s 2006 Stadium Arcadium tour, the band decided to give the two hits a break. This decision was often met with mixed reaction from the audience due to the two songs’ popularity. To date, “Mellowship Slinky in B Major”, “The Righteous & the Wicked” have never been performed live while “Apache Rose Peacock”, and “The Greeting Song” have been partially performed. “Naked in the Rain” has only been performed once in 1990 prior to the album’s recording.

(Source: Spotify)

The Nightfly is the first solo album by Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen, released in October 29th 1982. It was one of the first fully digital recordings of popular music.  Although The Nightfly includes a number of production staff and musicians who had played on Steely Dan records, it is notably Fagen’s first release without longtime collaborator Walter Becker.

Unlike the majority of Fagen’s work before this point, The Nightfly is almost blatantly autobiographical.  Many of the songs relate to the cautiously optimistic mood of his suburban childhood in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and include such lyrical topics as late night jazz deejays, bomb shelters, and tropical vacations.

The Nightfly was certified Platinum in both the US and UK, and produced two popular hits with “I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World)” and “New Frontier”. It also received several 1983 Grammy Award nominations. This relatively low-key but long-lived popularity led the Wall Street Journal in 2007 to dub the album, “one of pop music’s sneakiest masterpieces.”

Personnel

Donald Fagen - organ, synthesizer, synth-harmonica, keyboards, electric piano, vocals, background vocals

Dave Bargeron - trombone, euphonium, horn, background vocalsMichael Brecker - tenor saxophone

Randy Brecker - trumpet, flugelhorn

Larry Carlton - guitar

Ronnie Cuber - horn, baritone saxophone

Rick Derringer - guitar

Frank “Harmonica Frank” Floyd - background vocals

James Gadson - drums

Ed Greene - drums

Gordon Grody - vocals, background vocals

Anthony Jackson - bass

Steve Jordan - drums

Steve Khan - acoustic guitar

Abraham Laboriel - bass

Daniel Lazerus - background vocals

Will Lee - bass

Hugh McCracken - guitar, harmonica

Leslie Miller - background vocals

Marcus Miller - bass

Rob Mounsey - synthesizer, horn, keyboards

Roger Nichols - percussion, special effects

Michael Omartian - piano, keyboards, electric piano

Dean Parks - guitar

Greg Phillinganes - synthesizer, piano, keyboards, electric piano, clavinet, synthesizer bass

Jeff Porcaro - drums

Chuck Rainey - bass

Zachary Sanders -background vocals

Valerie Simpson - background vocals

David Tofani - horn, alto saxophone

Starz Vanderlocket - percussion, background vocals

Paul Shaffer - organ

Production

Producer: Gary Katz

Engineers: Daniel Lazerus, Roger Nichols, Elliot Scheiner

Assistant engineers: Robin Lane, Mike Morongell, Cheryl Smith, Wayne Yurgelun

Mixing: Elliot Scheiner

Mastering: Bob Ludwig

Digital editing assistant: Mike Morongell, Wayne Yurgelun

Project assistant: Ginger Dettman, Steve Pokorny, Steve Woolard

Tracking: Elliot Scheiner

Authoring: David Dieckmann, George Lydecker

Sequencing: Roger Nichols

Overdub engineer: Daniel Lazerus

Horn arrangements: Donald Fagen, Rob Mounsey

Arranger: Donald Fagen

Design: Greg Allen

Art direction: Greg Allen, George Delmerico

Liner notes: Donald Fagen

Editorial supervision: Cory Frye

Photography: James Hamilton

Screen design: Andrew Thomas

(Source: Spotify)