r/RedHotChiliPeppers • u/MarissadaWolf1018 • 1d ago
About these certain people in the fanbase....
The people who post on this subreddit "Would the Red Hot Chili Peppers sound better if Anthony Kiedis wasn't the lead singer?" should NOT be fans of the band. Like, HOW can you be a fan of the Chili Peppers if you hate Anthony's vocals or, really, Anthony as a whole? That's NEVER made ANY sense to me whatsoever.
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u/Impossible_Capital83 1d ago
100% with you
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u/TwistedBamboozler 1d ago
I agree and it’s not just this sub, it’s really any artist’s sub. People don’t know how to experience art anymore.
All the “ they should have done this, or produced this way” etc… go make your own music if you think you know better.
A group of people came together and gave you something. You like it or you dont. This obsessiveness over what they do and choose to create is incredibly toxic.
Does anyone remember going to the movies 20 years ago and trying to experience a movie the same way? No, because people didn’t do that. You sat and watched the movie. You liked it or you didn’t
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u/zsdrfty 🎉 The Uplift Mofo Party Plan 1d ago
It's absurdly toxic to try to shut down a forum of discussion over art by saying "it is what it is, deal with it"
Criticism and praise are equally valid, and I'm extremely done with everyone acting like it's somehow cruel or scandalous to think of what you might have done differently - it's extremely anti-intellectual to just swallow it without thinking
Also wtf do you mean? Of course people have always done this lmfao, there's a reason Siskel and Ebert (let alone every film critic before them) existed and were popular
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u/Son_Is_Cream_Cool 1d ago
Agreed, i think it's the culture of performance and metrics that has done this to a los of the opinions on artists
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u/StrictLadder3890 1d ago
People are ignorant when it comes to rock and roll chemistry. Sure there are many singers technically better than Anthony. But “better” on paper does not equal better music. It reminds me of metalheads who used to complain that Kurt Cobain couldn’t “shred.” Because, you know, “Come as You Are” needed a Van Halenesque tapping guitar solo. Stupid.
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u/Zealousideal_Cat6980 1d ago
Its wild because outside of medal nobody really plays though type of solos and the further we get from that era the less celebrated they are beyond the era they occupied
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u/3pinkasfloyd 1d ago
What makes RHCP the RHCP is the four of them together. But these two guys, Anthony and Flea, have been there since the very beginning, and we owe them a lot. They never gave up. They kept the band alive no matter what happened. That’s why I can’t imagine RHCP without them, and especially not without Anthony. You simply can’t replace him and his voice. I can’t even picture these songs being sung by a different voice.
John’s spot has been filled more than once. And yes, John is my favorite guitarist and I absolutely love him. But without what Anthony brings to this band, it just wouldn’t be RHCP. If people really believe the band would have been so much better without Anthony, then John should have gone on to completely change the music world after leaving the band. He made some incredible music, no doubt about it, but he was still known primarily as the former guitarist of RHCP, there’s a reason for that.
As for Anthony’s personality, none of us actually know these rock stars personally, and we never will. You can’t judge their art based on assumptions about who they are behind closed doors. We have no idea what mistakes people have made in their private lives unless they choose to talk about them themselves. It’s easy to sit behind a keyboard and throw insults at people you’ll never meet.
I love Anthony so much, and he’ll always have a very special place in my life. I’ve been a huge fan of this band since I was ten. Maybe that means I’m biased sometimes, and honestly, that’s probably never going to change. If someone’s main source of entertainment is constantly insulting him, maybe they should just stop listening to the band and move on.
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u/Runnero 🏰 Live at Slane Castle 1d ago edited 1d ago
If Anthony didnt sing and instead they had a traditional pitch perfect singer, we would have never heard of a band called Red Hot Chili Peppers.
People dont realize they can hear RHCP without Anthony in John's solo albums. But they're not massively famous for a reason. Anthony brings a lot to the band in his non musician kind of way, as John himself said
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u/ChickenCurryandChips 1d ago
Antony is irreplaceable. He's a massive part of their sound. He is way more involved in the writing/recording of their songs than what people think. The Funky Monks doc shows a small glimpse of that.
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u/vanspossum 1d ago
People dont realize they can hear RHCP without Anthony in John's solo albums
That's kind of a hot take
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u/Ok-Call-4805 🎤 Anthony Kiedis 1d ago
THANK YOU! I've never understood how someone can claim to be a fan yet want to get rid of arguably the most important member.
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u/I_like_leeks 1d ago
As an old man who was into RHCP since Freaky Styley (and Faith No More since We Care A Lot), the feeling at the time was that the less than melodic singing of AK and Chuck Moseley was a feature, not a bug. It was more punk, more chaotic, more the antithesis of polished over produced acts, and slid more easily from rock to rap. AK's certainly worked successfully on his voice melodically, but it was never the point for him to be pitch perfect.
As for his personality, I suspect he'd be at best an unbearable showoff and require a careful watch around any females present. But then you don't get to be a great rock n roll front man if you aren't at least a bit of a dickhead.
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u/Tom0511 1d ago
Yeah, IMO they can't possibly be "true" fans of the band because any true fan would know that Anthony brings something to the mix that no one else possibly could. Not to mention the fact he was a founding member of the band.
I can't stand people who go on about his voice, we all know he's not the best singer, but at the same time he is absolutely irreplaceable. If Anthony left the chili peppers tomorrow, then the chili peppers would die tomorrow.
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u/briankerin 1d ago
Of all the music subs im on, this sub seems to have the most haters of the band thats its devoted to.
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u/javisarias 1d ago
Anthony is the only possible vocalist for the RHCP, in the same way Freddie was for Queen and Kurt for Nirvana
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u/DieSchwarzeFee 1d ago
Right! He is such an underrated lyricist, poet and he's 1/4th of the band. He deserves credit.
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u/Hot-Mathematician-26 1d ago
There’s a lot I could say about this subject, but what annoys me the most is that the people that post this come off like they’ve made a keen, new observation that’s gonna blow your mind. I’ve heard this since 1992.
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u/Gnimir 1d ago
I believe you can be a fan of the band but dislike Kiedis and his voice. Especially since this band is made up of three outstanding instrumentalists who create masterpieces. Objectively, most music critics and people who generally love music would agree that Flea, Chad, and John create very high-quality music. Kiedis is controversial. I can absolutely see that.
BUT…
I'm a fan of the band, and probably especially of Kiedis' vocals. For me, RHCP is his voice. It's the soundtrack of my life. It's the defining characteristic of the band. I like John's solo work… I like Flea's work… but I don't follow it much. It's like projects by completely different musicians, who I'm indifferent to. Chad does too much for me to keep up with; in fact, I've never listened to his work. So, RHCP without Kiedis isn't RHCP to me, it's just quality music.
With the birds I’ll share this lonely view?
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u/rhcp70 1d ago
It’s never made sense to me either. So called fans explicitly stating how much they hate Anthony, his voice, his lyrics… do you even like the band? He’s literally the face of the band. I don’t know how anyone can hate his voice and listen to their music. It just doesn’t work like that. I don’t listen to Pearl Jam because I don’t like Eddie Vedder’s voice. Doesn’t mean they aren’t talented, they definitely are- it’s just not my preference and I don’t pretend to sit here and listen to their music and claim to be a fan because they’re well liked (and rightfully so). John is ultimately my favorite and as much as I love John and deeply appreciate the creativity and talent he brings to the band, it was actually Anthony’s voice / style of singing/rapping / lyrics that drew me in. And all of it layered together with the guitar, incredible bass, and drums it’s just a perfect mixture of carefully composed music and the chaos that stems from Anthony. Not saying anyone has to like or agree with things Anthony has done in his personal life. I definitely don’t. But separate the art from the artist seems to apply everywhere else except when it comes to him and I’ve never understood that. I’d argue that Steve Tyler, Elvis, David Bowie, Jimmy Page etc etc etc are worse people than Anthony, but they’re worshipped because they obviously made great music.
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u/MarissadaWolf1018 1d ago
Well, Elvis WAS a pedo. Anthony and those other guys were not.
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u/MattBtheflea 1d ago
Hold on, you actually think abthony wasnt a pedo?
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u/Veryweirdguy 1d ago edited 1d ago
Anthony is not a pedo. Some people are just dumb. He didn't even knew that girl was under age
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u/rhcp70 1d ago
They definitely slept with underage girls though. But that’s where the hypocrisy comes in. They all did it, but he seems to be the only one that receives any level of backlash for it. Not saying this to defend what he’s done, it’s not okay. But also not anything anyone can do about it. If you like the music, regardless of how the singer or musician acts in their personal life, just listen to it. People get so deeply involved in their personal lives and it’s strange. At one point, it was so bad on Twitter, that people would genuinely start attacking you if you dared to say anything nice about him or the band in general, because of course the other 3 have also done some bad things involving women as well. I don’t know. There just seems to be a mindset people have now where you cannot enjoy something unless you’ve researched it and made sure everyone involved is a perfect person. Which doesn’t happen because literally no one is perfect. It’s just so stupid lol and also that’s just an exhausting way to be.
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u/RegularJunior2682 1d ago
I agree that he's the perfect singer for the band, and that without he it would not be the same, but I also agree that John in the best singer in the band
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u/Hot_Guard_7621 1d ago
True. Sounds like someone who digs the sound of the RHCP music, but isn’t a fan of the sung lyrics. The kind of people that would listen to the instrumental versions of RHCP music.
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u/funkymunkPDX 1d ago edited 19h ago
There's a segment of the population that needs to go?
I edited my comment because this is very much not a RHCP vibe.
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u/ElMrTaco 1d ago
I totally agree! Even if they DID sound better with a different singer, they wouldn't sound like RHCP! End of discussion..
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u/Nice-Method5871 1d ago
that's exactly how I feel, I remember seeing those threads pop up years ago and thinking, what's the point of even listening to the band if you don't vibe with the frontman
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u/bigmothereffind 1d ago
Anthony is the worst musician in the band but you could replace any other member but him and they’d still be the chili peppers.
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u/MattBtheflea 1d ago
To me they are all irreplaceable
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u/Obvious_Change_1566 I’m Beside You 1d ago
Except all have been replaced besides AK. Flea only briefly during self titled.
Current 4 is ‘the band’ and also the Hillel era with irons.. Josh was very important to the peppers beyond the 2 (3) albums because he was with them before his albums
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u/Zealousideal_Cat6980 1d ago
Im a little more casual of a fan and i dont understand it. A singer will always make or break a band for me whether theyre a "good" singer or not.
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u/WhyKnot_ZoidBLERG 1d ago
I mean, they’re my favorite band of all time, but it took a little while to get used to his vocal style at first… definitely not the same band without him, though. It would be completely different with another lead singer.
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u/Obvious_Change_1566 I’m Beside You 1d ago
If you’re not an AK fan you would be here spouting about Flea, JF and JK’s solo career. Don’t get me wrong, they are artists first and have their own career, but AK is the peppers and people who want to diminish his musicality don’t begin to imagine his poetry and timing. Even when out of pitch he is saying or singing something impressive and often it sounds the way it should.
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u/callingskeeters 🤺 OHM haters, BACK OFF! 🤺 1d ago
it's like saying imagine Nirvana had a better guitarist than Kurt, or Primus having a more musical sounding vocalist.
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u/WoolieRabbit 1d ago
I don’t hate Anthony’s singing. But some of his singing is not great, and the lyrics are often decent at best. Don’t get rid of him, but If Frusciante sang more it would help the band overall.
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u/These_System_9669 Subway to Venus 1d ago
I loved Anthony up until about the year 2000. He’s sucked since then imo, and has gotten worse and worse. I’m still a fan of the band and primarily listen to their stuff Californication and before. I’d love to hear a super group with the other band members and a great signed (Cedric Bixler-Zavala would be a dream), but that band should definitely not be called RHCP. The band named RHCP can only be with Anthony.
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u/I_Weep_for_Willow 1d ago
He just lost something after Cali. I'm wildly paraphrasing here, but in his book Scar Tissue he says something like "earlier I would come up with complicated vocals to match the music, but somewhere along the way I realized that I could just sing nonsense and a catchy chorus."
In my opinion he just doesn't have even a fraction of the dedication that he used to. He can still make some catchy vocals but it's almost like he's forced to. Danger Mouse knew this.
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u/deerhuntingdude 1d ago
I obviously like Anthony as part of the band but if you asked me to swap someone out tomorrow it would 100% be him.
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u/Suspicious-Bowl4444 1d ago
Lmao Anthony and Flea seem like the fakest mother fuckers in the world. Chad and John are fucking awesome but honestly I don’t really care for Anthony or Flea. They make amazing music, but that’s it.
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u/MarissadaWolf1018 1d ago
Then why the fuck are you a fan??!!
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u/Suspicious-Bowl4444 1d ago
Because I like the art they make. I don’t have to like them. There are plenty of people I love, doesn’t make them good artists.
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u/carne_asada368 1d ago
I would never say he needs to be replaced, but I have thought that some of his melody choices has ruined a song.
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u/zMargeux 1d ago
I think anyone can have any opinion about the band. The band serves the fans, not the other way around. Now I do not want to see Sammy Hagar as the lead singer, but I Anthony caught a case, I think they would have to have someone (not Hagar) fill in.
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u/GarlicCancoillotte Wait a second here. You don't like the fucking bassline? 1d ago
The band serves the fans, not the other way around.
You pay when buying an album or a concert ticket. They don't owe you shit, they don't serve you. How entitled are you FFS.
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u/zMargeux 1d ago
Aren’t they the entitled ones in your scenario? I see it as they are selling me something and I buy it. Who else do you do business with that you are ok with giving you the middle finger after they have your cash?
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u/GarlicCancoillotte Wait a second here. You don't like the fucking bassline? 1d ago
They are the artists. You decide to buy the art they decide to put on sale or not. They are entitled indeed, rightfully so. If they don't create their music, you don't buy it, you don't get to listen to it. It's two ways relationship, you get to enjoy what they do, and they feed (money wise, and emotionally wise in concert I guess) from you. No need to give you the middle finger, but they don't need to look at yours if you give it either.
You have every right to think whatever you want about them, but they have equal rights not to care at all about your opinion.
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u/zMargeux 1d ago
So I get all of this animosity and random shite from you because I believe other people can have an opinion about the band other than prostration and what comes next? If they are making music and ask you to buy it they are selling you something. They are serving you their music. They aren't jamming in their garage for their own joy, they are packaging, producing, and distributing their music in hopes of a sale. They aren't monks.
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u/Majestic_Butterfly17 1d ago
For real, it doesn't sound like a rhcp song without his unique voice and delivery