Word: soloings
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...first time I got to spend some time with Combs was about four years ago, before he really was a multimedia hip-hop mogul, when I went into the studio to interview him as he was completing his first solo rap record, "No Way Out." A lot has happened to him since then. "No Way Out" went on to become one of the biggest-selling hip-hop records ever, spawning the hit singles "I'll Be Missing You" and "It's All About the Benjamins"; Puffy went on to build a business empire, complete with a clothing line; he started...
...Record is not Frusciante's first solo work. 1995's Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt and 1997's Smile From the Streets You Hold were of a mold similar to his current album, but were plagued by inconsistent writing, and a singing and playing style that could be described as unhinged. The two releases seemed to be confirmation both of his enormous talent and reported descent into severe heroin addiction...
Saddled with the workmanlike vocals that have seemingly beset all solo guitarists since Keith Richards, Frusciante's singing is the album's largest revelation. At last comfortable with the sound of his own voice, To Record bears no traces of the occasional frightened yodeling that marred his earlier recordings. Not concerned with commercial prettiness, Frusciante immerses himself completely, and the result is some of the most emotional and expressive rock singing in recent memory (witness the alternation between howl and wavering falsetto on "In Rime"). He's helped by his lyrics, which are evocative and thankfully never too random. Largely...
...same unique style of melodic progressions that stamps his Chili Peppers work (the coda of "Around the World," on the recent Californication is a good example, as is the opening melody of the title track). The opening track, "Going Inside," begins with a brief but excellent feedback-driven solo. The track, along with others like "Remain" and "Fallout" has a distinctly Middle-Eastern melodic feel. Perhaps not coincidentally, these songs, together with the lovely instrumental "Murderers" and the near-perfect pop song "Moments Have You," are the standouts on the album. The songs are mostly in a similar shuffling tempo...
...Record, Frusciante has created a marvel of restrained, melancholy power pop where less is more. As someone once remarked of a Sun Ra piano solo, "Anyone could have played that. But no one else could have thought...