Wednesday, January 25th 2012
News: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers Stop Trying In ‘Look Around’ Video
The Red Hot Chili Peppers have returned with a new video for their next single off I’m With You called Look Around. While the track is pretty standard upbeat Chili fare, the video itself is bewildering in its disappointing uneventfulness.
Sure, it’s cool to watch Flea spazzing out with a girl, getting undressed and covered in shaving cream, but the Robert Hales-directed video features Anthony Kiedis noodle-dancing while drummer Chad Smith works the heavy bag. New guitarist Josh Klinghoffer just hangs out in a room next to a lamp. That’s it.
“I can say that the band were great to work with – real gentlemen – and it was a genuinely collaborative process,” the director tells Spinner. “They were all extremely involved creatively. Each room loosely represented the band members’ personalities, so almost all the props and artwork in the rooms came from their personal collections. All four rooms were filmed simultaneously in the round. Instead of having a drawn-out day of shooting, the band completed the video within four whole takes which, according to Hales, is “very impressive.” “They had a very clear idea of how they wanted to perform and they nailed it. All in all it was a fantastic experience and I’m very proud of what we created.”
Interesting, because this is in all likelihood the most underwhelming RHCP video since Under The Bridge. How this video was directed by the same guy who did the new Jane’s Addiction clip is beyond me.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers will hit the road in March to promote I’m With You – check out tour dates and read our review here.
Any constructive criticism? Had you been the director of this video, what would YOU have done instead?
The guitarist sat still for the majority of the video. Anthony did little more than carry a dog around and reminded us of the arm thing he did 20 years ago in the Give It Away video. Let’s start there.
We get that you don’t like what was done. But what would you have done better/differently?
“Let’s see you do a better one if you think it sucks so much!” I’d have gone with another concept. One that conveys a level of energy output that engages the viewer the way the song does. I wouldn’t have the new guitarist sitting in a chair reading for 3 minutes straight, but rather doing something – anything – that would convey a feeling other than “I’m bored, kinda don’t want to be here.”
“Each room loosely represented the band members”
So… Josh is just a boring dude with a lamp. (and very sad grey wall)
There is a poster behind Flea that looks an awful lot like a Mickey Mouse T-shirt. A kind of mountain looking thing. They should be careful I would hate to see Disney sue them for using such an iconic logo.
This new guitarist isn’t going to last. The American tour is kicking off and I hope you get a better show than we did in the UK. I been lucky to catch this band live from the early 90′s and the band I saw last year was not the RHCP we’ve come to know and love. The guitarist hardly did anything and you can’t help but feel the other 3 personalities might be pushing him out.
The vid was ok, nothing special but then again do vids have the same relevance they did back in the 90′s? One of the better songs on a very poor album, Brendan’s death song would be a good follow up.
I agree with you on this Alex. I really think the RHCP died when John left. Nothing against Josh as he is a helluva musician, but he simply can’t fill the void.
Pretty annoying clip, a few good parts and I don’t think this song is that great to be the next single. I hope the next single(s) will be Goodbye Hooray and Police Station.
If it’s any worth I thought the video for Coffee Shop sucked. A bunch of live shots while they were on tour. And it’s such a kickass upbeat tune. So they have had one underwhelming video since Under the Bridge.
Oh ya and Snow but I tend to never include anything Stadium Arcadium related in RHCP topics.
I can’t imagine a person with “musical taste” saying negative things about ‘Stadium Arcadium’…