Shadows Collide With People (U.S. Version)

It takes a lot to be known as the weird one out of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but for guitarist John Frusciante the title comes easy. He abruptly quit the band at the height of its popularity in 1992 to become a full-time drug addict, claimed to communicate with the fourth dimension, and released a couple of predictably loopy solo albums before returning in time to record the group's brilliant comeback discs, 1999's Californication and 2001's By The Way. The odd and esoteric music on Shadows Collide With People, his fourth release outside the day job, proves that even drug-free he remains touched. Only now, Frusciante is better able to draw life out of his lo-fi experiments, twisting the shiftless strums and electronic fizzes of songs like "Regret" and "Song to Sing When I'm Lonely" into beautiful explorations reminiscent of Radiohead and the Mars Volta. It's no wonder the Chili Peppers make their best records whenever he's around. --Aidin Vaziri