Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Critical Reception and Legacy

Critical Reception and Legacy

Blood Sugar Sex Magik was well received by critics, who praised the Chili Peppers for not overpowering the listener with heavy metal guitar riffs as their previous album had. Rolling Stone's Tom Moon credited Rick Rubin for the change in style; Rubin " the Chilis' dynamic." He went on to praise the overall sound, which "displayed a growing curiosity about studio texture and nuance." Steve Huey of Allmusic said the album was "The Red Hot Chili Peppers' best album...John Frusciante's guitar is less overpoweringly noisy, leaving room for differing textures and clearer lines, while the band overall is more focused and less indulgent." He considered Blood Sugar to be "varying... it expands the group's musical and emotional range." Guitar Player magazine credited Frusciante with the Chili Peppers' drastic change in style: "by blending acid-rock, soul-funk, early art-rock, and blues style with a raw, unprocessed Strat-and-Marshall tone, hit on an explosive formula that has yet to be duplicated." Devon Powters of PopMatters said that "in one funked-out, fucked up, diabolical swoop, Blood Sugar Sex Magik reconfigured my relationship to music, to myself, to my culture and identity, to my race and class." In an article published in The Tampa Tribune, editor Philip Booth praised the record as "an ambitious effort that amounts to a culmination and blossoming of the musical forces that have been brewing in the band's sound since Kiedis and Flea birthed the band in 1983." Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a two star honorable mention. Blood Sugar Sex Magik is considered to be an influential album, throughout the nineties, by establishing itself as a fundamental foundation for alternative rock.

"Under the Bridge," which became a breakout song for the band, was considered to be a highlight of the album by several critics. Allmusic reviewed the song individually and called it a "...poignant sentiment...it is self evident among the simple guitar which cradles the introductory verse, and the sense of fragility that is only doubled by the still down-tempo choral crescendo", and ultimately "has become an integral part of the 1990s alterna-landscape, and remains one of the purest diamonds that sparkle amongst the rough-hewn and rich funk chasms that dominate the Peppers' own oeuvre." However, Entertainment Weekly criticized the seriousness that the Red Hot Chili Peppers explored as being "disapproving of the band's usual Red Hot antics", and "Under the Bridge" had "fancy-shmancy touches". The song ended up peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1992. "Give It Away" was also praised, though as "...a free-associative mixture of positive vibes, tributes to musical heroes, and free love", with Frusciante "...adding the song's two most unpredictable change-ups: a sudden contrast to Kiedis' hyperactivity in the form of a languid solo pre-recorded and dubbed backwards over the rhythm track, and a hard-rocking riff which is not introduced until the song's outro..." Tracks such as "Sir Psycho Sexy", however, were criticized for being overly explicit. Devon Powters of Pop Matters said that "Eight minutes of 'Sir Psycho Sexy' will turn RHCP's young listeners into quivering masses of hormonal jello. Oversexed lines sneak their way into 'Apache Rose Peacock'; 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik', simply, sounds like fucking. Even the purest virgin comes away from Blood Sugar Sex Magik with a degree of sexual maturity; even the slickest playa can learn a couple of new moves." In contrast, "Suck My Kiss", according to Amy Hanson of Allmusic, "completely flew in the face of the established pecking order of alternative rock." With the song, the Chili Peppers "fully allied themselves with the very few genre-bending bands that were able to make a radical impact on the sonic landscape that was dominated, it seemed, from every minute angle by grunge."

Years later, Blood Sugar was placed atop many "Best Of" lists, especially those pertaining to the '90s. Spin magazine charted the album at number 58 on their "Top 90 Albums of the 90s", and number 11 on a similar list compiled by Pause & Play. The record was placed in slapnpop Magazine "101 Essential Guitar Albums"; and 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".