John Frusciante took over guitar duties for the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the age of 18 and recorded the funkalicious albums Mother's Milk and BloodSugarSexMagik. Then he quit the group to shoot up heroin. He went on to record two bizarre yet intriguing solo albums while his former band mates unleashed the tepid One Hot Minute onto an innocent and unsuspecting world. Since then, Frusciante has cleaned up and regrouped with the Peppers, leading to the near-sublime Californication.

To Record Only Water For Ten Days, his third solo release, finds Frusciante at peace with himself. If the music on this disc isn't as compelling as his previous efforts, solace can be found in the fact that he's finally singing on key. Frusciante eschews bold experimentation this time out, perhaps because he realizes he doesn't need it. He can craft beautiful songs, and thankfully, that becomes the focus of this album. Frusciante's unique guitar playing is interestingly juxtaposed against a fairly generic drum machine while tender, wistful vocals push the music into the realm of the airy and ethereal.

Naturally, there are some familiar elements from the Red Hot Chili Peppers--mainly wicked syncopation. But don't expect any Flea-like, thumping bass-driven funk here. No, this album is simply a beautifully twisted singer/songwriter album. Whereas smacked-out Frusciante sounded like death, clean Frusciante sounds like hope. And this album will definitely leave you full of hope--hope for the future of music. As long as artists like Frusciante are out there, there will be something worth listening to.

On a final note, I'd like to correct some things that P-Sun's Chris Taillie mentioned in his review of this album. Taillie said that the Chili Peppers kicked out Frusciante because of his drug use. This is wrong on two accounts. First, never at any point have the Chili Peppers claimed that they fired Frusciante; he quit. Second, he didn't start doing drugs until he left the band. Also, Chrissy seems to insinuate that music that uses only three chords is crap. Hey, the Replacements and the Ramones--among countless others--made their careers on three chords. Are you trying to say they're crap? 'Cause if you are, them's fighting words.