When people talk about 90s bands, the conversation always begins and ends with Nirvana, but frankly, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are my idea of the prototypical 90s band. Granted they started in the 80s, though they didn’t really fit in with the sounds at the time (try and compare the Chilis’ idea of Heavy Metal with… I don’t know, Skid Row’s idea of heavy metal.) But once the 90s “alternative scene” rolled around, they sounded right at home: a funky guitar, a lead singer that doesn’t really have a great voice, but he sang about those dark early 90s LA themes, not to mention heavy drums and absolutely mind-blowing bass (Flea can go from Entwistle-esque “lead bass” to soulful or melodic bass in the vein of Stax or Motown.) And now that they’ve entered a new decade, they haven’t tried to mainstream their sound, and still stand out from their peers.

Stadium Arcadium a few years ago, for all its flaws, still contained that great Chili Peppers sound, a mix of melody, funk, metal, and immaturity that was present on Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik and all their other records. When promoting Stadium, they popped up on SNL and did a mind-blowing rendition of "Give It Away,” which, I think, is lyrically about the virtues of charity, but I could be wrong. Oh, and I’m really warming up to By The Way.

Yes, John, you can say that the Chili Peppers are awesome. And I would whole heartedly agree.