The phenomenal Chili Peppers are back, and old school fans may be thrilled to hear that much of their funk rock roots have come back into their music, while maintaining their more recent mellower sound.

The album is a double CD, each named ‘Jupiter’ and ‘Mars’, with a total of 28 brand new tracks. Singer Anthony Keidis explained that ‘we set out to write 13 tracks, and ended up with over 30. The difference this time was that we liked all the songs.’

The quality of the songs themselves is great, with Frusciante’s guitar playing talent being shown off more on this album than perhaps any other. The musicianship is tighter than ever, and the band experiment with a variety of sounds, some of which may disappoint the older fans, but most of which is far more likely to impress. Standout tracks include the funky bass-lined Torture Me, more funky bass lines in Readymade and the interestingly named Death Of A Martian.