Red Hot Chili Peppers best songs-My top 10

I was 15 in 1991 and it was that year that I see the Red Hot Chili Peppers live in Sydney for their Australian tour Blood sugar Sex Magik. They were indeed magical days. My first big concert and I don't think I would have rather lost my concert virginity to any band.

Picking my favourite top 10 Red Hot Chili Peppers songs is a bit like asking a parent to pick their favourite child. All so different but all offering something wonderful. From funky bass beats from Flea, raw guitar playing from John Frusciante, thumping drums from Chad Smith, and typical Red Hot Chili Peppers lyrics full of sexuality and message, this band will be go down as one of the most enduring of all time.

10. Fight like a Brave

From the album Uplift Mofo Party Plan, this song has edgy guitar, Beastie Boys type rap and typical Anthony Kiedis Californian voice searing in the chorus. This song was written by Kiedis battle when battling his heroin addiction and his efforts to over come them. Kiedis also says the song was a message to their record company EMI that "Fight like a Brave, don't be a slave."

9. Knock me down

From the album Mothers Milk, Knock me Down was also written about Kiedis's struggle with drugs. However if you listen very closely to the song it is guitarist John Frusciante whose voice is more prominent and this is the way it was mixed. A great song with some strings coming over the top in the bridge and a nice female voice doing some support.

8. My lovely man

From arguably the best album to come out of the 90's Blood Sugar Sex Magik the song My Lovely Man is a tribute to the bands original guitarist Hillel Slovak who died of a drug overdose in 1988. This is a heart felt tribute but in no way is it a ballad. The emotion of Anthony Kiedis is laid bare as he almost cries when singing this song. Heartfelt.

7. Breaking the Girl

Again from Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Breaking the Girl was a step away from funk for the band and a step into acoustic guitar arrangements. And although Frusciante does play acoustic he is playing it hard which reflects the sexual innuendo of the song. "Twisting and turning your feelings are burning you're breaking the girl."

6. Sir Psycho Sexy

Yes Blood Sugar Sex Magik does feature in my top 10. Why? Because it was full of creative yet diverse songs. Sir Psycho Sexy is the second last song on the album and is full of great Red Hot Chili Peppers lyrics, sexuality, getting into character, well supported by the band screaming when they have to. No doubt the song was written when Kiedis was probably on drugs and although I can't condone that it did result in a great song.

5. Under the Bridge

The world wide hit that made the Red Hot Chili Peppers the biggest band in the world at the time. Story goes that record producer Rick Rubin found the lyrics to Under the Bridge in Kiedis diary as it was originally written as a poem. Rubin begged Kiedis to put into song and the rest is history. The song lyrics are full of depression, loneliness and isolation yet the great choir backing vocals towards the end bring the song up to a great height. Frusciante's guitar playing is sublime and the world owes some appreciation to Rick Rubin for convincing Kiedis this would be a great song.

4. The Zephyr Song

From the album By the Way, The Zephyr Song is more or less a love song. A gentle beat rings throughout and the other band members lend their talents as backing vocals. The video clip is psychadelic just the way John Frusciante wanted it. Great song, romantic yet holding true to Red Hot Chili Peppers roots.

3. Suck My Kiss

Returning to Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Suck my Kiss is raw Kiedis at the peak of his sexual prowess, no introductions, no getting to know you lets just get naked and get it on. In fact Kiedis revealed years after the song was released that song was about oral sex in particular how a boy at his school was always boasting about being the recipient.

2. Snow (hey oh)

A delicate flower of a song from the album Stadium Arcadium. Starts off with some nice finger picking from John Frusciante moving into soft vocals from Kiedis. Flea lays some bass riffs throughout and this really is a song by the whole band. Great music video to Snow as its a tribute to Red Hot Chili Peppers fans at one of their gigs. Kiedis sings that he can't go through life by himself, that he needs people around him to feel as pure as snow. Check out the clip.

1. Soul to Squeeze

Weirdly from the movie soundtrack Cone Heads, Soul to Squeeze was actually written in the Blood Sugar Sex Magik recording process but put under the pile. I played this song over and over again in my later teen years. The video clip shows circus acts and freaks getting around obviously to coincide with the Coneheads movie. There is tragedy, euphoria, confusion and love all rolled into this great song. The clip reminds me a little of the U2 song All I want is you. A bit like Under the Bridge Keidis sings of loneliness using imagery of demons and dying trees with a yearning for a soul mate...but only when he is ready.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers, a great band, great songs, great music.

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