Think Twice Before You Get That Band Tattoo

Holy cow, I never wanted to write this. It pains me so. All the best bands will let you down at some point.

I do have a Monster Magnet tattoo. I think I'm safe there because the band was never big enough to let me down. I never really had high expectations from them and for that reason every good song, every good album is a pleasant surprise. There are two tattoos that I always thought I'd have that I'm now glad I don't.

When I was a kid (teen), I always knew that if I ever got a tattoo it would be of the Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers logo. It was about the band, but more importantly the heart pierced by a guitar is too cool. Then, Tom Petty started acting like a bitter old fart.

About 10 years ago, I really wanted to add the Red Hot Chili Peppers logo to my collection. The modified star is sometimes called "The angel's assh---" and/or "star of affinity" by the band.

So let's start here. The song "Dark Necessities" will be heard by your children's children. Trust me, I know these things. The problem is, they should have stopped there. The new album The Getaway is the Chili Peppers' St. Anger. It's at the point where they took the experiment too far. It's when you get your head so far up your own butt you can't look around.

So what brought this on? Well, I just heard the third single from the album and it's just awful (and you never heard the second single on the radio because radio people said 'eh, uh, we'll just stick with this first track, thank you'). It reinforces everything those who hated on the band before have always said. There's just nothing there. It leaves me empty, and so my arm will continue to remain empty of a Red Hot Chili Peppers tattoo. Lesson learned.

P.S. I don't let my personal tastes get in the way of what the people want. If you like the song, we'll play it. Here's the song that kind of broke the camel's back for me.