LOS ANGELES, CA. (By Brian Bumbery/ Warner Bros. Records) - Red Hot
Chili Peppers' new album, "Stadium Arcadium," debuted at the top of the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart this week. This gives the band not only their first No 1 album debut on their home turf, but also, incredibly, their first No 1 album in the United States, period. Soundscan reported first week sales of 442,489.
"Stadium Arcadium" also debuted at No 1 in 16 other countries around the globe: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom.
Red Hot Chili Peppers' ninth studio album, "Stadium Arcadium," is a generous two-CD set with 28 songs. Produced by longtime collaborator Rick Rubin, it released last Tuesday (May 9) on Warner Bros. Records.
The Chili Peppers' last album "By the Way," (2002) scored the No 2 spot on the Billboard chart. "Californication" (1999) and "BloodSugarSexMagik" (1991) both reached No 3.
The band has also racked up a notable collection of No 1 modern rock and rock tracks, including the current single "Dani California." The video supporting the hit single, directed by Tony Kaye ("American History X") portrays an entire history of rock 'n' roll in 4:46 min.
"Stadium Arcadium" has already been certified Platinum in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the UK, as well as gold in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Holland, Norway, Spain, and Sweden.
The new album has also met with critical praise. For instance, Rolling Stone magazine critiqued: a "triumph that could pass for another, lesser group's great hits collection." Q magazine in the UK touted: "a band at the top of their game effortlessly raising the bar even further." People magazine opined: "an ambitious, inspired double disc... 'Stadium Arcadium' hits it out of the park." The New York Times stated: "the Peppers' best work since the 1991 'BloodSugarSexMagik.'" The Los Angeles Times essayed: "...by far their most accomplished." And the Independent in the U.K. reviewed: "One of the definitive American rock albums of the past three decades."
Next up, on Saturday, May 20, Red Hot Chili Peppers will don custom-designed Simpson race suits when they perform at the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series All Star Challenge in Charlotte, NC (7 pm ET on FX). It will mark the first time the heavily-touring band has performed at a sporting event and the first time NASCAR has scheduled a performance during a race. The Chili Peppers will take center stage between the first and second race segments.
Red Hot Chili Peppers will launch their Stadium Arcadium World Tour in Barcelona, Spain on May 30. They will return to the United States to headline the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago August 4-6, and then kick off the North American leg of their World Tour on August 11 at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, OR, continuing through November 5 at Excel Arena in Minneapolis.
