John Frusciante Essentials

John Frusciante is a big reason the Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the most inventive bands of their generation. But to fully appreciate the guitarist’s expansive genius, a dive into his solo catalogue is vital. It’s loaded with curveballs, with Beatles-esque songcraft marking his pre-2009 albums (Curtains especially) and gnarled alt-rock explored by his Ataxia project. Things only turn more deliciously unpredictable when he embraces electronic music, a move that began in the 2010s. Sometimes, it’s within a rock context (see The Empyrean); other times, it veers into the kind of left-field beatwork heard on 2020’s Maya.