RHCP leak

05.02.06 Fleamail May 2, 2006
Date: Tues, May 2
Subject:
From: "Michael Balzary"
To: members@redhotchilipeppers.com

when i woke up this morning
i was was confronted with the news that our record has been leaked to
the internet
it does not come out til may 9 but now it has leaked
and not that i know alot about this kind of thing
but i guess now it is possible to down load it for free if you want
well
that's not very nice
if you down load it now off one of these file sharing sites
you will be getting a pale imitation of the record
it will be of the poor sound quality of the technique they used to
get it on there
and that will break my heart
it will break john frusciante's heart
it will break anthony kiedis's heart
and it will break the heart of chad smith
yes, we worked for a year and a half to make the epic record of our
lives
and it is sad to me for the business reasons of course
i think we are selling something really cool and we put all we had
into it, 28 songs, 2 hours of the best that we can offer
and i think it is a fair deal for everyone
and for people to just steal a poor sound quality version of it for free
because some asshole stole it and put it on the internet
is sad to me
but, equitable business reasons aside
the thing that really bums me out is
we worked so hard, and so thoughtfully, all of us, for so long
to make this record sound as warm and full from top to bottom
as was possible
we spent day and night for a year making sure every little sound was
just right
that they were all put together in the most beautiful way we could
we did not leave a stone unturned in doing that work
i can not put in words how much this record, stadium arcadium, means
to us
how sacred the sound of it is to us
and how many sleepless nights and hardworking days we all had
thinking about how to make it be the best sounding thing we could
and now, for someone to take it and put it out there with this poor
sound quality
it is a painful pill for us to swallow
let me tell you
this bums all of us out
and i know that, as sensitive as john frusciante is about sound
the idea of anyone getting and hearing this thing that way
will devastate him
for people to not hear the work the way we meant it to be
will really hurt him deep inside
and all of us will hurt

yes, it is stealing from us, and that is lame
everyone has to live with their own conscience on that one
let it be your guide
but to take a version that has been defiled sound wise
a version in which some idiot has taken our year and a half of soul
baring work and pissed all over it
that will break our hearts

sincerely,

flea

Alright. I am a big Red Hot Chili Peppers fan. I am a big fan because of one reason: John Frusciante. John Frusciante has put free downloads of his stuff on his website several times. Anyway, I am pretty sure John doesn't give a flying fuck if this shit is leaked or not. As excited as I am to see how many states in our great country rhyme with California (via Kiedis' limited lyricism), I am not going to check this out early. I held out with PJ (except for SNL) and I held out with Tool (except for "Vicarious"). I will hold out with the Chili Peppers. Flea is Flea. The guy is going to wear his heart on his sleeve. Write blogs for NBA.com. And play great bass. I just wish we didn't have to suffer through this drama. Can he really be that naive? In the words of Maynard James Keenan at Coachella: "So we have an album that comes out at midnight tomorrow...I know you fuckers all downloaded it! But do me a favor, but it anyway. I'm fucking destitute!" Real sarcastic, real tongue in cheek. You could tell he didn't give two fucks if you were recording their performance, buying their CD, or downloading music illegally. He justed wanted you to rock out. It is, after all, all about the music, right? That being said, I am going to buy it and I buy all the music I own.