Review: Shadows Collide With People [Frusciante Countdown]

Shadows Collide With People- John Frusciante

[Countdown to Enclosure]

by: Sabrina G

Shadows Collide with People is typically regarded as being John Frusciante’s most accessible album. Out of all the other albums in his discography (prior and subsequent), it was the most expensive to produce.

This gives it a really professional and polished sound.  John made demos and acoustic recordings of the album available on his website to fans who weren’t as happy with the highly produced sound (they’ve since been removed by can be found here and here. Yet again, this album is heavy with electronica, but it also flawlessly incorporates folk and alternative rock elements.  However, perhaps the most notable thing about this album is the involvement of Josh Klinghoffer.

This album is the first to feature the amazing collaborative power of Josh and John. While the majority of the music and lyrics are credited to John (save for the tracks ‘Omission’ and ‘-00Ghost27’, which were written by the duo), Josh contributed beautiful backing vocals, rhythm guitar, bass, synth, and keyboards to the album. The album also features appearances from Flea, Chad Smith, and Omar Rodríguez-López (who is another frequent Frusciante collaborator). Obviously, it features a tremendous amount of talent and therefore sounds completely amazing.

My favorite part of the album might just be the backing vocals provided by Josh.  The song ‘Omission’ is quite possibly my favorite track on the album, largely due to the gorgeous vocals. There’s a lovely exchange between Josh and John’s vocals, making the track incredibly balanced and truly a collaborative effort. ‘Ricky’ also features beautiful backing vocals, though they are a bit more subtle.

 ‘-00Ghost27’, ’23 go in to end’,  and ‘Failure33 Object’ are the instrumental tracks on the album. They really showcase the electronic side of Frusciante’s music. However, here is still a very heavy presence of electronica found on each track. Occasionally that presence will be more concentrated as an intro (i.e. ‘Song to Sing When I’m Lonely’ and ‘Water’). Then you have songs such as ‘This Cold’ where the presence is minimal, the rock elements being front and center. There is no set sound or genre you could label this album with – it’s far too diverse.  I suppose the term “experimental” could be used, as it always is in regards to Frusciante’s music. That being said, any genre classification is far too limiting for the music he makes.
If I had to rank them, this would be in my top three Frusciante albums. Not only is it a beautiful album, but it also marks the start of some incredibly collaborations and showcases the diversity John is capable of. I would probably recommend this album to people who aren’t very familiar with John’s music. It’s a bit more approachable than his other work, was produced in a much more professional way, and is simply a fantastic album.