I recently purchased the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s latest album, Stadium Arcadium, and have spent the past few days listening to its two discs, named Jupiter and Mars, for reasons that I’ll speculate about in a bit. My initial impressions have been overwhelmingly positive; the tracks of Stadium Arcadium are now regularly circulating in my Giant Playlist of Music ™.

The first disc, Jupiter, by far the more restrained of the two, begins with the now instantly recognizable “Dani California,” which is merely “very good” until John Frusciante launches into an incendiary solo near the end of the track. Frusciante’s guitar work on this album is simply remarkable, and is one of the main reasons I like Stadium Arcadium so much. Most of the remainder of the Jupiter disc is composed of slow ballads, reminiscent of “Under the Bridge.” Frankly, I prefer Mars over Jupiter, but the ballads are all well done. When I first listened to Jupiter though, it left me wondering, “Where’s the funk?”

Luckily, Mars proved to be the answer. Here, we hear Flea returning to the hyperactive slap-pop style that characterized much of the Chili Peppers’ earlier work. It works wonderfully. The tracks here are catchy, memorable, and above all, funky. Every member of the band shines here, from Chad Smith’s solid drumming, to Anthony Kiedis’ supercharged vocals. Mars is a disc that makes you want to move, and while it might not inspire some to get up and dance, it will certainly leave a huge, silly grin on your face.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers haven’t released an album in four years, and suddenly they drop this massive two disc set on the world. While it may not explore many new musical territories, it shows the Chili Peppers maturing as a band, at times preferring the sublime over the psychedelic, but no matter what, still doing what they do best: having fun.