Album of the day (#7415): By The Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers

BestEverAlbums — Tue, 1 Sep 2026 16:00:28 GMT

Author: BestEverAlbums

Posted: 09/01/2026 20:00

Today's album of the day

By The Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers (View album | Buy this album)

Year: 2002.
Country:
Red Hot Chili Peppers discography rank: 3 (out of 24 listed on BEA)
2002 rank: 9
2000s rank: 66
Overall rank: 407
Average rating: 76/100 (from 1095 votes).

Tracks:
1. By The Way
2. Universally Speaking
3. This Is The Place
4. Dosed
5. Don't Forget Me
6. The Zephyr Song
7. Can't Stop
8. I Could Die For You
9. Midnight
10. Throw Away Your Television
11. Cabron
12. Tear
13. On Mercury
14. Minor Thing
15. Warm Tape
16. Venice Queen

indicates a top-rated track.

Top voted comments:

"An album that grows on you. I've never really understood why RHCP has felt it necessary to "funkify" their sound for so long - or rather, at all. To me it's always felt out-of-place'ish, more or less forced, not to mention, unnecessary.

I appreciate the band's drive, good humor, openness and all such positive qualities and then some. But in hindsight, hanging desperately onto funky elements all those years has only managed to hold the band back, never to fully find it's own sound. I don't think RHCP merely reinvented itself in BTW: I think they finally found home.

There are fillers, sure, but that's always the case with RHCP. For some strange (and likely very poor) reason RHCP always crams too much stuff on one record. Maybe they (and the people they choose to collaborate with) have never heard the expression: quit while you're winning."
- @stupidusATmailDOTcom
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"When this album first came out, I was bummed because there was no funk and too many feminine sounding harmonies. I listen to it now and realize just how much depth this album has. There are subtleties in these songs that are so simple, yet so beautiful and genius. Then it all closes out with the epic "Venice Queen", which is like a little story book at the end of the album. Very underrated."
- @marginwalker (Rating: 90/100)
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About album of the day: The BestEverAlbums.com album of the day is the album appearing most prominently in member charts in the previous 24 hours. If an album, or artist, has previously been selected within a x day period, the next highest album is picked instead (and so on) to ensure a bit of variety. A full history of album of the day can be viewed here.

Best Ever Albums

Album of the day (#7415): By The Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers