Review Summary: John's first studio recording of his electronica-based songs. Great examplefo John'smusical genius and a good contrast of styles compared with the earlier recordings of Niandre and Smiles, and a great influence of styules that would later be found in the
"To Record Only Water for Ten Days" is a masterpiece recorded during the "Californication era". At this point John hads got into electronica and operating synth equipment and modulers. He had recorded many demos, 15 of whichy went onto the album (the rest can be found on the free internet album "From the Sounds Inside" from johnfrusciante.com).
Using his modular and synth as primary instruments, john recorded and mixed this album in his house. I rated this album a "4.5" because the vocals are somewhat spoilt by a slight speech impedement caused by his drug use, however if this album was reproduced in John's current state it wou;d be an easy 5.
On this album you can hear a new developement of styles that he uses on future recordings of his albums, with the chillis, and even his work with the Mars Volta. This album is a great break from the early recordings of Niandre LaDes and Smiles from the Streets You Hold. However the qualities from those albums can be heard in this album, for example the instrumental track "Ramparts" which has 4 layered guitarparts, which was typical of the early recordings; high chords, lowchords, high and low harmonics.
Guitar riffs from the Smiles era are also present in this recordings, forexamplethe riff from "Poppy Man" is similar to that in "In Rime".
Those those who say that this album is "john going pop" like i've seen in some articles should be raped by a horny buffalo while being bent over a pile of upside-down football boots. This album was influencial to many bands and srtists, and in particular Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala. This resulted in many collaberations between them (DeFacto- then the albums Shadow Collide With People and A Manual Dexterity- then the mars volta) and as a result they influenced eachother.
Each song has its own emoptional value with the constant theme of emerging from the dark twisted life of drug-use. Many of the songs are John'smere reflections. The DIY recording adds to the effect.
If you are going to download some odd tracks as a taster of the album, i suggest "Going Inside", "With No one" and "Murderers" (instrumental).
Enjoy the album if you get it.
