Red Hot Chili Peppers

Image credit: Red Hot Chili Peppers: Michael Mueller

Again teaming with producer Rick Rubin, the Cali funk-rockers' Stadium Arcadium builds on the concise maturity of their recent work while reconnecting with the ''sprightly, playful energy [of] our first three records,'' says frontman Anthony Kiedis. Three months of writing yielded a whopping 38 songs (''It was a little too fruitful...downright fruity''), so they mulled releasing three separate CDs or one long disc before settling on a 25-track double album. ''We felt [these songs] should be heard as a group,'' says Kiedis (second from left, with bandmates Flea, John Frusciante, and Chad Smith). ''Even though this is the day and age of bytes, there are a lot of people who need the full director's cut.'' Sans commentary track, of course.