Delicate Steve

“There’s the thing with the Chili Peppers: We put socks on our dicks, and we’re never going to outrun it,” Flea told GQ in 2019. “People are always going to think of that. I feel that ultimately the measure of art that we or I created, as good as it is, over time will stand for what it is. The core essence of it, the cerebral part of it — the emotional, spiritual, and physical — are things that will always survive.” With the Red Hot Chili Peppers, there’s always been that delicate balance of junk-swinging funk-rock jock and peace-promoting psychedelic muso. And no album better represents that symbiosis than the group’s 1991 blockbuster, Blood Sugar Sex Magik. While it may be forever remembered for a handful of massive singles (the pulverizing “Give It Away,” the pensive “Under the Bridge”)...