Californication

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

This funk-rap-rock band has long seemed an episode of VH1's Behind the Music waiting to happen. The group's original guitarist, Hillel Slovak, died of a heroin overdose; the replacement guitarist, John Frusciante, left the band and battled drug problems; a replacement replacement guitarist, Dave Navarro, departed too. Now, on the group's latest CD, Frusciante returns. Unfortunately, the ending to this story isn't a completely happy one. A couple of the songs here are entertainingly muscular, but others might have been best left as bonus tracks on CD singles. The album title is kind of funny, however.

--By Christopher John Farley