having listend to "stadium arcadium" by rhcp almost non-stop the past 3-4 days, i can say that this album is definitely not as mellow as "by the way" (aside from a couple tracks). it has more funk and rock, comparable to "blood sugar sex magik," accompanied by many excellent guitar riffs. the styles vary throughout the album(s) so that no two songs sound similar.

but i do believe it's a poor choice to have "dani california" as their first single from the album; it's not even one of the top 5 songs from the album IMO. but then again, the song is already hitting top10 in billboard, so that can't constitute a failure either =)

i have a feeling i'll be listening to this album for a long time to come.