ECLECTIC doesn't quite describe the mix of music that Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante has come up with here.

Shadows Collide With People, his fourth solo album, is a fascinating look into Frusciante's head, where an infinite number of ideas and influences must be flying around like the gold and silver paper in the dome at the end of The Crystal Maze.

Listening to this you can see the imprint Frusciante made on the Chili Peppers' last album, By The Way. Opener Carvel and slow-burning anthem Omission could easily have been on there and were perhaps extra offerings that didn't make the cut. But

some of the tunes here are out-and-out experimentation, and credit to the artist's label-masters for encouraging different ideas. Failure33 Object is challenging and interesting, whereas Second Walk is similar to something you would hear churned out by one of the many well-intentioned Battle Of The Bands also-rans. Intruiging, but not altogether accessible.

Updated: 09:00 Thursday, April 08, 2004