The Empyrean is the eighth solo album by American musician John Frusciante, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album was released worldwide on January 20, 2009, through Record Collection.
Frusciante notes, The Empyrean is a concept record that tells a single story both musically and lyrically. The story is told in out-of-sequence order and is about a man who goes through a journey of self-discovery and -realization. The narrative begins with the man's death and travels backwards in time through key periods in his life up until his childhood. This doesn't mean each song is explicitly about him, rather each song represents a feeling or experience from different parts of his life.
Frusciante worked on the album on and off for some years, during this time he wrote the songs, he recorded everything he would ever want to use, every single sound and many different hits on each instrument.
The Empyrean includes contributions from friends and musicians such as Johnny Marr, Sonus Quartet, Flea, Omar Rodríguez-López.
Critically, the album was well received; it peaked at number 151 on the US Billboard 200 and spent two weeks on this chart. In the UK, however, it reached number 105, becoming his highest charting album to date.
The Empyrean is considered by many as Frusciante's best work and a prime example of his ability to mix elements from different music genres. It stands as a testament to his musical prowess and creativity.
