Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	70/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Blender
Entertainment Weekly	B
The Guardian
Los Angeles Times
NME	7/10
Q
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
The Village Voice	B−

By the Way is the eighth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album was released on July 9, 2002 on Warner Bros. Records. It sold over 286,000 copies in the first week, and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. (Their next album would peak at number one) The singles from the album included "By the Way", "The Zephyr Song", "Can't Stop", "Dosed" and "Universally Speaking". The lyrical subject matter vocalist Anthony Kiedis addresses in By the Way is a divergence from previous Chili Peppers albums, with Kiedis taking a more candid and reflective approach to his lyrics.

By the Way was lauded by critics as a departure from the band's previous styles, and is recognized for the melodic and subdued emotions given by the Chili Peppers. Guitarist John Frusciante is credited with writing most of the album's melodies, bass lines, and guitar progressions, therefore changing the direction of the recording dramatically: "his warm, understated guitar work and his doo-wop style vocal harmonies are king this time around."By the Way contained very little of the signature punk-funk fusion the band had become known for playing. Frusciante has stated that writing "By the Way [was] one of the happiest times in my life." The album went on to sell over 8 million copies worldwide.

Following a life-threatening drug addiction that developed after leaving the Chili Peppers in 1992, Frusciante made a full recovery after a month of drug rehabilitation in the early months of 1998. Shortly thereafter he was asked to rejoin the Red Hot Chili Peppers. After several months of writing and recording, the Chili Peppers' next album, Californication was released. The album went on to sell over 15 million copies worldwide, becoming the Chili Peppers' most successful recording to date. Frusciante's return generated much response from critics, who recognized the album as a commercial revitalization from their previous record, One Hot Minute. A two-year-long, international tour followed, which included several festival appearances, including and Rock in Rio.

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Wikipedia