By the Way (20022005)The band began writing their next album in early 2001 and released By the Way over a year later, on July 9, 2002. The album, at the time, was their most noteworthy chart debut (with over 700,000 copies sold in first week), emerging at #2, and producing hit singles By the Way, The Zephyr Song , Can't Stop, Dosed, and Universally Speaking (Europe only). It was the most subdued album they had generated to date, focusing primarily on melodic ballads as opposed to their classic style of rap-driven funk. The album was followed by an eighteen month-long world tour.
The Chili Peppers recorded two new songs, Fortune Faded and Save the Population for their Greatest Hits album released in November 2003, peaking at #18 on the Billboard Hot 200. However, to the surprise of countless fans, only two songs from By the Way were included in the compilation: Universally Speaking and By the Way.
The European leg of the By the Way tour produced the band's second full-length concert DVD, Live at Slane Castle, which was recorded during a show at Slane Castle in Ireland on August 23, 2003. The band also went on to release their first full-length live album, from the 2004 European Tour, Live in Hyde Park; recorded during their performances in Hyde Park, London, due to the concerts' high attendances. It featured two previously unheard songs, Rolling Sly Stone and Leverage of Space, which are believed to have been unreleased tracks from the By the Way sessions. In the three evenings the band performed in Hyde Park, they generated an estimated $17 million, making it the highest grossing concert at a single venue in history (moving The Beatles to 2).
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