Blood Sugar Sex Magik is the fifth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on September 24, 1991, by Warner Bros. Records.

Produced by Rick Rubin, its musical style differed notably from the band's previous album Mother's Milk (1989), reducing the use of heavy metal guitar riffs and accentuating the melodic songwriting contributions of guitarist John Frusciante.

Blood Sugar Sex Magik peaked at number three on the US Billboard 200, and produced hit singles "Under the Bridge", "Give It Away", "Suck My Kiss", "Breaking the Girl" and "If You Have to Ask".

Blood Sugar Sex Magik is widely recognized as an influential and seminal release of the alternative rock explosion of the 1990s, with Steve Huey of AllMusic calling it "probably the best album the Chili Peppers will ever make.

He convinced Frusciante to play with a heavier guitar tone, and instructed Anthony Kiedis to write lyrics that would be more radio-friendly, causing the band to feel restricted creatively.

"[15] The group pursued the idea, and eventually dropped the contract with Epic in favor of a deal with Warner Bros. Ostin called an old friend at EMI, who immediately allowed for the label transfer.

The Peppers decided they would remain inside the mansion for the duration of recording, though according to Kiedis, Smith was convinced the location was haunted, and refused to stay.

[18] For more than 30 days, the Chili Peppers worked inside the house; Kiedis felt it was an accommodating and resourceful environment which allowed him to complete the rest of the lyrics.

[22] Kiedis also began writing songs about anguish, and the self-mutilating thoughts he experienced thanks to his addiction to both heroin and cocaine; he believed his life had come to its lowest point under a bridge in downtown Los Angeles.

Blood Sugar Sex Magik integrated the band's typical punk and funk style, but moved away from that with more melodically driven songs.

[8] Tracks like "The Righteous and the Wicked", "Suck My Kiss", "Blood Sugar Sex Magik", "Give It Away" and "Funky Monks" still incorporated the use of heavy metal guitar riffs, but they differed from Mother's Milk since they contained less distortion.

"[31] Kiedis thought that the album had expanded the Red Hot Chili Peppers' musical horizons and served as a departure from their previous material.

He feared that he was following in his father's footsteps and simply becoming a womanizer, rather than establishing stable and long-term relationships:[26] "As exciting and temporarily fulfilling as this constant influx of interesting and beautiful girls can be, at the end of the day, that shit is lonely and you're left with nothing.

[39] The booklet also contains a collage of photos assembled to showcase the band members' various tattoos, which feature faces of Native American tribal leaders, animals and sea creatures, as well as various symbols and phrases.

The cover of "Give It Away" was a painting of a Chinese infant, surrounded by fish, vegetables, fruits and sushi; "Under the Bridge" is a photograph of a bridge in the city of Los Angeles; "Suck My Kiss" had a black and white photograph of the band, with Kiedis and Flea holding a large fish; "If You Have to Ask" is an illustration of an avocado next to a girl's large buttocks in a yellow bikini; and "Breaking the Girl" featured a painting of a human being covered in magma.

[43][44] Originally, "Give It Away" did not fare well in the mainstream; one of Warner Bros.' target radio stations refused to air it, telling the band to "come back to us when you have a melody in your song".

[61] Devon Powers of PopMatters said that "in one funked-out, fucked up, diabolical swoop, Blood Sugar Sex Magik reconfigured my relationship to music, to myself, to my culture and identity, to my race and class".

"[64] Chicago Sun-Times critic Michael Corcoran was more reserved in his praise, deeming the record "great" only on occasion while finding the length of the album excessive.

[8][58][62] AllMusic reviewed the song individually and called it a "poignant sentiment ... it is self evident among the simple guitar which cradles the introductory verse, and the sense of fragility that is only doubled by the still down-tempo choral crescendo", and ultimately "has become an integral part of the 1990s alterna-landscape, and remains one of the purest diamonds that sparkle amongst the rough-hewn and rich funk chasms that dominate the Peppers' own oeuvre.

Devon Powters of PopMatters said that "Eight minutes of 'Sir Psycho Sexy' will turn RHCP's young listeners into quivering masses of hormonal jello.

Even the purest virgin comes away from Blood Sugar Sex Magik with a degree of sexual maturity; even the slickest playa can learn a couple of new moves.

"[62] In contrast, "Suck My Kiss", according to Amy Hanson of AllMusic, "completely flew in the face of the established pecking order of alternative rock.

"[70] With the song, the Chili Peppers "fully allied themselves with the very few genre-bending bands that were able to make a radical impact on the sonic landscape that was dominated, it seemed, from every minute angle by grunge.

[81][clarification needed] The first show following the release of Blood Sugar Sex Magik was at the Oscar Mayer Theater in Madison, Wisconsin,[81] which was met with positive reactions from the Milwaukee Journal: "the audience was a swirling mass of airborne cups, ice cubes, shoes, shirts, pogo dancers, body-passers and stage divers.

And it wasn't purely a boy's club in the moshpit—many females bought into the mayhem, stripping down to their bras and flinging themselves about madly as the band tore through 'Higher Ground', 'Suck My Kiss', and 'Give it Away', which was Goth-ed up by Frusciante when he added a riff from Black Sabbath's 'Sweet Leaf'.

The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan, however, refused to play with Nirvana as he had once dated frontman Kurt Cobain's wife Courtney Love.

[85] When the Red Hot Chili Peppers finished touring with Nirvana, they traveled to Europe, where Frusciante, in need of someone to connect to, brought along his girlfriend Toni Oswald.

[81] Briefly interrupting the European tour, the Chili Peppers flew to New York City and performed on an episode of Saturday Night Live.

I felt like I was getting stabbed in the back and hung out to dry in front of all of America while this guy was off in a corner in the shadow, playing some dissonant out-of-tune experiment.The band took a two-week hiatus between the European and Japanese legs of the tour, which began in May 1992.

"Blood Sugar Sex Magik", "I Could Have Lied", "If You Have to Ask", "Sir Pyscho Sexy", "Suck My Kiss" and "They're Red Hot" are also frequently performed.