Looking back at that time he doesn't look at it as being a "dark period" of his life. “I don’t look at it like that. That was the period that I learned, when I got my mind straight about everything that I needed to know. I really value that period of time.”
When in 1998 Dave Navarro left the Chili Peppers, Flea asked John to please rejoin the band. He himself wasn't enjoying the Chilis as much as he did when John was in the band. And although there was still a certain tension between John and Anthony, Flea asked him to do them the honour. He of course said yes and the band was "complete" again. John started to practice guitar again, many hours a day, to regain his skills. In 1999 the Chili Peppers went back to the studios to record "Californication". On their Californication tour John wrote new songs which later he put on a solo record "To Record Only Water For Ten Days". After finishing that album he went on a small tour to promote that album. He played 16 concerts in various places including Paris, Hamburg, London, NY and San Francisco. All the show only featured John and his acoustic guitar. After that, in 2002, John and the Chilis recorded their 2nd album after John rejoined. "By The Way", quite a soft album compared to early work of the Chilis, was very well recieved by the critics. The band went on tour again giving John the opportunity to write even more songs. And then in 2003 he released a new solo recored. "Shadows Collide With People" a well collected, amazingly orchestrated amalgamation of songs that outline his growth experienced after his heroin addiction.
2004 was the year when John planned the "6 albums in 6 months". Some people thought he was crazy, others knew that if there was a musician who could do this, it would be John Frusciante. And he did! Starting off with "The Will To Death" which was released at the end of June. The album lacked the meticulous editing and high production cost of ''Shadows Collide with People'' but the quality of the songs included were very highly regarded by fans. The album was recorded in 5 days total (December 18-19 2003 and January 8-10 2004) as John wanted the album to be a little 'imperfect' compared to his highly produced "Shadows Collide With People". The next in the series was ''Automatic Writing'',a record of five long jams with hypnotic bass lines and experimental guitar parts. The album was released, not under the name of John Frusciante, but as Ataxia. Ataxia includes John on guitar and vocals, Josh Klinghoffer on drums and Joe Lally (bassist of Fugazi) on bass. Next up was the "DC EP", which included just four tracks (and totaled less than 20 minutes) with a fresh sound. The record was produced by Fugazi's Ian MacKaye. John was accompanied on this album by Jerry Busher on drums. The recording of this EP was once again very fast (9-10 Februay). "Inside of Emptiness" was next, an album that is very highly regarded by his loyal fanbase. Recorded in just 6 days (8-13 March) this album adopted a more heavier feel to it than previous John releases. He was once again accompanied by Klinghoffer. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez makes another appearance. The final album of 2004 was "A Sphere in the Heart of Silence". Notable for its interesting intersection of electronic music with rock, Josh shared equally in the production of this album. The album was released under both John's and Josh's names. "Curtains" completed his productive journey. Officially released February 1, 2005, the album was recorded in May 2004 (8-14, 19-23) so it's still a part of the prolific year. The album is mostly acoustic, recorded in John's living room. Helping out on this album was Carla Azar on drums and Ken Wilde on upright bass. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez once again marks an appearance adding some lead guitar on certain tracks.
John can't be without music, that's for sure. In 2005 he went back in studios with the Chilis to record their 9th studio album "Stadium Arcadium". It was released in May 2006 and ever since then John's on tour with the Chilis all over the world. In Spring/Summer 2007 the 2nd Ataxia album II will be released....

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