To Record Only Water for Ten Days

To Record Only Water for Ten Days is the third studio album by American musician John Frusciante, released in 2001 through Warner Music Group. Unlike his previous two solo albums, Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T Shirt and Smile from the Streets You Hold, the record differs significantly in that Frusciante explores elements of electronica, synthpop and new wave.

To Record Only Water for Ten Days
Studio album by John Frusciante
Released	February 13, 2001
Recorded	November 1999 – April 2000
Genre	Experimental rock, art rock, new wave, synthpop, psychedelic rock, lo-fi
Length	42:20
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	John Frusciante
John Frusciante chronology
Smile from the Streets You Hold (1997) To Record Only Water for Ten Days (2001) Going Inside (2001)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	66/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[3]
Dotmusic	[4]
NME	7/10[5]
Pitchfork	8.0/10[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[8]

Background

Following a month in rehab for his heroin addiction and his rejoining the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Frusciante felt deeply connected to the spiritual plane and was inspired by the many visions he had of spirits; the ideology of recording water for ten days refers to ten separate periods of time in which an album is conceived. In an interview he explained that the title comes from a symbolic picture of his body being a tape recorder that records the water for ten days as a way to take his "chemical makeup" off, in order to make a possible representation of the feelings and places he wanted to represent through music. Frusciante was encouraged to record the album by producer Jimmy Boyle who had helped him overcome his addiction. The lyrics express this theme and deal mostly with philosophical and spiritual matters as well as delving into his usual brand of psychedelia-tinged personalism.

Frusciante's main influences for this album were 1980s synthpop, post-punk and electronica bands that did their own programming, including bands such as Depeche Mode and New Order.

Recording and release

Frusciante recorded the album after kicking his addiction to heroin.^[9] As with his first two albums, Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt and Smile from the Streets You Hold, Frusciante recorded this album at home. But while he had taken a conspicuously lo-fi approach on the earlier albums, using a 4-track cassette recorder and even a boombox, he produced To Record Only Water for Ten Days in much higher fidelity. Frusciante switched to a Yamaha MD8 – a digital 8-track recorder that used Minidisc technology – to record the raw tracks, which he later transferred to analog tape for further individual track equalization. All guitars were recorded direct-in without amplification.^[10]

Contrary to the title of the album, it took longer than ten days to record: according to Frusciante, he spent up to three days on each song.

Frusciante admitted his frustration with digital recording during the making of the album and has since felt inclined towards recording his albums with analog equipment. "When we came to mix that record, I realized how bad it sounded. After that album, I vowed that I wasn't going to record anything on digital anymore."

WMG released the album on February 13, 2001. It charted at #30 on Heatseekers. Vincent Gallo directed a video for every track on the record.

"Murderers" is featured in the "Invisible Boards" segment of the skateboarding home video Yeah Right!. The track "Remain" features on episode 18 of the hit Fox series 24.

In 2017, the Australian label Twelve Suns rereleased the album on vinyl in a limited edition of 1500 copies.^[11]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Going Inside"	3:36
2.	"Someone's"	1:52
3.	"The First Season"	4:13
4.	"Wind Up Space"	1:59
5.	"Away & Anywhere"	4:09
6.	"Remain"	3:57
7.	"Fallout"	2:10
8.	"Ramparts"	1:11
9.	"With No One"	3:32
10.	"Murderers"	2:41
11.	"Invisible Movement"	2:21
12.	"Representing"	1:46
13.	"In Rime"	2:13
14.	"Saturation"	3:03
15.	"Moments Have You"	3:30
Total length:		42:20

All tracks are written by John Frusciante

Japanese Bonus Track

No.	Title	Length
16.	"Resolution"	2:46
Total length:		45:05

Non-album tracks

Dozens of songs were recorded for the album but left off. The following have been released in some form. Many of these tracks have been released on Frusciante's first internet album, From The Sounds Inside.

Officially released B-sides and non-album tracks

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Beginning Again" (released on the Going Inside EP and re-released on From the Sounds Inside)
2.	"Leave All the Days Behind" (also titled "Cut Myself Out" and later released on The Brown Bunny soundtrack and From the Sounds Inside as "Leave All the Days Behind")
3.	"Resolution" (Japanese bonus track for To Record Only Water for Ten Days)
4.	"So Would Have I" (also titled "So Would've I" and later released on From the Sounds Inside)
5.	"Time Is Nothing" (released on the Going Inside EP)
6.	"The Last Hymn" (released on the Going Inside EP)
7.	"Falling" (later released on The Brown Bunny soundtrack)
8.	"Forever Away" (later released on The Brown Bunny soundtrack)
9.	"Dying Song" (later released on The Brown Bunny soundtrack)
10.	"Prostitution Song" (later released on The Brown Bunny soundtrack)

All tracks are written by John Frusciante. Most digital releases and unofficial released tracks were not titled by Frusciante, but by fans. The official titles are unknown and most tracks remain unfinished or unmixed

Digital releases

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Beginning Again" (Rough Mix)
2.	"Dying (I Don't Mind)" (later released on From the Sounds Inside)
3.	"Fallout" (Alternate Version)
4.	"How High" (later released on From the Sounds Inside)
5.	"Interstate Sex" (later released on From the Sounds Inside)
6.	"I Go Through These Walls" (later released on From the Sounds Inside)
7.	"I Will Always Be Beat Down" (also titled "Beat Down" and later released on From the Sounds Inside as "I Will Always Be Beat Down")
8.	"Leaving You" (later released on From the Sounds Inside)
9.	"Murmur" (titled "Wind Up Space" on To Record Only Water for Ten Days and titled "Murmur" on From the Sounds Inside)
10.	"Nature Falls" (later released on From the Sounds Inside)
11.	"Place to Drive" (later released on From the Sounds Inside)
12.	"Low Birds" (also titled "Purity", "Lou Bergs", and "Penetrate Time" and released on From the Sounds Inside as "Penetrate Time")
13.	"Sailing Outdoors" (later released on From the Sounds Inside)
14.	"Saturation" (Rough Mix)
15.	"Slow Down" (later released on From the Sounds Inside)
16.	"So Would Have I" (Rough Mix)
17.	"The Battle of Time" (later released on From the Sounds Inside)
18.	"Three Thoughts" (later released on From the Sounds Inside)
19.	"With Love" (later released on From the Sounds Inside)

Unofficially released rough mixes

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Moments Have You" (Rough Mix)
2.	"Representing" (Rough Mix)
3.	"Resolution" (Rough Mix)
4.	"The First Season" (Rough Mix)
5.	"Time Is Nothing" (Rough Mix)
6.	"Someone's" (Rough Mix)
7.	"Wind Up Space" (Rough Mix)
8.	"With No One" (Rough Mix)

Unofficially released tracks

No.	Title	Length
1.	"All We Have"
2.	"Back and Forth (to the Sun)"
3.	"Drift Down"
4.	"Every Light Will Burn"
5.	"Fill My Nights"
6.	"Instrumental"
7.	"Untitled 2000"
8.	"Samurai Theme"
9.	"Song for Toni"

Personnel

• John Frusciante – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, synthesizer, drum machine, producer
• Lawrence Azerrad – design, art assistant
• Jimmy Boyle – mixing and production
• Vladimir Meller – mastering

References

1. "To Record Only Water for Ten Days Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
2. Allmusic review
3. Diehl, Matt. "Album Review: 'To Record Only Water for Ten Days'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
4. Mulvey, John. "Album Reviews – Tue 13 Feb 2001 – JOHN FRUSCIANTE – 'TO RECORD ONLY WATER FOR TEN DAYS' (WARNER BROTHERS)". Dotmusic. Archived from the original on 8 March 2001. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
5. NME review
6. Sodomsky, Sam. "John Frusciante: To Record Only Water for Ten Days Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
7. "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2009-05-25. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
8. Cross, Charles R. (2004). "John Frusciante". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 314. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
9. Interview, "John Frusciante – Water Music". Rock Sound Magazine, February 2001.
10. "Froo · Connection: "Free Spirit "".
11. "Off White Records: JOHN FRUSCIANTE - TO RECORD ONLY WATER FOR 10 DAYS (LIMITED TO 1500 COPIES) (2LP)". Archived from the original on 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2016-08-19.

External links