How surprising is it that the Red Hot Chili Peppers' recently released collection of greatest hits is worse than their last album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik? Certainly a contradiction, but because the tracks from Blood display a highly polished style and a new mix of funk and soul, any greatest hits collection that did not include all but a few of the 17 songs from Blood would have been a disappointment.

How much more of a comedown when What Hits!?, the title of the new collection, contains only "Under the Bridge," the Chili's smash hit of the summer, from the last album. Where's "If You Have to Ask," "Funky Monks," or "Mellowship Slinky in B major," to name just a few? Or, as the Chili Peppers are trying to ride off the success of "Under the Bridge," why did they not include the other slow balladesque song from Blood, "I Could Have Lied"?

But it's precisely the success of "Bridge" that has created these inconsistencies. Imagine the Chili Peppers' predicament: with this uncharacteristically slow song they have created a large group of fans who have no clue where the band has come from or where they are going. At this point the Peppers had two choices: they could have "sold out" and limited their varied style to what the public likes, which they have valiantly avoided, or they could try to expand the public's taste. Thus, What Hits?

The collection principally is a sampling of their second, third, and fourth albums, Freaky Styley, The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, and Mother's Milk. These, plus the first album The Red Hot Chili Peppers (which is represented by only two of the 18 songs on Hits), represent the thrash element of their music, which became overidden by funk on Blood. Hits begins with "Higher Ground," a Stevie Wonder song made heavy (and worse), then moves into four songs from Party Plan.

These tracks, from the days of the previous guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Irons, are harder and more guitar-oriented than other Peppers work. The best of these songs is "Behind the Sun," displaying lead singer Anthony Kiedis's deft use of melody rather than solely rap.

The sixth and eighth songs are from the generally disappointing first album. "True Men Don't Kill Coyotes" is a rather blase and unimaginative piece, but "Get Up and Jump," a song impossible to sit still to, energetically reveals the band's talent and tightness. The seventh song, a faithful rendition of Hendrix's "Fire" except that it is insanely fast, would be a headbanging tune except that you can't possibly move your head that quickly. With "Fire," Hits smokes into the better half of the album.

"Knock Me Down" and "Taste the Pain," two more songs from Mother's Milk, and the best two songs of Hits, really show the incredible talent of this L.A.-based band. "Pain" highlights band member Flea--one of modern rock's greatest bassists and one of the few who can play the bass as a lead instrument. The tenth and eleventh songs are "Under the Bridge" and "Show Me Your Soul," a cut from the "Pretty Woman" soundtrack, which in addition to funky guitar and an incredible bass line has some of the Chili's wittiest lyrics: "I want to know more than your brain/ Yes I find you so appealing/ When you show me how you're feeling/ You, my friend, need not be kneeling/ Open up and start revealing...Show me your soul."

The twelfth through fifteenth songs sample the best of Freaky Styley, an album produced by funk wizard and leader of the groups Parliament and Funkadelic, George Clinton. Accordingly, these songs show tighter, more restrained guitar parts, such as those James Brown's bands developed, and an exciting use of horns. These four songs certainly rank among the band's greatest hits, and one only regrets that "Yertle the Turtle" from *Freaky is missing.

Also missing are two from Mother's Milk: "Subway to Venus," with superb bass lines and a great horns section, and "Sexy Mexican Maid," an excellent example of the Peppers' ability to mix funk and thrash. Their absence especially hurts as one can only wonder why the group included the 17th song, the horrific and banal "Catholic School Girls Rule," and the last song "Johny Kick a Hole in the Sky," which is little more than mediocre.

So, for those just entering the world of the Chili Peppers, waste not a minute before running out to by Blood Sugar Sex Magik. But for those past this initial step, and begging for more, the band has created What Hits!?--a great sampling from Freaky Styley and Mother's Milk.

It might make sense, though, to pass over the paradoxical duds of the greatest hits disc and just buy these two albums. They're worth it.