"The Will To Death" was first released on June 22, 2004. Frusciante had previously announced that in 2004, he would produce six albums during a six-month hiatus from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, with "The Will to Death" being the first of them. After the long and expensive recording of his previous album, "Shadows Collide With People," Frusciante decided to experiment with fast and minimalist music recording, doing a maximum of two takes per track.