Artist Spotlight: Foo Fighters

This will be an interesting post in that the Foo Fighters are a relatively modern band so I don't have a lot of trivial knowledge about them. At the same time, they are one of the few bands to have a regular output that I followed from the mid 90's and sort of provide sign posts to the adult phase of my life. The Foo Fighters started as a collection of demos recorded by Dave Grohl, drummer of Nirvana during the successful part of that band's career. Grohl formed a band to support the demos which have consisted of a rotating lineup of people with the exception of drummer Taylor Hawkins. I've spent the last month re-listening or in some cases hearing for the first time these Cds to have a fresh perspective on them. So I'll start with the debut album which appeared about a year after the demise of Kurt Cobain and the end of Nirvana.

Foo Fighters (1995)

I was out of touch with modern music in 1995, I found most rap rock to be repetitive and boring once you got past one song per band (311="Down", Korn="Freak on a Leash" and so on...). Grunge was almost dead and the rest of the rock scene was filled with pleasant but mellow Lilith Fair acts like Jewel. I had no idea who the Foo Fighters were or that Dave Grohl had formed a band, but I had heard and liked "Big Me" though I didn't know who performed it. At this time in my life I didn't have much money and had been married for about a year so music wasn't as much of a priority anyway.

I bought this CD a few months ago and actually liked it, though not as much as the later stuff. The demo-ey feel gave everything a nice raggedness lacking from their other discs and it's great to hear Grohl pound the skins (I think he's an outstanding drummer, a lot of power and fluidity in his playing). Maybe because of his drums, the CD did sound a lot like Nirvana but in place of anger and sadness was odd humor and a touch of classic rock epicness. The hit "I'll Stick Around" holds up well and the rest of the album does a fine update of the Nirvana-Nevermind sound. Grohl succeeded in creating Grunge music for the next half of the 90's, punky and melodic with a lot less angst.

The Colour and The Shape (1997)

This was the first Foo Fighters disc I ever had. I used to have a friend who was a bit of a scam artist and would receive promo CDs through his nebulous ways. We would go out bowling and drinking and talk about music and people we knew from High School. He gave me The Colour and The Shape because, well, his Mom told him to. Still didn't have much money at this time so I was happy to get it!

The first time I heard "Monkey Wrench" I was hooked. It was punky, poppy, silly and full of fury. A pure rush of adrenalin. Hawkins makes his first appearance on Colour, his Stewart Copeland inspired drummer contrasted well with Grohls pounding approach and gave the band a less Nirvana-like sound. Still, it was hard not to think of Cobain after hearing the sarcastic anthem "My Hero" even if it turns out not to be about him (I've never checked, told ya I lacked trivial knowledge here). Their classic "Everlong" comes towards the end of the disc, I like the track although I never got it's "classic" status. The Colour and The Shape is a great album and was even reissued recently as a deluxe edition.

There Is Nothing Left To Lose (1999)


I associate this disc with two things: My wife and I moving into our home and softball. I got this CD on my own, but usually played it while going to play softball with the friend that gave me the previous disc. There was so much going on with the excitement of moving into a new place and the energy of There Is Nothing Left To Lose provided a soundtrack to those heady months (that and Yes-The Ladder).

Nothing found the Foos reining in some of their more manic moments to a more refined sense of melodicism. After the ragged opener "Stacked Actors" the sound became more polished and focused. Their biggest hit, "Learn To Fly" appeared here and is an enjoyable but slight ditty. My favorite was "Breakout" because I love when bands do variations on the original MTV theme guitar riff and Grohl's screamo vocals. "Generator" was a treat, a smooth dose of late 80's style alt rock. Interestingly, the song most people know from Nothing they probably don't realize is the Foo Fighters, that's the acoustic ballad "Next Year" which was used as the theme song to the TV show Ed.

I also started to become a fan of Grohl's sense of humor at this point, the videos for "Learn to Fly" and "Breakout" were really funny. They also started to become known for giving the Foo treatment to a range of cover songs, including Prince's "Darling Nikki" (which The Purple One reportedly hated), Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" and Pink Floyd's "Have A Cigar".

One By One (2002)

Ah yes, the point I stopped liking the Foo Fighters for a long while. The first single, "All My Life" is actually my favorite Foo Fighters song with it's classic whisper-to-a-scream song structure that they employ on, like, every album. (an unrelated random insert, I'm listening to Nirvana's Unplugged disc and never realized that Cobain lifted the verse for "Pennyroyal Tea" from that song Lili Taylor sings in the movie Say Anything called "Joe".) "All My Life" is one of the songs I listen to when I need a little extra boost to get through, uh, life. (Another random movie moment, "Allow myself to introduce...myself." Bonus points to anyone who can name the movie).

There are few albums by artists I like that I actively hate, but I freakin' hate this album!!! The sad part is that it's not a bad album, just relentlessly boring and unmemorable. Even though the song "Times Like These" appears here the only time I like it is when I hear live versions. It's funny, I'll hear "Times Like These" live on Tv, think it's great, put on the CD and tune out within 30 seconds out of boredom. One By One made me dislike the Foos so much I didn't listen to them again until last year.

In Your Honor (2005)

It seems even Dave Grohl realized things were getting stale because In Your Honor was a two CD set with one disc being rock and the second disc acoustic. I just recently picked up this disc because in 05 I was still boycotting the Foo Fighters for the almost unforgiveable crime of hyping my expectations only to bore me (How dare you bore me? Your job is to entertain me Foo Fighters!)

After listening to it this week, I came away feeling mixed about In Your Honor. The rock disc is decent, I could hear Grohl trying to change up things with more off kilter beats and cleaner production than One By One. The songs are good, but only "Best Of You" kills. Fortunately, "Best" had a different groove than most of the Foo's hit songs and makes for a great rock anthem. Even Prince liked it, covering it in his famous (infamous?) Super Bowl half time show. "No Way Out" and "DOA" both make an impact as well and are decent rockers. The acoustic disc is pleasant as background music, but only two songs really stick and one is because Norah Jones shows up to play some of that coffeehouse jazz she's known for. The other, "Cold Day In The Sun" I actually liked quite a bit. The acoustic disc is reminiscent of Nirvana's Unplugged album in it's approach which is probably why I'm playing it now.

Because I didn't buy this disc at the time of it's release, it's the only Foo Fighters disc to not have any sentimental value to me ('cause I'm old and am fond of memories. I like Cheeseburgers and baseball cards too).

Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace (2007)

When this came out, I thought "Another year, another Foo Fighters album". The lead single "The Pretender" I thought was OK at first, but it grew on me and has become a recent favorite of mine. But the song that brought back the love for the Foo Fighters was "Long Road to Ruin". A midtempo melodic rock gem with a hilarious video, "Ruin" is a song that has an almost Tom Petty quality to it with the self aware lyrics and strident chorus. I associate these songs with the past few months including taking a trip out to Washington to see relatives. This disc will always remind me of how my life is right now.

The rest of the disc is the Foo's most varied musically, ranging from the almost industrial "Erase/Replace" to the piano ballad "Home". This album I think is nominated for Album of the Year by the Grammys, I don't think it's quite that good but close.

Ultimately, what I like about the Foo Fighters is that Grohl often writes motivational songs from a first person perspective. "All My Life", "Best Of You", "The Pretender" and "I'll Stick Around" are all songs about getting fired up to tackle whatever you may be up against. Another song I was writing earlier about in this vein is "Times Like These", the Foo Fighters delivered the best set at Al Gore's Live Earth show last year and so I'm including this song from that show. It's a great song and I love the Husker Du reference about a "new day rising".

Foo Fighters - "Times Like These" at Live Earth