Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters
The Colour And The Shape
There Is Nothing Left To Lose
One By One
In Your Honour
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Greatest Hits


Foo Fighters (Capitol ‘95) Rating: A-
Who knew? After several years toiling behind the drum kit with Nirvana, Dave Grohl emerged into the limelight again with a new band (though in truth he plays almost everything on this album) and this often-outstanding debut album. And let’s get this out of the way right away: yes, there are major traces of Nirvana on Foo Fighters, as the album predictably features big drums and grungy guitars. But Grohl’s voice is much smoother and his melodies considerably sunnier than Kurt Cobain’s, though like Cobain Grohl has a (heretofore hidden) knack for killer grunge pop melodies. “This Is A Call” and “Big Me” are great examples of Grohl’s simple but irresistible pop craftsmanship, and heavier tracks such as “I’ll Stick Around” (with it’s famous “I don’t owe you anything” refrain, thought by many to be directed at Cobain’s widow Courtney Love) are effectively rendered by a raw mix. The rest of the album has a hard time living up to that fantastic 1-2-3 punch, but songs such as "Good Grief," "Floaty," "For All The Cows," and "Exhausted" also have much to recommend about them. And though there are a couple of nondescript tracks and it’s difficult to decipher exactly what Grohl is getting at lyrically, this deliciously grungy sonic onslaught was very well-received by the masses, and rightfully so. Of course, with the element of surprise no longer on his side, and having put together an actual band composed of former Germs/Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear and the excellent ex-Sunny Day Real Estate rhythm section (William Goldsmith and Nate Mendel), more will be expected of Mr. Grohl the next time.

The Colour And The Shape (Capitol ’97) Rating: A-
One of the hardest things for a rock band to do is to follow up on a strong debut album, but the Foo Fighters smashed any thoughts of a sophomore slump with this stellar second album. I’m not going to get into psycho-analyzing Dave Grohl’s mindset with regards to Kurt Cobain; amazingly, Rolling Stone’s review of the album went through great pains to tell us all about Grohl’s alleged state of mind, while failing to mention much at all about the actual music on the record! What I will say is that Cobain’s death and Grohl’s recent breakup with his wife seem to weigh heavily on his mind, as Grohl reveals much more of himself here than on his catchy but cryptic debut. I’ll also note that The Colour And The Shape is more of a band effort than the Grohl-dominated debut, and that most of these songs follow a similarly soft and then loud pattern, with big riffs and an even bigger beat carrying most melodies. Grohl’s vocals are also rougher this time around, which is ironic considering that Gil Norton’s production is much smoother than what was offered up on the demo-like debut. As for the songs, the awesome power pop surge of “Monkey Wrench,” which I’d argue is equal to anything that Nirvana ever did, towers over everything else on the album (especially memorable is its incredible "one last thing before I quit..." section, which I always sing - make that scream - along to). However, the pulverizing (drum) pop and epic chorus of “My Hero,” the tightly coiled, extremely intense groove rocker “Everlong,” and the softly whispered ballad “Walking After You” were also deservedly popular radio tracks. Other catchy, hard-hitting highlights include “Hey, Johnny Park!” and “My Poor Brain,” while “See You” is surprisingly sweet and melodic (actually, the album on the whole is mellower than the debut). The rest of the album is rock solid as well; maybe some of the shorter songs are on the slight side, but only the grating “Enough Space” fails to really add anything to this fine overall package. Note: Goldsmith exited the Foo Fighters to rejoin Sunny Day Real Estate during the recording sessions for this album (Grohl again plays all the drum parts himself and does a terrific job, as the drums seem to explode from the speakers), while guitarist Pat Smear left the band after the tour in support of the album. Note #2: The band re-recorded a superior version of “Walking After You” for the X-Files soundtrack.

There Is Nothing Left To Lose (RCA ’99) Rating: B+
With new drummer Taylor Hawkins in tow, Foo Fighters returned with the desperately titled There Is Nothing Left To Lose, which was recorded as a three-piece at Grohl’s home studio. Now, I don’t normally quote press releases, but the one I received describing this album sums it up both succinctly and well: “the Foo Fighters remind us that it is okay to play loudly and in tune, that songs can still be about girls, and that not every band needs a goddamned DJ in the mix.” Indeed, Foo Fighters have little in common with much of what you’re hearing on the radio these days (the less said about that the better), as big pop hooks anchor catchy, commercial-sounding songs such as “Breakout” and “Learn To Fly,” the album’s soaring first single. And though Dave Grohl has rocked both melodically (“This Is A Call”) and softly (“Big Me,” “Walking After You”) before, this is easily the least likely Foo Fighters album so far to have the words "alternative" or “grunge” associated with it. Grunge is dead, after all (or so everyone says), and while I for one miss the great early ‘90s likes of Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice In Chains, Grohl has never been one to live in the past. That said, this album has a classic rock influence that reaches back further than anything on their first two albums, and Grohl isn’t above borrowing from the past, introducing a Foghat-like riff on “Gimme Stitches” and a Frampton-styled talking fuzz box on “Generator.” Elsewhere, the band turns down the volume on the pleasingly mellow melodies of “Aurora,” “Next Year,” and “Ain’t It The Life,” while harder rocking tracks such as "Stacked Actors," “Live-In Skin,” and “M.I.A.” likewise contain choruses that are highly melodic. Yet for all the album’s consistent quality it must be said that it could use a jolt of that old punk energy at times. Also, There Is Nothing Left To Lose, which was so named because the album was recorded before the band had a record label in place, offers consistently very good but no truly great songs aside from “Learn To Fly.” Still, this was another welcome installment by a maturing band that refuses to stay in one place, as Dave Grohl and company continue to build their own impressive legacy irrespective of Grohl's glorious past.

One By One (RCA ’02) Rating: B
A lot of people seem to have really missed the Foo Fighters during their three year absence between albums. At least that's what I think, because the rave reviews that I'm reading for this album don't seem justified, as more and more I'm starting to think of the Foo Fighters as a great singles band who merely make good (sometimes very good) albums. Truth is, when I hear a Foo Fighters song on the radio chances are good that I'll turn it up and sing along, but by the ninth or tenth Foo Fighters song in a row I have a hard time staying enthused. This album stands out due to its return to a grungier sound, and by the fact that it is more atmospheric and less poppy than past efforts. There are some notable highlights as well, as "Low" is a dead ringer for Queens Of The Stone Age (whose last album and tour Grohl had played drums on), only with Grohl singing. I think Josh Homme taught him a thing or two about playing guitar, too, because Grohl also unleashes cool riffs on "Have It All" and "Times Like These" (which also has the album's best lyrics and vocals), while "All My Life" has an agreeably hard-hitting chorus and "Halo" is impressively epic. Actually, there really isn't a bad song in the bunch, but though I generally enjoy listening to these songs I'll be damned if I can remember more than bits and pieces of most of them afterwards. "Come Back," an explosive and evocative epic (7:45) that ends the album with an exclamation point, is an adventurous exception; I'd welcome more such successful experiments on future releases, as the Foo Fighters' formula is starting to get a little stale.

In Your Honour (RCA ’05) Rating: B+
With his band getting increasingly formulaic, culminating with the quite adequate but somewhat disappointing One By One, Dave Grohl needed a break. Enter Probot, Grohl’s heavy metal side project whereupon he co-wrote and performed songs with metal icons like Lemmy, Max Cavalera, and King Diamond. With the self-titled Probot album out of his system, Grohl and his main band reconvened for In Your Honour, easily their most ambitious album to date, and arguably their best since The Colour And The Shape. Unfortunately, though the album is chock full of loud, anthemic rockers and contains a bevy of well-crafted soft rock compositions (a la “Walking After You”), the album’s sequencing and conception are seriously flawed. This is a 2-cd set, with the first cd containing 10 loud songs and the second showcasing 10 more slices of Grohl’s softer side. Never the most adventurous or diverse band, this grouping together of like-minded songs only reinforces the band’s shortcomings, particularly disc 2, where the songs seem to blend into one another, despite several high profile cameo appearances from the likes of Norah Jones, Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, Kyuss/Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme, and The Wallflowers' keyboardist Rami Jaffee. Fortunately, like I said before, almost all of these songs are good so the album is largely enjoyable anyway, even if I can’t help but think that a shorter set list that intermingled loud and soft songs was the way to go. That said, rather than focus on the albums flaws, let’s talk about its considerable strengths, shall we? On disc 1, all the classic Foo Fighters elements are in place: Grohl and and Chris Shiflett’s guitars are crisp and loud, Hawkins and Mendel ably add heft to the bottom end, and Grohl’s alternately smooth and screaming rough vocals inevitably lead into the payoff: catchy chorus after catchy chorus. Although I marked down “In Your Honour,” No Way Back," “Best Of You,” “DOA,” and “The Last Song” as highlights, almost every song here is a potential hit or highlight, even if the band lacks distinctive characteristics and the chance taking acumen to be truly exciting anymore. No, this disc is merely clean, highly professional arena rock (remember, Grohl has never worried about silly things like “indie credibility”) that doesn’t offer anything different but which rocks harder and with more consistent quality than any Foo Fighters album since the first two. As for the mellower second disc, it’s less impressive and can get a bit boring, but again that’s largely due to the sequencing, as the songs are of a surprisingly high quality given that the band is usually much better at rocking out than on ballads. Personally, I prefer songs such as “Miracle,” “Over and Out,” and “On The Mend,” which are a little more instrumentally fleshed out, but there’s nary a truly duff track, and fans of Cobain (who “Friend Of A Friend” is about), Norah Jones (who sings the bossa nova flavored “Virginia Moon” with Grohl), and Taylor Hawkins (the band’s popular resident party animal who sings the livelier “Cold Day In The Sun”) should take particular note of those tracks. Alas, some albums add up to more than the sum of their individual parts, some add up to less (which is why track-by-track album reviews don’t really work), and In Your Honour is the latter case, strong though many of its individual songs are.

Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (RCA ’07) Rating: B
After a live acoustic album (sorry not interested), the band reunited with The Colour And The Shape producer Gil Norton, but the resulting album unfortunately ranks among the lesser Foo Fighters efforts so far. I've been thinking about it, and I think that there are three main problems with the band. One is that they've strayed too far from their grunge/alternative roots; the fact that they've become Grammy favorites (three statuettes for Best Rock Album) shows just how mainstream they've become. That in of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the band has become too predictable. For example, "Let It Die," "Come Alive," and "But Honestly" all start slowly and eventually pick up a head of steam (and again by and large the band are much better at rockers than ballads), but all take too long to get going and never take off quite like I'd hoped. As for problem number two, I understand Grohl wanting the Foo Fighters to be a real band, but they were certainly better when he handled the drum parts. Hawkins is a solid drummer but he's simply nowhere near the same dynamic force behind the drum kit that Grohl is, and as a result subsequent albums haven't quite matched the explosive pop of their first two albums. Thirdly, somewhere along the way Grohl lost his sense of humor; this guy has it pretty good, but there's too much bitter fingerpointing on this album. That said, the current incarnation of the Foo Fighters still have their virtues. "The Pretender" and "Long Road To Ruin" can be added to the band's growing list of terrific singles, and there are other strong efforts as well, such as the rocking "Erase/Replace" and the intense acoustic ballad "Stranger Things Have Happened." "Summer's End" and especially "Statues" have airy '70s So. Cal vibes that I also find appealing, but I could live without the filler instrumental "Ballad Of The Beaconsville Miners" and the dreary finale, "Home." "Cheer Up, Boys" is a perfect example of what's right and wrong with the band, as it's a standard surging melodic rocker that's reliably pleasant and hard-hitting without being especially exciting. I'm still glad that they're around, as the band continues to do their part in making modern rock radio a little bit more listenable, but I'll probably have to think twice before buying their next long player. Rather, I might just wait until the arrival of their eventual "greatest hits" album, which ought to be a stone cold killer.

Greatest Hits (RCA ’09) Rating: B+
Well here it is at long last; I should’ve known that RCA would fuck it up. This should’ve been an easy slam dunk, a simple run through the Foo Fighters actual greatest hits plus one or two new songs and maybe a rarity or two. Where the heck is “I’ll Stick Around?” “DOA?” Good grief, these are inexcusable omissions. “Walking Into You” (preferably the more rare and in my opinion superior X-Files soundtrack version, which got some airplay back in the day), “Stacked Actors,” “The One” (especially since it’s a non-album track), “Low,” “No Way Back,” and “Let It Die” are other highly questionable omissions, being that they were actual singles and hits, unlike “Skin and Bones” and the acoustic version of “Everlong.” OK, I can understand why two new songs were included (gotta appeal to the completists), and “Wheels” seems pretty good upon first impressions (I haven’t heard “Word Forward” yet), but it seems pretty obvious that this compilation will be defined as much by what is not here as by what is. Fortunately, what is here is mostly great, including Foos classics such as “This Is A Call,” “Big Me,’ “Monkey Wrench,” “My Hero,” “Everlong,” “Learn To Fly,” “Breakout,” “All My Life,” "Times Like These," "Best Of You," "The Pretender," and "Long Road To Ruin." Still, even though any Foo Fighters fan will largely get considerable enjoyment while listening to this 16-track compilation (why only 16 tracks?), there will always be the nagging knowledge that this so-called Greatest Hits collection should've been much better. For example, if it had the following track listing instead: "This Is A Call," "I’ll Stick Around," "Big Me," "Monkey Wrench," "Everlong" (original version), "My Hero," "Walking After You (X-Files version)," "Learn To Fly," "Stacked Actors," "Breakout," "The One," "All My Life," "Times Like These," "Low," "Best Of You," "DOA," "No Way Back," "The Pretender," "Long Road To Ruin," "Let It Die," and "Wheels." Feel free to cut a song or two (but definitely not "I'll Stick Around" or "DOA"!) if this 21-track listing exceeds CD running time limitations.

send me an email

Back To Artist Index Home Page