#thentonow

The Foo Fighters are a band that formed in 1995 as the brainchild of Dave Grohl, the former drummer for Nirvana. It began for Grohl after Kurt Cobain’s death as a music outlet, as the death of Cobain severely impacted Grohl’s life. The two became great friends over the career of Nirvana, and Grohl describes the loss as “a really personal experience. I [Grohl] was a kid. Our lives were lifted and then turned upside down. And then our hearts were broken when Kurt died. The whole thing is much more personal than the logo or the t-shirt or the iconic image” (NME).

Grohl took a break for a majority of 1994 to recover from the loss, halting his musical career indefinitely, until deciding to return to the studio with the music he had written during his time with Nirvana. “The former Nirvana drummer had played guitar and written songs since he was a Washington, D.C., teenager,” but often the songs he wrote were shelved and sometimes published separately (Rolling Stone). Grohl, along with producer Barrett Jones, recorded what eventually became the Foo Fighters’ self-titled album, and then gathered a band consisting of bassist Nate Mendel, guitarist Pat Smear, and drummer William Goldsmith in order to tour for the album.

From then on, the Foo Fighters cycled through members, some of which have remained, and currently consist of Grohl, Mendel, Smear, current drummer Taylor Hawkins, lead guitarist Chris Shiflett, and keyboardist Rami Jaffee. Over the course of the Foo Fighters’ career, they have released 9 studio albums, the latest being Concrete and Gold, which was released in September of 2017.

Every album, from the self-titled album to the recent Concrete and Gold verify that time and time again, the Foo Fighters have stayed true to what they most want to produce, rather than what any kind of record label or producer wanted them to cough up. Each album contains a taste of what Grohl is inspired by and what’s most pressing on his mind; every song tells a story of who he is and what he values.

An excellent example of an album that came from that genuine place is Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace, released in 2007, well after the Foo Fighters’ boom during the 90s. Even though some would argue that the Foo Fighters were well past their time in 2007, the album sold 168,000 copies in the first week (Billboard) and has since been certified Gold by the RIAA.

Some may argue that the album Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace, the band’s sixth studio album, strays too far from the rock mold to claim that the Foo Fighters are anything but “inconsistent and uninspired,” but I respectfully decline that notion. ESPG (an abbreviation of the especially wordy title) is described by the band as an experiment in what their musical capabilities are, and whether that envelope can be pushed (Kerrang via FooArchive).

“The Pretender,” which is the opening track to ESPG and was a single off the album, is more in tune with what you’d expect from the Foo Fighters: a groove with heavy guitars and a steady bassline. This track and the 2 or 3 following (“Let It Die”, “Erase/Replace”, and “Long Road to Ruin”) are similar in that sense that they are typical of the band, but after that, the album takes a sharp turn.

“Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners” (which is track 9 on the album, if you’re listening along at home), is alternatively blue grass, country, or some variation thereof, and is entirely different than the standard Foo Fighters song. Grohl says that the song was dedicated to a group of miners that “were trapped in a mine in Beaconsfield, in Tasmania,” one of which requested an iPod with the band’s album In Your Honor on it. Grohl said: 

“I thought that I should write something just to dedicate to him that night [he attended a show] because he definitely seemed like a hero. He gave me a gift that no one had ever given me before. He made me feel like my music is maybe more meaningful than just jumping up onstage after five beers and having lasers chop your head off, y'know? So, I felt like maybe what I'm doing is a good thing for some people” 

(Kerrang via FooArchive). So, the motif of blue grass-y instrumental tunes makes sense when put in context, and the song has an endearing, inspiring backstory. But even then, the song is not typical of the band, and that displays their expertise and their ability to write music in an array of styles.

That being said, every Foo Fighters album isn’t an experiment into what the band can produce across the spectrum. While they do like to express themselves in creative, outside-the-box ways, a clear majority of their albums sound like a Foo Fighters album, or at least like a 90s alternative rock album. That’s part of the reason they’ve endured over the years and have retained a fanbase over all those years.

The Foo Fighters’ most true-to-self album, by far, is Wasting Light. Released in early 2011, the entire album was recorded on analog equipment with legendary producer Butch Vig, who produced Nirvana’s album Nevermind, The Smashing Pumpkins’ Gish and Siamese Dream, and other artists like Sonic Youth, AFI, Soul Asylum, Jimmy Eat World, and Green Day. Because of the analog nature, the album isn’t perfect, which is entirely on purpose, and that rusty feel embodies what rock is all about: being brash and unpolished. The album is also heavier to contrast the more refined sounds of previous albums and is most similar to the self-titled album and The Colour and the Shape. Wasting Light is reminiscent of that traditional dirty grunge sound that past and present fans are especially looking for when they come to a Foo Fighters album, and that’s why fans continue to come back.

And that being said, fans will continue to come back well into the future too. The Foo Fighters have held true all this time and unless something drastically changes between now and their next album, that trend will likely endure. The Foo Fighters are a genuine group of guys; listening to any of them talk makes that clear that they feel no need to impress anyone and they’ll speak their mind regardless, and they’re unafraid to write music about whatever they want too. True rock and roll isn’t here to be presentable and impress your mom and dad, it’s about doing what feels right and living life the way that feels good, and that’s what bands like the Foo Fighters do to stay on top. Any band with this much fame has certainly felt the pressure to conform, but a good band doesn’t fall into that pressure just to make loads of money. That’s why the Foo Fighters are still successful, even to this day.

References:

Rolling Stone https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/foo-fighters/biography

Kerrang via FooArchive http://www.fooarchive.com/gpb/kerrangaug07.htm

NME http://www.nme.com/news/music/dave-grohl-foo-fighters-exorcised-soul-kurt-cobains-death-2145927

A collection of EP’s were released in the late 90s however their first album Parachutes wasn’t released until 2000. In the most popular song on the tracking list “Yellow” we get a sense of just how poetic the lyrics and its meaning are. Not only does he play on what the color yellow represents (hope, warmth, joy) he takes it and applies it about his feelings towards the girl the song is written for.