foofighters.com
The Foo Fighters are: Dave Grohl - vocals, guitar, drums; P. Smear - guitar; N.Mendel - bass
Skip to album: *One By One *There Is Nothing Left to Lose *The Colour and the Shape *Foo Fightersjh: I don't know why I didn't get into these guys' music sooner. I was more than five years late buying The Colour and the Shape and that makes me feel silly. When "Monkeywrench" was on the radio I liked it a whole lot. I think I'll blame lack of technology for my bad timing...didn't have the internet at home, so I couldn't snoop around to see if the Foo Fighters were good for more than one single. Well, they are...
One By One - © 2003 RCA.
1. All My Life
2. Low
3. Have It All
4. Times Like These
5. Disenchanted Lullaby
6. Tired of You
7. Halo
8. Lonely As You
9. Overdrive
10. Burn Away
11. Come Back
jh: By definition, it's kinda hard to improve on perfection. And with The Colour and the Shape, the Foo Fighters were awful close to rock perfection - great music, cool lyrics, loveable volume. The out of control parts were loud enough to get your blood flowing, but not so crazy as to be annoying. The soft parts were bearable, to say the least. In many ways, this album resembles the '97 hit that made people realize Dave Grohl was much more than an old drummer: most of it is loud, most of it is cool, the lyrics and music are catchy. But, as you can guess by that whole 'can't top perfection' opening I slipped in here, One By One is no The Colour and the Shape. It's a decent CD and you should check it out if you like the Foo Fighters...but if you are interested in the Foo Fighters and don't own The Colour and the Shape or There Is Nothing Left to Lose, check those out instead.
There is Nothing Left to Lose - © 1999 Roswell Records.
1. Stacked Actors
2. Breakout
3. Learn to Fly
4. Gimme Stitches
5. Generator
6. Aurora
7. Live-In Skin
8. Next Year
9. Headwires
10. Ain't It the Life
11. M.I.A.
jh: This is my second-favorite Foo Fighters album - "Stacked Actors" and "Breakout" are at least as good as the best songs from The Colour and the Shape, but there are more 'meh, whatever' songs on this album. The funny thing is I can remember loathing "Learn To Fly" - hearing it 400 times a day on the radio made me tentative about buying There Is Nothing Left to Lose. As it turns out, I like that song a bunch... following a few years without it. "Next Year" is another song I didn't realize I missed, and "Gimme Stitches" is weirdly catchy -- if you enjoy The Colour and the Shape, there's plenty to appreciate here. And by appreciate, I mean love and inadvertently sing in the elevators at work.
The Colour And The Shape - © 1997 RCA.
1. Doll
2. Monkeywrench
3. Hey, Johnny Park!
4. My Poor Brain
5. Wind Up
6. Up In Arms
7. My Hero
8. See You
9. Enough Space
10. February Stars
11. Everlong
12. Walking After You
13. A New Way Home
jh: For a long long time I didn't know that Dave Grohl, the Foo Fighters' lead singer, used to be the drummer for Nirvana. And that wouldn't impress me a whole lot, because I've never been a Nirvana guy, but considered in light of what Grohl brings to the Foo Fighters he's got to be one of the most influential figures in modern rock. He also may be a little crazy (as expected for a rock star), but for the purposes of The Colour and the Shape that might not be so bad. This CD is modern rock the way the genre was meant to be. It's great from beginning to end. "Monkeywrench," "Up In Arms," and "Wind Up" are my favorites but honestly, I've gone on a 45 minute drive and listened to The Colour and the Shape clear through on the way there...and again on the way back. And I have a short attention span. If you like modern rock, alternative rock, or just rocks in general then you should own this CD.
Foo Fighters - © 1995 Roswell Records.
1. This is a Call
2. I'll Stick Around
3. Big Me
4. Alone + Easy Target
5. Good Grief
6. Floaty
7. Weenie Beenie
8. Oh, George
9. For All the Cows
10. X-Static
11. Watershed
12. Exhausted
jh: When One by One hit me as boring compared to The Colour and the Shape, I decided it might be a good idea to follow the Foo Fighters timeline the opposite direction. My reaction is mixed where the band's self-titled album is concerned; "This Is A Call," "Alone+Easy Target," and especially "For All the Cows" are good but, as with One by One, not as great as standouts from other Foo Fighters CDs. Towards the end Foo Fighters sounds a bit too much like Nirvana and - am I allowed to say this? - I always thought Nirvana sucked. I enjoy noise as much as the next twentysomething bachelor, but if a song's going to be noisy it probably needs "For All the Cows" size hooks throughout. If you're a big Foo Fighters fan then I'm sure you don't need my advice on this one, since you've probably owned it 8 times as long as I have. If you're not, stick with The Colour and the Shape and There Is Nothing Left to Lose.