Foo Fighters

Performer: Foo Fighters
Engineer: Steve Culp
Producer: Foo Fighters; Barrett Jones
Distributor: BMG (distributor)

Notes: Foo Fighters: Dave Grohl (vocals, guitar); Pat Smear (guitar); Nate Mendel (bass); William Goldsmith (drums). Additional personnel: Greg Dulli (guitar). Recorded at Robert Lang's Studio, Seattle, Washington in October 1994. FOO FIGHTERS was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance. Personnel: Dave Grohl (vocals, guitar); Greg Dulli, Pat Smear (guitar); William Goldsmith (drums). Audio Mixers: Rob Schnapf; Tom Rothrock. Recording information: Robert Lang Studios, Seattle, WA (10/17/1994-10/23/1994); Robert Lang's Studio, Seattle, WA (10/17/1994-10/23/1994). Photographers: Jennifer Youngblood; Charles Peterson ; Curt Doughty; Jeff Ross. Dave Grohl's opening post-Nirvana salvo, FOO FIGHTERS seems merely ordinary only in the wake of the historic, sweetly abrasive sensations that his previous band was famous for. Full of both lilting summer-breeze melodies and search-and-destroy guitar blasts, it helps present the case that Grohl's punk-pop blueprint just might be as forward-minded as Kurt Cobain's was, if slightly less grungy and a bit more blue-collar. Arriving at its destination by coupling pure '60's guitar-pop with the hyperkinetic pace of hardcore, FOO FIGHTERS takes most of its song-hooks for a joyous high-speed ride. Tracks such as the prankster-ish kiss-off, "This Is A Call," and the meditative-but-bitter "Good Grief" are perfect pop nuggets, with turbo-jet guitars propelling them. There are brief respites from such reckless rolling: the glammy verse-chorus-bridge of "Alone + Easy Target," the near-folky "For All The Cows," the sweetly Squeeze-like "Big Me." Yet, these are only refueling stops for Grohl (who recorded most of the album alone) before he turns the engines back on and blows through alterna-pop's speed limits. Named after UFO-like apparitions that U.S. fighter pilots claimed to have seen during World War II, FOO FIGHTERS chooses to ignore Grohl's tumultous real-life connections (there are few, if any, kiss-and-tell lyrics) in favor of establishing a separate musical identity. It's as though the songwriter felt there was little of Planet Nirvana worth rehashing, and decided to find a new (if similar) musical satellite to call his own.

Rolling Stone (1/25/96, p.41) - Ranked #2 in the 1996 Critics' Poll. Rolling Stone (8/10/95, pp.56-57) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...Like Nirvana's best work, these songs sagely embrace alternative rock's essential contradiction--this is 'popular' music devised by an alienated few....If FOO FIGHTERS has a theme, it's that music remains the ultimate anodyne." Spin (12/95, p.63) - Ranked #20 on Spin's list of the '20 Best Albums Of '95.' Spin (9/95, p.107) - 7 - Flawed Yet Worthy - "...Grohl hides behind his rapacious hooks like he disappears between his words...yet another impenetrable veil. FOO FIGHTERS seesaws efficiently, even rambunctiously, but there's a distance, a sheen to it..." Entertainment Weekly (7/14/95, p.55) - "...Most of these songs are so disarmingly hooky, and yet such a raw blast of energy, that it's as if Lennon and McCartney had grown up in Seattle. Not necessarily an important album, but a surprising one." - Rating: B+ Q (8/95, p.118) - 3 Stars - Good - "...Foo Fighters are grunge-quite-lite....not with the country or pop leanings of, say, Soul Asylum, but with harder-sounding songs rendered accessible by layers of melody, much of it descended directly from Roger McGuinn if he'd had fewer strings..." Melody Maker (12/23-30/95, pp.66-67) - Ranked #26 on Melody Maker's list of 1995's 'Albums Of The Year.' Melody Maker (6/24/95, p.36) - Bloody Essential - "...a play-loud summer blast....the band is so blissfully on-the-money it's almost as perfect as The Young Gods, were the Swiss maestros weaned on Husker Du and Anastasia Screamed. We're talking THAT breathtaking, that joyously gone..." Musician (9/95, p.88) - "...full of smart, crafty, kick-ass music....one can hear how much Grohl's musicianship guided Nirvana's sound--the album is packed with simple, forceful melodies, precise harmonies, and inventive arrangements..." Village Voice (2/20/96) - Ranked #6 in Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll. New York Times (Publisher) (1/6/96, p.C16) - Included on Jon Pareles' list of the Top 10 Albums of '95 - "...[Grohl's] songs stare down misgivings with cryptic lyrics, memorable tunes and a willingness to bash ahead." NME (Magazine) (12/23-30/95, pp.22-23) - Ranked #12 in NME's 'Top 50 Albums Of The Year' for 1995. NME (Magazine) (6/24/95, p.54) - 9 (out of 10) - "...hurtling, memorable songs, satisfyingly crunchy guitars, and an unambiguously joyful spirit....Grohl sounds blazingly optimistic....[a] talented man at last gaining the confidence and wherewithal to seize control of his own artistic destiny....a massively important record..."

Unbeknownst to most Nirvana fans, drummer David Grohl was also a singer/guitarist/songwriter who wrote numerous songs on his own during his tenure with the band. After Kurt Cobain's death in 1994, Grohl decided to head out on his own and formed the Foo Fighters; he recruited sometime Nirvana consort Pat Smear (ex- of the Germs) and swiped the rhythm section from early-emo gods Sunny Day Real Estate and assumed frontman duties. The delightfully silly debut single "This is a Call" was a good indication of where the band's intentions lay as the Foos reflected Grohl's former band's melodic-punk-pop, but with a somewhat lighter attitude, a sound they would ride to over a decade of pop superstardom.

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