The Colour And The Shape [Digipak]

Performer: Foo Fighters
Engineer: Brad Creek; Ryan Hadlock; Don Farwell
Producer: Gil Norton
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Foo Fighters: Dave Grohl (vocals, guitar, drums); Pat Smear (guitar); Nate Mendel (bass); William Goldsmith (drums). Recorded at Grand Master Studios, Hollywood, California; Bear Creek, Woodinville, Washington and WGNS Studios, Washington, D.C. THE COLOUR & THE SHAPE was nominated for a 1998 Grammy for Best Rock Album. "Monkey Wrench" was nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. Foo Fighters: Dave Grohl (vocals, guitar, drums); Pat Smear (guitar); Nate Mendel (bass guitar); William Goldsmith (drums). Now that Dave Grohl has gotten through the intense scrutiny leveled at the Foo Fighters' debut, this follow-up finds him flexing his creative muscles a little easier. Forgoing the autocratic approach of FOO FIGHTERS, THE COLOUR & SHAPE allows the other members of the band a greater amount of influence, which quickly becomes evident. The punk-pop nuggets outnumber the thrashier moments on this record. Nevertheless, Grohl's time on the D.C. hardcore scene is never far from the creative process, whether it's the first squeals and squawks that pop up around the hooks and screaming vocals of "Hey, Johnny Park" and "My Poor Brain" or the alternating, Nirvana-like dynamics of "Enough Space." Elsewhere, the dreamy pop of "Walking After You" (recorded in one take by Grohl at Washington, D.C. radio station WGNS) and "Up In Arms" rubs shoulders with the Catherine Wheelish sheets of guitar flowing through "My Hero."

Rolling Stone (5/29/97, pp.47-48) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...COLOUR has a big, radio-ready, modern-rock sound....gives the impression that Grohl is working out some romantic issues--there are lots of relationship tunes both about breaking up and about a new love..." Spin (7/97, p.113) - 6 (out of 10) - "...That's Dave Grohl, a simple rock guy in a simple rock band who occasionally manages to write some really good songs. He'll probably never come up with a godhead masterpiece, but then again, he already played drums on one." Entertainment Weekly (5/23/97, pp.62-63) - "...The band heard on THE COLOUR & THE SHAPE is not a ragtag slacker unit but a bunch of confident, powerful pros--brawny, metallic, able to shift gears and tempos on a dime....In fact, the album often feels like the new-wave metal Metallica should have but didn't concoct with LOAD..." - Rating: B Q (1/03, p.54) - Included in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums Ever" Melody Maker (12/20-27/97, pp.66-67) - Ranked #21 on Melody Maker's list of 1997's "Albums Of The Year." NME (Magazine) (12/20-27/97, pp.78-79) - Ranked #46 in NME's 1997 Critics' Poll.

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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