Released:  July 4th, 1995

Recorded:  October 17th – 23rd, 1994

Genre:  Post-Grunge, Alternative

Record Label:  Capitol / Roswell

Duration:   44:06

Producers:  Barrett Jones, Dave Grohl

Personnel

Track Listing

Singles

Why Foo Fighters is One of My Favorites

From the ages of about 9 or 10 until 13 or 14, I watched a lot of MTV.  Many people were already complaining of the channel’s declining quality during these years, and I was too young to know the difference.  I was definitely peeved at the endless marathons of The Real World and Road Rules and The Real World Meets Road Rules that seemed to dominate the weekends, though overall I’d say that I was exposed to a significant amount of the era’s popular music.  One thing that always stuck in my head was the Foo Fighters’ “I’ll Stick Around,” which I’d later recognize on Weird Al’s “The Alternative Polka” on Bad Hair Day.  At the time I knew nothing about Dave Grohl or probably even that much about Nirvana either, but I liked the music and it stuck with me into my teenage years.

In the sense that post-grunge is marked by a decidedly more commercial feel, Foo Fighters fits in this box fairly well.  However, it’s also got a good deal of “real grunge” packed into it, obviously owing to Grohl’s former involvement with Nirvana.  The Colour and the Shape may be the record that really brought the Foo Fighters into their own, (we’ll get to that one a little later) thought I still dig the rawness and experimental flourishes (“Floaty,” “For All the Cows”) on “their” debut.  Grohl pulled a Trent Reznor on Foo Fighters, playing all of the instruments himself.  He didn’t intend for it to turn into an album, but the music caught on and the rest is history.

In a nutshell, Foo Fighters starts off with the grunge formula and lightens it up a little.  The tracks are more upbeat, the guitars are brighter and less abrasive, and Grohl does away with angsty moans almost entirely (aside from the distorted shouting in “Weenie Beenie” and a couple of others) and opts for a more traditional singing voice.  In fact, melody is a big part of the album, and it’s one of the aspects I appreciate the most.  The distorted guitars are still there providing the prototypical alternative rock sound, but the fact that many tracks have a discernible tune make it an easy, friendly listen.

Foo Fighters strikes a great balance between “softer” and “harder” songs.  In both cases, the music has evolved from the simple 3 chord song structures of Nirvana, and the guitar is used as more than just a driving, grinding rhythmic force.  “Big Me” is the most easy going song, with relatively clean electric guitar and a light poppy tone.  “For All the Cows” might be the strangest song on the record, with its bluesy, almost southern rock guitar lick playing during the verses.

The heavier tracks do their best to distance themselves from grunge by taking on more complex timing changes and differing the guitar’s sound from song to song.  However, none of them really feel that dark (with the possible exception of “X-Static” with its eerie chord progression) and generally maintain the upbeat tone of the record.  “Weenie Beenie” is fun and energetic with its squealing lead and punk-like riffing.  “Wattershed” has a semi-chaotic nature reminiscent of punk as well, and comes closest to a full-on Nevermind track.  “Good Grief” gets a little intense also.

Lyrically, Grohl plays it on the vague side of the spectrum.  He’s made it known that this music came from a period shortly after Cobain’s suicide and that it was his way of dealing with Kurt’s loss (note the gun on the cover).  When speaking about never intending for this collection of work to be released, he’s also mentioned that he isn’t even saying words at times.  Truthfully, the vocals aren’t exactly buried, but they do sort of bleed into the surrounding music and it isn’t always easy to figure out what Grohl is singing about.  In some ways this plays into the album’s slightly raw sound, and I guess it’s why in all the years I’ve listened to Foo Fighters off and on I’ve never really assimilated all the lyrics in the same way as other albums I’ve heard hundreds of times.

Even with the occasionally shouted choruses and quick guitar bits, Foo Fighters is a mild album in terms of emotional intensity.  I think that’s why I was able to latch onto it at a slightly younger age; it’s not particularly challenging but musically it reflects the mid 90’s quite well and got me ready for the harder acts that I’d enjoy in the years to come.  Nowadays, I like to think of it as falling not too far from a 50/50 mixture of Nevermind and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness sans the electronic elements of the latter.  I tended to shy away from Foo Fighters once Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson and Ministry were staples of my listening experiences, but looking back at it, it’s a pleasant if flawed record that dilutes the anger of grunge with the accessibility of alternative rock (which I suppose is nearly the very definition of “post-grunge”).  The production values and “samey-ness” of some songs hold it back from becoming one of the greats of the decade, but I’ll never forget this early hard rock addition to my collection.

Written by The Cubist

Other albums from the Foo Fighters in this series:

• 1997 – The Colour and the Shape – Issue #94

Back to The Cubist’s 90’s Albums