Anyone notice the trend?
Looks like I'm quite enamored with albums released from 1994-2000. Most, if not all, of the album breakdowns I've done have been about releases from this time period. I guess it makes sense; everyone seems to have special affection for the music they listened to when they were young. I'm not claiming AARP membership here, but that time period was, for me, the formative time when my tastes were developed. I also think it happens to be a particular high point in the canon of popular music. So to continue in the trend of throwing accolades at forgotten gems of the 90s I want to look fondly back on what turns out to be a precursor to bigger things, the debut album by The Foo Fighters.
I'm going to just go ahead and assume you know at least the basic story here. However the painful realization of my own cultural relevance sliding into obscurity requires I summarize: Nirvana was insanely popular and Kurt Cobain took his own life, fantastically talented drummer Dave Grohl goes to record some of his own demos in a studio, word spreads about how good they are, album is released and a whole new phase of Grohl's life begins. Who gets to be in not one but two of the best bands in rock? The guy is certainly talented enough to warrant it - his reputation for drumming is tops, as is his song writing and musicianship. Crazy.
Anyway, the album was kind of a subversive move on his behalf. Instead of recruiting a pool of friends and contemporaries to lean on and draw from, Dave set out on his own to put to tape a handful of the songs he had written during his time with Nirvana. While he was thrashing away behind the kit, he was also constructing some lovely little pop tunes, almost in secret, as though Kurt would disapprove of them if he found out. According to legend, Grohl had played Kurt an acoustic version of an eventual album cut before they recorded In Utero and Cobain was relieved to have someone else to bear the burden of writing songs. Grohl said in an interview :
"I'd told him I was recording and he said, 'Oh, I wanna hear it, bring it by.' He was sitting in the bath-tub with a walkman on, listening to the song, and when the tape ended, he took the headphones off and kissed me and said, 'Oh, finally, now I don't have to be the only songwriter in the band!' I said, 'No, no, no, I think we're doing just fine with your songs."
So Dave kept working in private, making demos under the fake band name Late! and hand-crafting cassettes, titling the demos Pocketwatch. These demos not only were the creation of Dave alone (writing and playing all the parts) but eventually were re-recorded and mixed to become what would be the eponymous debut for The Foo Fighters. For most of the early stages of it, including when demos leaked to radio stations and labels, Grohl maintained anonymity in the hopes of getting genuine interest in the project and to avoid the perception of riding the coattails of what was the biggest band of the (early) 90s.
The secret behind Grohl's talent is that while drummers can take a lot of ribbing for simple mindedness (how can you tell when a drummer's at your door? The knocking speeds up and he doesn't know when to come in) he is a great songwriter. While the popular music scene was still shaking off the lingering effects of grunge and copycats were popping up (Bush, I'm looking in your direction) here comes this album full of fast, upbeat songs with great melodies and passion. None of the self loathing indicative of the time was really present on the record. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of love for Alice In Chains, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam - they are my bread and butter, the stuff I was raised on. It's just that there was more than a necessary amount of navel-gazing, woe-is-me lyricism and down-turned riffage in their respective works. Here, instead, were frenetic, straight forward rock tunes alongside two-minute pop songs. The first track on the album, This Is A Call, is all major chords and a major melody on top. Grohl says of the chorus: "The chorus says 'This is a call to all my past resignation', it's just sort of like a little wave to all the people I've played music with, people I've been friends with, all my relationships, my family. It's a hello, and in a way, a thank you." The second single for the album was one of the most ballsy tunes present, the intriguing 'I'll Stick Around'. In a recent interview Grohl finally confirmed that the defiant song is indeed about the royalty struggles he had to endure over Nirvana's publishing rights with Courtney Love. Energetic with a distinctive riff, it was a popular single. Even more popular was the single 'Big Me', a slice of pure Monkees pop. Jangly chords and light-hearted melody, the track is a straight faced love letter to his wife at the time. The accompanying video for the song is just as memorable, inspired by the pre-internet meme of Mentos commercials. Check it out here, it's still pretty funny.
While I can assert that the more aggressive songs are have no grunge leanings, they can still be intense and abrasive; the difference lies in tone. Grohl may be young and full of vigor here, but it's a joix de vivre of someone who takes the world on with enthusiasm instead of wallowing in misery. Songs like 'Alone + Easy Target' and 'Good Grief' are propelled by monster riffs and frenetic drumming, yet they don't feel like depressing songs, just passionate. For further evidence of Grohl's upbeat take on music at the time, listen to melody and feel of 'Floaty' - the intro is just breezy, suspended chords strummed on an acoustic guitar. The hook for the song, Grohl wailing "That's not as big as what's flown in here" is undeniably catchy, all in a major key. It's a great rock song. Towards the back of the album Grohl does lose a bit of his momentum, with songs like X-Static and Exhausted showing the sludge of grunge, but there were still manic tunes like the inscrutable Beenie Weenie and the pleasant, swinging jazz verses of 'For All The Cows' to even it out.
What I really take from the album, besides the fact that Grohl would have been a major success with or without Nirvana, is that passion can really drive you to a good record. All of these songs are great in their own way, but they're all such middle of the road songs that they can be...what? Unremarkable? That's not quite right. They just feel like good, solid rock songs, like if someone from another planet asked "What is rock and roll?", you could play this album and say "That's pretty much it. Fast tempo, good hooks, distorted guitars - it's got a good beat and you can dance to it, right?" Maybe not the most ringing endorsement, but I still have a soft spot for Dave's first proper solo album after all these years. I was a kid when this came out and it really hooked me in, the passion and energy that propelled it along. It's simple and straight forward, but I mean that in the most positive way.
Looks like I'm quite enamored with albums released from 1994-2000. Most, if not all, of the album breakdowns I've done have been about releases from this time period. I guess it makes sense; everyone seems to have special affection for the music they listened to when they were young. I'm not claiming AARP membership here, but that time period was, for me, the formative time when my tastes were developed. I also think it happens to be a particular high point in the canon of popular music. So to continue in the trend of throwing accolades at forgotten gems of the 90s I want to look fondly back on what turns out to be a precursor to bigger things, the debut album by The Foo Fighters.
I'm going to just go ahead and assume you know at least the basic story here. However the painful realization of my own cultural relevance sliding into obscurity requires I summarize: Nirvana was insanely popular and Kurt Cobain took his own life, fantastically talented drummer Dave Grohl goes to record some of his own demos in a studio, word spreads about how good they are, album is released and a whole new phase of Grohl's life begins. Who gets to be in not one but two of the best bands in rock? The guy is certainly talented enough to warrant it - his reputation for drumming is tops, as is his song writing and musicianship. Crazy.
"I'd told him I was recording and he said, 'Oh, I wanna hear it, bring it by.' He was sitting in the bath-tub with a walkman on, listening to the song, and when the tape ended, he took the headphones off and kissed me and said, 'Oh, finally, now I don't have to be the only songwriter in the band!' I said, 'No, no, no, I think we're doing just fine with your songs."
So Dave kept working in private, making demos under the fake band name Late! and hand-crafting cassettes, titling the demos Pocketwatch. These demos not only were the creation of Dave alone (writing and playing all the parts) but eventually were re-recorded and mixed to become what would be the eponymous debut for The Foo Fighters. For most of the early stages of it, including when demos leaked to radio stations and labels, Grohl maintained anonymity in the hopes of getting genuine interest in the project and to avoid the perception of riding the coattails of what was the biggest band of the (early) 90s.
While I can assert that the more aggressive songs are have no grunge leanings, they can still be intense and abrasive; the difference lies in tone. Grohl may be young and full of vigor here, but it's a joix de vivre of someone who takes the world on with enthusiasm instead of wallowing in misery. Songs like 'Alone + Easy Target' and 'Good Grief' are propelled by monster riffs and frenetic drumming, yet they don't feel like depressing songs, just passionate. For further evidence of Grohl's upbeat take on music at the time, listen to melody and feel of 'Floaty' - the intro is just breezy, suspended chords strummed on an acoustic guitar. The hook for the song, Grohl wailing "That's not as big as what's flown in here" is undeniably catchy, all in a major key. It's a great rock song. Towards the back of the album Grohl does lose a bit of his momentum, with songs like X-Static and Exhausted showing the sludge of grunge, but there were still manic tunes like the inscrutable Beenie Weenie and the pleasant, swinging jazz verses of 'For All The Cows' to even it out.
