I’ve Got Another Confession to Make :: Foo Fighters :: My Favorite Artists

Foo Fighters :: My Favorite Artists

I’m home sick with a relapse of a cold and flu whammy of a combination and have been curled up in bed watching the Foo Fighters’ music series, Sonic Highways. It has been an amazing watch and listen, one that feels like I’ve spent the day taking a history of music course all in the span of an afternoon. It inspired me to make a playlist (see previous post), has had me connecting the musical dots between artists and inspirations (something I love hearing, and recognizing) and has me in a Foo Fighters music mood.

I’ve been a fan of their music since I first heard their self-titled album, though it was their second release, The Colour and the Shape, that stole my heart completely. Dave Grohl is one of my musical heroes, especially in the way he pays respect for music’s roots, and has tried to cherish, and at times, save musical places such as the Sound City recording studio. I’m also ever taken by his own music obsessiveness, something that I can relate to. Watching Sonic Highways you can see what a huge fan of music he is. Makes me want to spend an afternoon sharing a pot of coffee, or a couple of beers with him, and talking music, and the many connections loving music brings.

There is so much emotion in the Foo Fighters’ music. Sometimes its joy, sometimes humor, sometimes heartache, sometimes anger, and sometimes the songs are full of a storytelling that encompasses time and space and place in such vivid color that I lose myself in its lyrical refrains. There are songs that are heavy with memory, some painful, and some beautiful. There are songs that make me laugh, especially when remembering some of the bands admirably goofy videos. And, there are songs that are go-to’s for me just because of the feelings they release in me. Music that can make me feel is always going to be tucked away in my favorites forever spaces.

The Foo Fighters are an American rock band, formed in Seattle in 1994. It was founded by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the death of Kurt Cobain and the resulting dissolution of his previous band. The group got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War II, which were known collectively as “foo fighters”.

Prior to the release of Foo Fighters’ 1995 debut album Foo Fighters, which featured Grohl as the only official member, Grohl recruited bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith, both formerly of Sunny Day Real Estate, as well as fellow Nirvana touring band-mate Pat Smear as guitarist to complete the lineup.

The band began with performances in Portland, Oregon.

Goldsmith quit during the recording of the group’s second album, The Colour and the Shape (1997), when most of the drum parts were re-recorded by Grohl himself. Smear’s departure followed soon afterward.

They were replaced by Taylor Hawkins and Franz Stahl, respectively, although Stahl was fired before the recording of the group’s third album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999). The band briefly continued as a trio until Chris Shiflett joined as the band’s lead guitarist after the completion of There Is Nothing Left to Lose.

The band released its fourth album, One by One, in 2002. The group followed that release with the two-disc In Your Honor (2005), which was split between acoustic songs and heavier material. Foo Fighters released its sixth album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, in 2007. In 2010, it was confirmed that Smear had officially rejoined the band after touring with Foo Fighters as an unofficial member between 2006 and 2009.

Over the course of the band’s career, four of its albums have won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album. The band’s seventh studio album, Wasting Light, produced by Butch Vig was released in 2011, in which Smear returned as a full member. As of May 2014, the band’s seven albums have sold a combined 11.1 million copies.

The band’s eighth studio album,Sonic Highways, and their second recorded with Butch Vig, was released in November 2014.

My Top 10 Favorite Foo Fighters Songs

1. Best of You
from the album, In Your Honor

“Were you born to resist,
or be abused?”

2. Walking After You
from the album, The Colour & the Shape

“Tonight I’m tangled in my blanket of clouds,
dreaming aloud.”

3. Statues
from the album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

“You and I were two old and tortured souls,
repaired by a love of broken things.”

4. Everlong (acoustic)
from the album, Greatest Hits

“Tonight,
I throw myself into,
and out of the red,
out of her head she sang.”

5. Let It Die
from the album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

“In too deep and lost in time,
why’d you have to go and let it die?”

6. Learn to Fly
from the album, There is Nothing Left to Lose

“Run and tell all of the angels,
this could take all night.
Think I need a devil to help me get things right.”

7. Times Like These
from the album, One by One

“It’s times like these you learn to love again.”

8. Outside
from the album, Sonic Highways

“Girls were boys and boys were girls,
find the glitter in the litter,
like a haunt,
it’s got to move –
everybody needs some room,
there’s something out there.”

9. Wheels
from the album, Greatest Hits