The Foo Fighters - Classic or Dud?

lol VegemiteGrrl otm. Wild. RIP.

damn, RIP Taylor Hawkins. I remember that he was on the cover of one of the first issues of Modern Drummer I received after I started subscribing. i had just started getting into music, generally, and foo fighters and colour and the shape were so huge for me at the time. a lot of the other stuff in those issues would fly right over my head, but i remember loving how he talked about music and how he played, the beats that were notated - they were all really relatable, happy, fun, joyful somehow, the way he talked about it.

This is so awful, RIP

Obviously I feel terrible for his wife and kids, but one of my first thoughts was for Dave, poor guy.

Obviously lots of Foo love going about today, but I wanted to shout out the weirdo prog album he did as The Birds of Satan, I always liked that one. Also forgot until this morning that he drummed on that one Coheed and Cambria record.

loved this, ultimate fan moment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Ramu397UQ

and Geddy’s words abt Taylor from instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CbkhR9VA1HS/

My heart is truly breaking at the news of Taylor's passing. A sweetheart of a man that radiated good vibes, a love of music, and a total monster on the drums. He was so, so happy the night Alex and I came up onstage to play YYZ with him during the Foos show at the Air Canada Centre on March 23rd, 2008... His excitement was almost impossible for him to contain.
Brother, you left us way, way too soon... rest in peace my friend... 💔

FOO LOVE

I love this too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwHyPCRLW38

oh, that was an audience recording, here's the whole song but from a TV broadcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkDW6jcmx4k

<3

He was an excellent, very funny fellow to interview… when we spoke, upon very little notice he started to talk about how much he liked Pacific Ocean Blue, and then some 6 years later when a deluxe version packaged with the never released Bambu came out, he subbed for Dennis Wilson on a song called "Holy Man": i guess Dennis had cut a guide vocal with a melody Hawkins could follow, but otherwise Dennis never cut a fully usable take for the record… "Holy Man" is for sure the standout song to have come out of those sessions, closest thing to a hit as such and INSANELY SOULFUL, and Taylor absolutely sells it, capturing Dennis's essence… surfer game recognizes surfer game…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDwTA_rabdQ

One thing that was clear to me about him is that, when other guys in the Foo Fighters and other peer bands talk about being on indie labels and touring in vans for cred purposes, he couldn't hang like that…he was on major labels from the git-go, his formative experiences were when punk and punk-adjacent bands could get on major labels, not to mention Rush, Queen, Police… he was a KROQ surfer kind of person, he was on tour buses and planes and never in vans…

A shame.

The moment in the Everlong video when Taylor’s drum kit appears in the bed is one of my favorite things

That song and video are the peak of my FF fandom

i love that video so much

i would have been annoyed/pissed if anyone tried to cover Andy Gibb’s Shadow Dancing but Taylor did such a killer job on the vocals it made me deliriously happy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o5n5SpWEwQ

This sucks. I wasn't a fan of pretty much anything after 1997 but they always inspired a "glad they're out there still doing it even if I don't care if I hear it" feeling.

Third time going through this for Pat Smear.

The moment in the Everlong video when Taylor’s drum kit appears in the bed is one of my favorite things

Mine too, had to make a gif of it.

https://i.imgur.com/hxTawQP.gif

the toxicology report is in - god fucking dammit, Taylor.

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/details-emerge-colombian-authorities-investigate-death-foo-fighters-dr-rcna21689

I can understand needing drugs to deal with this world, but it is always sad when it takes out someone.

This sucks.

"at age 50" feels absolutely impossible for this guy. He was about as youthful of person as I can think of; he has always and forever will be 26 years old in my mind.

just something irrelevant I liked to read: https://magnetmagazine.com/2017/10/09/exclusive-cover-story-excerpt-liam-gallagher-interviewed-by-foo-fighter-taylor-hawkins/

I'd hang off the conclusions until the official word comes out.

yeah otm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1qQuSuQaHY

this is such a good drum part

i should've posted the album version instead of the music video, the coda is the best part

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPN8JOeZxwQ

There Is Nothing Left To Lose is something else all the way through

A cherished concert memory of mine is seeing them on that tour, opening for RHCP (#onethread), and the arena erupting after Grohl introduced "Next Year" as a song he wrote "...after 12 long blunt hits".

it really is a stunning album, i never tire of it & always re-decide a new favorite track each time

Same here (though Aurora, Generator and Learn To Fly are probably the best things Dave's ever done) (the debut is pretty great, too)

Along with Taylor's family, just feel so bad for Dave right now, I know we're all on the same page

Pat Smear has seen some emotional shit over the decades is what I’m thinking.

its not great for anyone

There seems something just bizarre about his death, like it shouldn't be possible at this point in time

Oh yeah, definitely feel for Pat, too. But the fraternal love between Dave and Taylor was so tangible. Two peas from the same pod.

Stevie Nicks:

I just have to say~

Thank goodness for the photo booth in the Foo Fighters studio. Because of these pictures my friendship with Taylor will always be at my fingertips. He always came to my shows. He and his best friend Dave even let me be a Foo Fighter for a little while. We recorded a kick ass version of Gold Dust Woman (live) and at the end of the song I yelled out “Best Gold Dust Woman ever~”
And I meant it

Taylor was very handsome and he was very cute. Sometimes that combination is way better than “beautiful.” I think it’s everything. He had a huge heart and a glorious smile. When he walked into the room, everyone looked up. When he left the room, everyone was sad…

I am sad now
I am really sad
It’s like rolling thunder
Yes, that’s what I said

It’s like a bad dream~
Comes like a wave~
Gives you a moment
And then drags you away.
Our hearts are broken,
We will never be the same.
As I write these words~
I feel the pain.
But I will always remember~
That the laughter and the fame
Brought us together
To play the game
And we played it, again and again and again

And it was extraordinary~

Don’t forget us, “ T.”
We’ll be right here

Love you,
Stevie

aw <3

pic.twitter.com/RRuEDt67pz

— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) March 29, 2022

yeah jeez, i cant imagine trying to play anytime soon

I honestly can't imagine them playing ever again. I hope I'm wrong.

I'm still absolutely caning There Is Nothing Left To Lose btw.

Peak synthesis of Grohl as emotional animal and Grohl as craftsman.

They're 100% going to record and tour again, I'm sure

Yeah, but the supposed "Feel Good" aspect will have gone.

There will probably be a sentimental album and a "do it for Taylor" tour.

(sorry if that's crass, I haven't actually heard anything by them since the first two albums, but it's not like Dave Grohl is going to stop making music...maybe they'd change the band name out of respect, idk, but I doubt it)

surely first a live album that features Taylor

maybe rename the band Foo Fires? (Fighers, without the T)

If the Rolling Stones can continue on without Charlie…

Admittedly I don’t know much about the Foo Fighters, but I’m a little surprised at the suggestions that the loss of a longtime drummer (even a beloved one) would be fatal to the band.

I've gotten to know more about the band, and it's become understandable now. I think you have to put yourself in their shoes rather than look at it from a cold perspective that analyzes everything on paper. Truth be told, I'm not the biggest fan of their music, and in terms of their albums, I would call the first two their best work, and neither includes Taylor. The band's also known to change their line-up throughout its history, so the idea of disbanding might not make any sense when you factor all that in.

BUT when I relate to real life aspects of it, I get it. For example, as a job: your job for one particular company probably changes quite a bit over time, with the people you work with, why you do it, etc. So what it was like the first few years you were there and why you stayed can be very different as to why you're there now. But more importantly, they weren't just co-workers, but incredibly close friends. For Grohl, it could be very painful to go back to their usual routines as a band because he was used to doing it with Taylor. There's a lot of things in life like that, where you enjoyed doing it, then it gets entangled with someone new in your life that you get close to, and then when something happens - you have a falling out or something tragic happens to them - you can't just keep doing it again like you did before it involved this other person.

I think I botched that job comparison, but I was trying to make the point that even though Grohl was fine making those first two albums the way he did, it doesn't mean that's what he wants the Foo Fighters to be now. But regardless, all that takes a back seat to him losing a central figure in his personal life.

yeah this is more like Rush losing Peart, emotions-wise not talent-wise
he’s not *just* a drummer he’s the lead singer’s best friend/soulmate etc

lwhether you like the foo fighters or not, big deal
whether you think hawkins was good or not whatever

- grohl is a human person who has suffered a deep personal loss & imo this may be an even bigger loss for him personally than losing kurt bc of what hawkins means to him. i think that’s kind of clear from their interviews & years together & it seems fair to guess as a human talking abt another human that this may take a much bigger toll

hawkins struck me as the only guy in the band who had more than an employer-employee relationship with grohl.