The Foo Fighters - Classic or Dud?

There is nowhere near enough "documentary talking head gig" entries on that list.

He films them all in one go.

pretty high batting average there - that's an average of one hook every 3 months *kid at pc thumbs up.gif*

I mean, whatever, I couldn't care less about defending Grohl, but that Pitchfork review is an example of when I'd rather see them use their lead review slot for something worth championing instead of the bravery in taking potshots at these dudes in 2021 of all things.

lol Brad

And it's weird that Dave was ragging on computer music at the Grammys when he was stanning hard for the Prodigy in the mid-90s.
Grohl wasn't complaining about electronic music but quantizing/pitch correction/endless comping in the studio IIRC.

― Joe Biden Stan Account (milo z), Sunday, February 7, 2021 10:49 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

he's actually right about this for the most part, as it relates to rock music

I mean, it's the Foo Fighters, I can't set getting upset about it either way

partially related, I get kinda prick vibes from AC Newman

I mean, whatever, I couldn't care less about defending Grohl, but that Pitchfork review is an example of when I'd rather see them use their lead review slot for something worth championing instead of the bravery in taking potshots at these dudes in 2021 of all things.

yeah this was some real lazy shit

totally agreed, no one who is buying a foo fighters record is reading pitchfork and no one still reading pitchfork is going to buy a foo fighters record

What did AC Newman say about the Foos?

I mean, I see what he said, but what was the pic?

It was a pic of the foos sitting on/in a van, presumably from the linked article

totally agreed, no one who is buying a foo fighters record is reading pitchfork and no one still reading pitchfork is going to buy a foo fighters record

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, February 8, 2021 12:49 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

On the other hand young people discovering pitchfork these days are going to know it as a music focused lifestyle mag, not as much underground indie tastemakers. Foo Fighters are pop stars just like anyone else ...but I guess it does feel like reviewing a new Phish album or something.

On top of that there is basically no dividing line between "indie" and "radio pop" fandoms these days. The snobs used to judge you for listening to "mainstream" music- now you're going to be judged for dismissing it.

Sam Sodomsky's Phish reviews are very good, though. And I think this Foo Fighters review (not by Sodomsky) has some good lines, and ends extremely strong:

On the other side of every Foo Fighters song is a darker, wilder, more interesting world that Grohl has cordoned off out of self-preservation. Instead, he writes music out of a sense of duty and fear, knowing that choosing the wrong path could end the healthy, inspiring enterprise he has worked tirelessly to create. As the Foo Fighters’ legacy becomes tied with epic and communal live shows steeped in their long and narrow canon, it feels like a bellwether for rock’n’roll itself. Where rock once held limitless sway over pop culture, now the fate of traditional arena rock rests in a band whose music suggests they are terrified of seeing it die, gripping their songs so tight that they are strangling the life out of them. Foo Fighters’ greatest achievement, “Everlong,” still outshines every other song in their catalog, because it is their guiding principle: to remain in perpetual motion, to never stop feeling this good, to sing along with you forever. But everything dies, baby, that’s a fact.

well written but i really can't stand equating the health of rock music with the new foo fighters or jack white record

I read it as the health of the Foo Fighters brand

well, it's "the fate of traditional arena rock," and seems like a fair observation(?)

(I guess it does say "rock'n'roll itself" before that)

true

The one time I saw the Foo Fighters live it certainly felt "communal" but it was far from "epic." If I had to sum up its vibe in a single word, I would say it felt "contractual."

I've seen them twice, once opening for the Chili Peppers in 2000 and again in 2005 for the Foozer tour with Weezer. I thought they were much better in 2000 but clearly more interested in being "fun" by 2005.

lol Josh

"we just wanted to get back to basics - five guys, in a room, under contract"

I saw them twice at E3 parties, they were good for that type of event

I know lots of people forgive the Foos because Grohl is a nice guy, but I forgive the Foos continued existence because it makes me happy that Pat Smear ended up with such a payday.

yeah that is cool

I am all about Pat Smear gettin’ paid

Watching the band perform on the Inaugeration thing, my wife & I made the obligatory "can you believe it?" Pat Smear remark

For someone who likes best of you but has basically avoided these guys but is curious, what are five undeniably great ff songs? Read a piece on prince who said he thought they could really do justice to his rock material so I guess there has to be something there.

my five fave Foos jams:

Aurora
Everlong
Generator
Exhausted
Alone + Easy Target

I think the first three albums are pretty great, but I can definitely agree with what the reviewer above says about there being a wild, dark and unpredictable world that Dave is consciously cordoning off. I don't think it takes much imagination to figure out why, but Foos are the very antithesis of "dangerous".

Also most of the five tunes I chose above are pretty unabashedly power-pop ballads. I think Dave is pretty great at writing those, being steeped and schooled in classic rock trope and cliche. At his best he revitalises those tropes and cliches, but I can't remember the last Foos album that wasn't a couple of inspired highlights and a lot of tracks that simply don't need to exist.

Thanks. I've see them live on TV and always thought they were good but left it at that. I imagine their greatest hits comp (is there any point to those anymore?) would be the perfect ff album.

I guess so - but I'm a fan of the album tracks on the first three.

Their greatest hits comp notably omits I'll Stick Around, which is irritating.

(the omission, not the song)

On the other side of every Foo Fighters song is a darker, wilder, more interesting world that Grohl has cordoned off out of self-preservation. Instead, he writes music out of a sense of duty and fear

see no this is exactly the kind of bullshit I was talking about. you don't actually know why dave grohl writes music and claiming you do makes me think you're full of shit.

"nobody can read anybody's minds so no-one should hazard a guess why anyone does things" is an interesting take on a website where users claim to know the reasons and secret impulses of others on a daily, hourly, minutely basis

"hazarding a guess" oh is that what he's doing there

On the other side of every Larson review is a funnier, truer, more insightful world that Larson has cordoned off out of insecurity. Instead, he writes music reviews out of a sense of duty and fear.

wow such insight

Dave keeps rock alive, whoever that is keeps rock journalism alive. Why, we will never know.

it's 2021 simon i don't really have the time to explain music journalism to you

that's just duty and fear talking

pathway to the Dark Side iirc

i think maybe i’ve expressed in this very thread how disappointing the foo fighters greatest hits actually is. they put “skin & bones” on it ffs, gross

i have a little less love for the There Is Nothing Left To Lose album tracks, but thanks for the reminder on "Aurora," I'd forgotten that one! my favorite deep cut on that record at the time was "Live-In Skin." a lot of the stuff from that album and The Colour and the Shape is just hard on my ears these days - i wish i could still hear the "Doll" to "Monkey Wrench" transition the way i could in 1997 - but i do respond to all those shiny multitracked hooks. listened to TCatS yesterday straight through for the first time in eons and there was indeed some solid power-pop on it. i think at the time i really understood them as "alternative" and couldn't perceive the through-lines to the hookier, poppier end of Classic Rock which i was also just getting into in those same years. for me, besides "Everlong," the big standout from that album is "New Way Home."

the first album is its own beast as this lo-fi, one-man-band, quickie recording thing... it's written differently, it sounds different, some of the songs are in deep fuzz-blanket territory but the hooks are still there... even the poppiest thing on it, "Big Me," basically gets him as far as sounding like "Take the Skinheads Bowling." it's great. you can easily imagine it being the only thing released under the Foo Fighters name, in a world where he'd chosen a new name when recruiting the band (like the Julie Ruin -> Le Tigre shift).

had they put it out right after wasting light and not fucked up the tracklist with boring acoustic songs no one has ever liked (or had they never recorded “wheels”)... alas

i assume it’s record company fuckery that kept the x-files soundtrack version of “walking after you” off that collection too. the injustice! etc.

xp

even grohl didn't like the greatest hits tracklist iirc

any mention of how Dave Grohl is the nicest guy ever should also be accompanied by his AIDS denialism

had they put it out right after wasting light and not fucked up the tracklist with boring acoustic songs no one has ever liked

Wasting Light proved for me that they are still pretty good at being a big obnoxious hooky arena rock act but, at this point, pretty bad at everything else

“rope” and “walk” are top-tier foos singles def

would listen to a whole album of "white limo" style dumb ragers