As their headline set at Reading yesterday
comprised of six of the twelve songs from this their debut, I wanted to go back and listen
to it for the first time in probably a decade or more.
I really loved FOO FIGHTERS the album when it came out
but other than the last Foos album, Wasting Light, I’ve thought Dave Grohl has
struggled to deliver an album as consistent or truly exciting as their debut. Although
I realize a lot of people would disagree with me. Although every Foo Fighter record
is guaranteed to contain some great rock tracks, you do always know what you’re
going to get. They’re just a little too predictable. To paraphrase a friend of
mine, they belligerently bash you about the head with the same old
one-dimensional tricks.
Maybe part of the reason I like this first
album so much is that it was a real surprise. Beyond a single Nirvana B-side
(‘Marigold’) no one expected Dave Grohl to be such an accomplished musician or
songwriter. Sure he was an incredible drummer, but to go in to the studio and
over the period of a single week and record every single instrument and sing every vocal
as he does on this the Foo Fighters debut was inconceivable. They went some way
to filling a hole in that gulf left by his former band.
The other reason I like this album best, is
that unlike the more recent Foos albums it doesn’t follow that moderate rock
middle ground that they've made their own. Certainly it has big radio-friendly rock tracks (‘This Is a
Call’, ‘For All The Cows’), the melodic semi-acoustic number (the lovely ‘Big
Me’) but it also has some frenetic hardcore and punk rock moments such as ‘Weenie
Beenie’ or ‘Wattershed’. The latter is probably my favourite track on the
record. The guitar playing is great, but Dave’s drumming is just awesomely
heavy.
The other reason it still sounds so great
is that it is probably the Foo Fighter album that sounds most like Nirvana. But
I guess that was hardly surprising given that apparently nine of the songs were
composed either during or just before Grohl was part of Nirvana. What’s also
quite amazing to think, given how long Grohl has been in the public eye, is
that he was only 25 when he recorded the album. An amazingly talented guy and despite
the fact we know Foo Fighters as a band now, this is really an absolutely incredible solo record.
‘GOOD GRIEF’
‘WATTERSHED’
‘EXHAUSTED’
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