July 4, 1995 - Foo Fighters and Foo Fighters

Two months after my last release a new band joins my library when Foo Fighters released their debut album "Foo Fighters" on July 4, 1995. But who are Foo Fighters? Well, at this point, it's just one guy! All the instruments, the guitars, bass, drums and vocals are all done by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl! Dave recorded this album in just one week, as a cathartic way to deal with the death of his bandmate Kurt Cobain, and after he recorded it he chose the name Foo Fighters to hide his identity. The album generated so much popularity that Grohl signed a record deal and recruited a full band. It's pretty crazy that Nirvana's drummer can also play guitar and bass, as well as sing pretty well! Grohl unsurprisingly plays a grunge-y style of rock and I'm interested to see what Foo Fighters has to offer!

This album begins with "This Is A Call" and Grohl shows us right away that he's more than capable of playing all the parts to a catchy rock riff with some predictably good drums, some solid bass, a simple but catchy guitar riff and a pretty solid singing voice as well! The verse and chorus are pretty similar but it's hard not to headbang along to this catchy and hard-hitting opener. Up next is "I'll Stick Around" and Grohl once again combines some solid guitar, bass and drums to form another toe-tapping main riff. The verse is fairly quiet but Grohl sounds good shouting "I don't owe you anything" in the chorus and he sounds good singing the name of the song in a new bridge riff as well. The first two songs were also the first two singles, and both were pretty solid tunes. Track 3 was probably the biggest single off this album, the short song "Big Me" and it has a much quieter and chill vibe than the first two singles. Grohl leads the way with a light and fluffy guitar riff and he sings in a nice high voice to match the mood. This covers the whole two-plus minutes and although it's short, it's another pretty catchy song. The next track is "Alone + Easy Target" and it's still a little slow, but it's back to the loud electric guitars in a nice grunge-y main riff. Grohl doesn't really jump off the page in any of these songs (no guitar solos or really straying from the main riffs) but everything sounds really tight and solid and he's clearly pretty good at everything, which is pretty impressive. Track 5 is "Good Grief" and we're back to a nice fast pace as Dave plays a repetitive main riff and sings a light verse overtop. The chorus is short but has Grohl sounding a little distorted which gives a heavy feel and then there's a little break of cool guitar before he does it all again. This is certainly Grohl's showiest song so far and I like it and think he does a solid job of being the lead guitarist briefly, even though he seems like more of a rhythm guitarist most of the time. Up next is "Floaty" and it has an acoustic intro before Grohl nicely snaps into the electric main riff. The verse is long and breezy and flows nicely and the chorus is a little louder bit pretty repetitive. There's a couple nice heavier parts inbetween the main riffs with some nice drum fills by Dave. Track 7 is "Weenie Beenie" and it's a short and fast-paced song with a catchy main riff. Grohl's vocals sound very distorted in this song and it adds a nice heavy vibe to things. He switches to a new guitar riff a couple times that is pretty cool and these two riffs cover the whole song. Up next is "Oh, George" and it's a slower song with a pretty grunge-y main riff. Everything is pretty simple, including the long guitar solo, but it fits the mood nicely and it's a breezy tune. Track 9 was another single titled "For All The Cows" and the main riff is a quiet acoustic one that is pretty smooth. Grohl sings nicely overtop for the verse and everything shifts to a nice heavy chorus with some loud electric guitars and some nice loud yelling vocals. Everything quiets right down for the verse and then hits into another loud chorus. The final verse is played loud instead of quiet and it sounds pretty cool as they jam out the final chorus. The next song is "X-Static" and it has a pretty sweet main riff that is hard not to headbang to. Grohl plays some great drums in this one and although his singing is pretty light on this song, everything else sounds nice and loud and pretty sweet. Track 11 is the short "Wattershed" and Grohl plays another loud and catchy guitar riff backed by some catchy bass and drums. He yells the vocals of this song and he sounds pretty good yelling over the heavy music. The final song on the album is "Exhausted" and it's also the longest at just under six minutes. Grohl starts with a quiet but catchy guitar riff and a slightly muted riff forms around it for this fuzzy feeling surrounding things. Grohl sings lightly overtop and jams out a couple verses before a nice electric guitar riff enters and spices things up. After a but more jamming the song seems to reach and end with some loud feedback, but they kick into one more long jam sesh before finally finishing things off.

That is the end of "Foo Fighters" and I thought it was a solid album. None of the songs were really awesome, but they were all solid and Dave Grohl shows that he's not just an excellent drummer, but he's a good guitar player, singer and songwriter as well! For something that Dave was just doing for himself, this is a pretty solid debut album. I look forward to seeing where Foo Fighters will go from here!