May 20, 1997 - The Colour And The Shape

Six days after my last release and nearly two years since "Foo Fighters", Foo Fighters released their second album "The Colour And The Shape" on May 20, 1997. Dave Grohl did all the instruments on the debut album, but this is the first Foo release to have (mostly) a whole band. Joining Grohl on guitar is Pat Smear, who helped out on guitar for Nirvana's live performances. The rhythm section was taken from the band Sunny Day Real Estate as both Nate Mendel (bass) and William Goldsmith (drums) joined to finish off the foursome. However, Goldsmith's drumming was deemed to be not good enough for the record and so all the drums are still done by Grohl on this album. Goldsmith was upset that his parts were cut and he quit the band soon after recording finished. Let's listen to what a full band of Foo Fighters sounds like!

The album kicks off with a short song called "Doll" and it's a very light intro song with Grohl singing softly overtop some acoustic guitar. It's nothing special, but it's just a little intro. Up next is the first real song, the very succesful hit single "Monkey Wrench". One guitarist plays a pretty heavy main riff and the other guitarist does a great job of playing a lighter, faster guitar riff overtop that mixes beautifully. Grohl sounds pretty good on vocals and this song is somehow catchy and made-for-radio, but also a solid headbanger! It's hard not to bop your head and sing along to this one. Grohl goes off on a long spiel in the middle of the song and his singing slowly turns into a nice yell by the end that shows that Grohl could probably front a metal band as well! Especially for a single, this was a really good song. Track 3 is "Hey, Johnny Park!" and it's got a nice and decently heavy chorus riff to start things off, but the verse is much quieter and simpler and led by Grohl's light singing. The chorus is better, but it's fairly simple as well and this is a good, but definitely not great song. The next track is "My Poor Brain" and it has two very different parts. The verse is really light and fluffy with Grohl singing in a very high voice that is not my favourite. The chorus on the other hand is a banger with some great heavy guitars and some much better singing by Dave. The new riff in the middle is the same but in the opposite order. It starts off nice and loud and cool, and then calms down before they rejoin the main cycle again. The heavy parts sounded great! Track 5 is "Wind Up" and for just two and a half minutes it packs a good punch. It's got a catchy main riff with some nice loud guitars and some nice drumming by Grohl. He sings a solid verse and chorus that flow right into one another and after jamming through a couple times Dave yells/almost screams a whole verse. He sounds pretty awesome in my opinion and I love that he can pull this visceral yell/near scream out for nice effect, it spiced up this short song, which overall was pretty solid! Up next is "Up In Arms" and it sounds more like the debut album with a quiet first verse, but then they flip the switch and play a much faster and cooler version of the same verse. It also has a short guitar solo that isn't too flashy, but it sounds pretty epic and it fits this nice upbeat style. This was a cool little song despite only being a couple minutes. Track 7 is another megahit of a single, "My Hero". Everyone does a great job in their role on this song: Mendel plays some solid bass, Smear and Grohl combine for some epic harmonized guitars, and Grohl's drumming is superb throughout, especially in the catchy chorus. Dave is singing as well, and he's proving that he can be not just a drummer, but the frontman of a cool rock band! This song, like "Monkey Wrench", is able to be radio-friendly while still being pretty hard rock. Another cool single! The next song is "See You" and it has a quiet acoustic verse and a louder, pretty catchy and upbeat chorus. It's a short song, but it's just so likable! A cool little ditty for sure. Track 9 is also a shorter one called "Enough Space" and Mendel lays down a cool bass riff to start things off and everyone nicely builds around it for a cool and plenty heavy chorus riff. The verse is quieter again, but they build nicely back to the heavy chorus and Grohl really let's loose on these yells and he sounds pretty great. Another short but pretty sweet tune. Up next is "February Stars" and the first few minutes are quite slow and light. For over three minutes they very lightly jam until things finally shift to a louder version of the chorus. It's still pretty simple, but it's at least a bit more rockin'. Track 11 is the third mega-single off this album "Everlong" and with three hugely successful singles, it's easy to see how Foo Fighters became a force in the rock scene after this album. One guitarist starts us off with a cool riff and everyone nicely builds around it until they form a catchy main riff with some nice drumming by Grohl. His singing in the verse is quiet but solid and once again they build nicely into a heavier chorus that is cool and pretty catchy. Everything is just so smooth on this one as they seamlessly roll between catchy verses and choruses. It's another pretty cool song, especially for another made-for-radio hit. The next track is "Walking After You" and it has Grohl and Smear both playing acoustic guitar and their different riffs combine nicely for a quiet and chill main riff. Grohl sings lightly overtop to match the slightly sappy mood and while this is still cool and I love acoustics, this song is pretty damn light and fluffy. It's also five minutes long, which isn't the best choice either. The final song on the album is "New Way Home" and it's got a nice rock 'n' roll main riff that is solid for a couple minutes. Things then get very quiet and they do a great job of slowly increasing the volume each time through this riff. The latter, louder half sounds pretty sweet with lots of cool guitars and Grohl sounding pretty good as he increases the volume of his yells.

That is the end of "The Colour And The Shape" and I thought it was a pretty cool album. When it was just Dave Grohl on the debut, things sounded good for sure  but it was definitely more of a demo feel. This album feels like the band's true debut, and they absolutely nailed the balance between hard rock and accessibility. There were some lighter parts which weren't my favourite, but most of this album was pretty good and I think it easily surpasses the self-titled debut. I look forward to seeing where the Foo go from here!