November 2, 1999 - There Is Nothing Left To Lose

A week after my last release and two and a half years since "The Colour And The Shape", Foo Fighters released their third album "There Is Nothing Left To Lose" on November 2, 1999. Guitarist and fellow Nirvana bandmate Pat Smear has left the band so all the guitars are done by frontman Dave Grohl on this record, as well as vocals of course. Grohl is no longer on drums however though, with Taylor Hawkins joining as the Foo's new drummer. This album is a bit of a lighter turn for Foo Fighters, and unsurprisingly that also led to this being their first album to win a Grammy for Rock Record of the Year. Let's see what it's all about!

The album kicks off with "Stacked Actors" and they dive right into a catchy main riff by Grohl with Nate Mendel echoing him nicely on bass and Hawkins providing some nice loud drums. They quiet it down for the verse as Grohl sings softly to match this mood and the loud riff turns out to be a catchy chorus riff and Grohl sounds pretty good here. After the next go through Grohl holds a decently long scream that I love and wish there was more of and it leads right into a solid instrumental break before they jam out a final chorus and end things on a quiet note. A pretty solid way to kick things off! Up next is "Breakout" and it's got a fairly simple main riff that drives the song but it's at a decent pace and sounds alright. It's nothing amazing, but my head is still lightly bopping along. Grohl let's out a couple more solid screams midway through, but most of the song is pretty predictable. Track 3 is the album's big hit single "Learn To Fly" and it would become mega, mega famous. Grohl plays a smooth and catchy guitar riff to start us off and then things quiet down for the verse as Dave does a pretty good job of leading the way with a nice verse. The smooth opening riff is the chorus riff and Grohl sings a solid chorus that is undeniably catchy and it goes nicely right back in to start again. After the next round Hawkins plays some solid drums in a short new verse, then it's back to the catchy chorus to finish things off. Another song that is definitely not amazing, but it's also definitely good. The next track is "Gimme Stitches" and Grohl plays a slow and simple but also kinda catchy main guitar riff. He sings a decent verse and chorus that go hand in hand together and this seems to be the theme of this album: it's another solid song for sure, but nothing really jumps out from the main drag to really wow you. Track 5 is a less successful single called "Generator" and it's an upbeat song driven by a distorted and interesting guitar riff and Grohl sings a light verse that fits the theme perfectly. The chorus is light but pretty catchy and they don't really stray from this pairing at all. Seems like all the boxes have been checked. Up next is "Aurora" and it's got a light and fluffy main riff that Grohl plays some decent lead guitar overtop of while singing a light verse as well. The chorus is more of the same and while this is all pretty light, it is still quite listenable and radio-friendly. After a couple slow rounds they build nicely to a louder part with Hawkins getting in some good drum fills and this nicely takes us to the end of this longer song. Track 7 is "Live-In Skin" and Grohl leads the way with a solid guitar riff that hits decently hard and he sings a nice loud verse to match. This song fits the album's theme pretty perfectly: it's a solid song for sure, but once they establish the main riff they never really break from it and nothing particularly jumps out as really cool or memorable. The next track is "Next Year" and Grohl leads the way with a light but decent guitar riff and he sings a light verse to match the mood nicely. Hawkins drums are light but solid on this one and it's another perfect theme-fitter. Track 9 is "Headwires" and it's driven by a pretty simple and quiet main riff that is a little catchy but still pretty plain, as is the verse. The chorus has some louder guitars and definitely sounds better to me and after the second round it leads into a decent and loud new riff. When things quiet down they predictably and unexcitedly finish things off. Up next is "Ain't It The Life" and Grohl plays some acoustic guitar on this one as he sings and leads a quiet and chill main riff. The rhythm section sounds solid and even though it's atypical I like this lighter song as everything sounds pretty smooth. Grohl plays some cool acoustic and light electric guitars, especially at the end. The final song on the album is "M.I.A." and it starts really quiet but once it gets louder it's another light and solid main riff. Grohl sounds pretty good in the chorus yelling overtop the now louder music and it's a pretty solid chorus. Each verse seems to get louder and louder and along with the cool chorus this makes for a pretty good way to wrap things up! I think the first and last songs were the two best on the album!

That is the end of "There Is Nothing Left To Lose" and I thought it was a good album, but nothing more. Foo Fighters go really light for the majority of the album and nothing is bad, but nothing really stood out either. I don't think it's better than their debut and is easily their worst album so far. Taylor Hawkins had his moments but it wasn't his fault he didn't really get to shine. Hopefully things pick up a bit next album!