Foo Fighters may be a stadium-filling, Grammy Award winning rock colossus but back in 1994 when this eponymous debut album was recorded not only did they not have a name, as a band they didn’t even actually exist.
A few months after Kurt Cobain died, ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl walked into a Seattle studio, laid down 15 demo tracks and created one of the finest post-punk albums ever.
Apart from a single guitar riff on one track (‘X-Static’) he played every instrument and sang every note, producing 100 copies of the recording for his friends. A frenzied record company bidding war duly followed, as well as a frantic search for band name and members. (Not even the hugely talented Grohl was going to be able to play this stuff live without some help).
This is a raw album, as befits its humble origins, with far from the polished sound of more recent efforts – the muffled vocals giving it a distinctly lo-fi feel. There may be loud, overdriven guitars on most songs but it’s also surprisingly poppy and you find yourself singing along almost from the off. ‘This Is A Call’ (the first of four singles) starts off sedately enough, but soon thunders along with Grohl’s abstract lyrics suggesting a ‘thank you’ to anyone who’s helped him along the way. It’s fast-paced, feel-good stuff, perfect for radio.
Much less friendly is ‘I’ll Stick Around’, a song said to be written about Courtney Love. There’s obviously little love lost here – “how could it be”, sings Grohl, “I’m the only one who sees your rehearsed insanity.” The chorus is clearer still: “I don’t owe you anything”, he screams. Things slow down next, with the most commercial track off the album, ‘Big Me’, showcasing Grohl’s softer side in a song about relationships (”but it’s you I fell into”).
Then a song that used to feature in Nirvana’s soundchecks, ‘Alone + Easy Target’, with lyrics vague enough for any listener to take meaning from, although they do appear to relate to Grohl’s relationship with his ex-band mates: “metronome, I want out, I’m alone and an easy target”. ‘Good Grief’ is even more oblique, but lyrics like “the thought of being ousted comes and goes” seem to be another nod to Nirvana. ‘Floaty’ is great – Grohl’s voice is heavily processed, more so than anywhere else on the album, adding to the otherworldly feel of the track. It’s heavy but laid back with its fantastic refrain of “it’s not as big as what’s flown around here” (whatever that means).
‘Weenie Beenie’, (pure grunge, fun but not a song you feel like coming back to much) precedes ‘Oh George’ – a homage to Grohl’s favourite Beatle, and with great vocals. ‘For All the Cows’, one of the best tracks on the album, starts off gently enough, with soft vocals intertwined with clean, bluesy guitar chords, then hits you firmly between the eyes. Grohl’s not a happy man, and, yet again, a certain Ms Love is to blame: “It’s funny how money allows us all to browse and be endowed”, he sings, “the wish is true, it falls into places new, the cow is you.”
‘X-Static’ and ‘Watershed’ follow, the former a slow, melancholic slice of grunge, the latter seeing Grohl let rip his disdain as to the commercialisation of punk. ‘Exhausted’ rounds the album off in mellow style until collapsing into feedback about two minutes in. There are two fantastic surges of guitar during the track that sound like the song’s really going to fly, but things never quite make it, and it brings the album to a perfect end.
It’s a testament to Grohl’s talent that it really sounds like a band playing together here when, of course, it’s ‘just’ the ex-drummer from Nirvana. Never underestimate the man with the sticks, it seems.
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