Foo Fighters, I used to love thee
June 17th 2008 12:10
One from the archives. Crestfallen from what I deemed to be a sub-par release from one of my favourite bands, 20-year-old me wrote this in 2005.
Old news, perhaps. Irrelevant? You decide...
Review: In Your Honor (2005) by Foo Fighters
Are there any other rock music fans out there realising how spoiled for choice we were in the 1990s? A whole generation of innovative new bands – Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, Oasis – brought the music scene back down to earth after the fun but often empty sugary pop-filled 1980s. It was a time when you could say ‘rock music’ without the blush of having used an irrelevant term.
The story of alternative rock in the ‘90s – often bleated to the skies and into canonical status ad nauseam by pretentious and nostalgic fans alike – goes a little like this: four golden years that even hard-nosed naysayers would say offered promise; then Kurt Cobain’s sudden death in 1994 shocked the world and irreversibly altered the course of rock music. The Messiah, dead at 27, the masochists of music fandom cried. Only the good die young.
Fast-forward to the 2000s and Cobain’s influence aside, rock is floundering in post-modern repetitiveness and calling out for fresh voices once again. Coldplay and The Killers are smart, interesting bands, but a little too clean cut and pretty for your average rock fan. As for The Mars Volta – perhaps too tangential and overly-complicated for most ears – they will probably never aim for a significant mainstream following. Rock should appeal to the masses.
In the mid-1990s, that’s where Foo Fighters filled the void. Out of the ashes of Nirvana rose a wisecracking, horse-faced kid named Dave Grohl. The boy behind the drums of the heralded grunge-rock king had learned to play guitar and sing at the same time. The Messiah may have been dead, but the Court Jester had inherited the throne and the kingdom would keep on rocking.
Moving on from mourning his friend and using his ample credibility from playing in Nirvana – for which he would be heavily criticised later – he launched Foo Fighters in 1995. Enlisting Nirvana’s tour guitarist, Pat Smear, and former Sunny Day Real Estate rhythm section, Nate Mendel (bass) and William Goldsmith (drums), the Foo Fighters hit the mid-1990s music scene running.
Blending pop melodies and hard-rock riffs, the band produced a unique sound and word was spreading that this was no Nirvana Mk II.
The Foos had quickly become a main voice of the post-Nirvana generation: those too young to remember Cobain cannot help but smile at the very mention of the fun-loving Foos lead singer.
Ten years on, with four albums and Rolling Stone magazine’s “best rock band in the world” tag on their resume, In Your Honor was released. Touted by Grohl as their best album yet – their Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin’s iconic double-album – the double-album has sold well, earning them many new fans. Sadly, it has largely alienated many their older followers.
The album splits up their distinctive blend of rock and melody into two discs – one rocking (‘Hard’), one acoustic (‘Not So Hard’). In attempting to emulate their heroes with a double-album, Grohl and co. have divorced the two elements of their trademark and one of the best marriages in recent rock history. But like most break-ups, those closest to them could see it coming.
Even the most ardent of Foo fan could see danger signs from as early as There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999). They were becoming almost predictable, so settled in their groove that they struggled to produce anything new. One by One (2002) proved it, and current single D.O.A is just asking for a mean-spirited pun from the hordes of pretentious tragics.
In Your Honor is not so much a double-album as two half albums. Half-baked and hard to swallow, they’ve been down this road before and their tyres are getting worn. Bitch-cynics may well be calling their next album There Is Nothing Left to Give
This is not the band who gave young, pony-tailed Channel-V presenter, Andrew G and an intimate crowd a short but searing set on the old VHQ in 1999. Not the band whose singles, ‘Generator’ and ‘Learn to Fly’, soared on the airwaves in 1999 and 2000. Not even the band that blew away the Hordern Pavilion crowd in Sydney in early 2003.
On current form, they’re proving their harshest critics right – becoming a band that rests on their laurels of fame that produces mediocre rock music.
To conclude a tale of woe, this reviewer has to ask, would the real Foo Fighters please stand up? Will they ever again? If they do, older generations of fans may not have the patience to stick around and hear it.
** out of *****
Old news, perhaps. Irrelevant? You decide...
Review: In Your Honor (2005) by Foo Fighters
Where’s the rock?
If Foo Fighters can’t deliver, who can?
If Foo Fighters can’t deliver, who can?
Are there any other rock music fans out there realising how spoiled for choice we were in the 1990s? A whole generation of innovative new bands – Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, Oasis – brought the music scene back down to earth after the fun but often empty sugary pop-filled 1980s. It was a time when you could say ‘rock music’ without the blush of having used an irrelevant term.
The story of alternative rock in the ‘90s – often bleated to the skies and into canonical status ad nauseam by pretentious and nostalgic fans alike – goes a little like this: four golden years that even hard-nosed naysayers would say offered promise; then Kurt Cobain’s sudden death in 1994 shocked the world and irreversibly altered the course of rock music. The Messiah, dead at 27, the masochists of music fandom cried. Only the good die young.
Fast-forward to the 2000s and Cobain’s influence aside, rock is floundering in post-modern repetitiveness and calling out for fresh voices once again. Coldplay and The Killers are smart, interesting bands, but a little too clean cut and pretty for your average rock fan. As for The Mars Volta – perhaps too tangential and overly-complicated for most ears – they will probably never aim for a significant mainstream following. Rock should appeal to the masses.
In the mid-1990s, that’s where Foo Fighters filled the void. Out of the ashes of Nirvana rose a wisecracking, horse-faced kid named Dave Grohl. The boy behind the drums of the heralded grunge-rock king had learned to play guitar and sing at the same time. The Messiah may have been dead, but the Court Jester had inherited the throne and the kingdom would keep on rocking.
Moving on from mourning his friend and using his ample credibility from playing in Nirvana – for which he would be heavily criticised later – he launched Foo Fighters in 1995. Enlisting Nirvana’s tour guitarist, Pat Smear, and former Sunny Day Real Estate rhythm section, Nate Mendel (bass) and William Goldsmith (drums), the Foo Fighters hit the mid-1990s music scene running.
Blending pop melodies and hard-rock riffs, the band produced a unique sound and word was spreading that this was no Nirvana Mk II.
The Foos had quickly become a main voice of the post-Nirvana generation: those too young to remember Cobain cannot help but smile at the very mention of the fun-loving Foos lead singer.
Ten years on, with four albums and Rolling Stone magazine’s “best rock band in the world” tag on their resume, In Your Honor was released. Touted by Grohl as their best album yet – their Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin’s iconic double-album – the double-album has sold well, earning them many new fans. Sadly, it has largely alienated many their older followers.
The album splits up their distinctive blend of rock and melody into two discs – one rocking (‘Hard’), one acoustic (‘Not So Hard’). In attempting to emulate their heroes with a double-album, Grohl and co. have divorced the two elements of their trademark and one of the best marriages in recent rock history. But like most break-ups, those closest to them could see it coming.
Even the most ardent of Foo fan could see danger signs from as early as There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999). They were becoming almost predictable, so settled in their groove that they struggled to produce anything new. One by One (2002) proved it, and current single D.O.A is just asking for a mean-spirited pun from the hordes of pretentious tragics.
In Your Honor is not so much a double-album as two half albums. Half-baked and hard to swallow, they’ve been down this road before and their tyres are getting worn. Bitch-cynics may well be calling their next album There Is Nothing Left to Give
This is not the band who gave young, pony-tailed Channel-V presenter, Andrew G and an intimate crowd a short but searing set on the old VHQ in 1999. Not the band whose singles, ‘Generator’ and ‘Learn to Fly’, soared on the airwaves in 1999 and 2000. Not even the band that blew away the Hordern Pavilion crowd in Sydney in early 2003.
On current form, they’re proving their harshest critics right – becoming a band that rests on their laurels of fame that produces mediocre rock music.
To conclude a tale of woe, this reviewer has to ask, would the real Foo Fighters please stand up? Will they ever again? If they do, older generations of fans may not have the patience to stick around and hear it.
** out of *****
| 48 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
Comment by jon
Orble News
Urban Hint
Blog Adviser
Jon's Bookmarks
Debate Battle
Orblepedia
Orble Notes
Sydney WeekendNotes
You may also need to add the email address admin -at- orblemail.com to your address book in order to receive Orble admin emails in the future.
Thanks,
Jon.
(Orble Admin)
Comment by Jason Gray
Caulfield's Ghost
Football Head
Sent you guys email, so hopefully they've been getting through.
Thanks,
Jason