The Foo Fighters Thread

[LordCost]

ALRIGHT YOU RANKERS 

1. The Colour And The Shape
2. Foo Fighters
3. Wasting Light

- St. Cecilia -

4. Echoes, Silence, Patience, Grace
5. There Is Nothing Left To Lose
6. In Your Honour

7. Sonic Highways
8. One By One
9. Concrete And Gold.


Not only is Concrete and Gold their worst album BY A MILE. It's also one of the worst rock albums i've ever heard. I genuinely think it's unlistenable and much worse than St . Anger.

I was SO disappointed. Especially since RUN ( funny since the main riff was like Pantera's Walk played faster ) - was such a great single.

Terrible terrible album.

I think it is at least better than One By One, In Your Honor and Sonic Highways. I would probably put it above the self titled too, which you put as second, but apart first three tracks I can't recall much of the self titled, so for that one I can't judge.

[KevShmev]

I got big into this band for a while in the mid to late 00's, but they kind of fell off the radar for me after Wasting Light, which I really liked.  I don't think I've heard anything from their last two albums. 

[Kotowboy]

I got big into this band for a while in the mid to late 00's, but they kind of fell off the radar for me after Wasting Light, which I really liked.  I don't think I've heard anything from their last two albums.

I hated Concrete And Gold but it did make Sonic Highways sound a lot better - which is itself really radio friendly middle of the road rock. Nothing special at all. But at least the production is stellar.

C & G was produced by a pop music producer who Grohl admitted * never produced a rock album before *.  And it shows.

Wasting Light is indeed their last great album - and that was nearly 10 years ago.

The other thing that annoys me about FF is that every thing they do now has to be a gimmick.

When was the last time they just went in a studio and recorded an album without it being LOOK WHAT WE DID ?!

One By One maybe ?!

[ReaperKK]

Oh man I had concrete and gold on my list to listen to next. I can't wait to hear what it's all about.

[Stadler]

I got big into this band for a while in the mid to late 00's, but they kind of fell off the radar for me after Wasting Light, which I really liked.  I don't think I've heard anything from their last two albums.

I hated Concrete And Gold but it did make Sonic Highways sound a lot better - which is itself really radio friendly middle of the road rock. Nothing special at all. But at least the production is stellar.

C & G was produced by a pop music producer who Grohl admitted * never produced a rock album before *.  And it shows.

Wasting Light is indeed their last great album - and that was nearly 10 years ago.

The other thing that annoys me about FF is that every thing they do now has to be a gimmick.

When was the last time they just went in a studio and recorded an album without it being LOOK WHAT WE DID ?!

One By One maybe ?!

I'm with you on most of that, at least as regards the band (I'm not intimate with all the music; the only thing I have from them that I listen to with any regularity is Medium Rare and Skin And Bones.  They are a "Greatest Hits" band for me.)

I SHOULD by all rights love Dave Grohl; he's a kind of Portnoy in a sense - I've actually called him the "Phil Collins of the 2010's" - and his love for the music is evident.  But there's something about him that FOR ME betrays that "aw shucks, I'm just a regular guy doin' my thing" schtick.   I can't name specific things right now, because I'm not close enough to it, but it strikes me that if he was all that and a bag of chips, things would look different than they do. 

[KevShmev]

While they dabbled with some acoustic stuff on In Your Honor and Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, you pretty much always know what you're going to get from this band and they rarely stray too far from their normal sound and style.  I have said it before and I will say it again: they are the modern day AC/DC. (that is not meant to be a criticism)

[Volante99]

Hot take: Wasting Light is the last great ROCK album to hit #1.

[Anguyen92]

When was the last time they just went in a studio and recorded an album without it being LOOK WHAT WE DID ?!

One By One maybe ?!

Hasn't that been the case for almost all of the albums?

Self-Titled: Dave Grohl plays all of the instruments
The Colour and the Shape: First album recorded as a band
There Is Nothing Left to Lose: Album recorded in Dave's hometown in VA and only as a 3-piece.
One by One: Maybe that's the only one with no big gimmick
In Your Honor: Double-album:  Half electric, half acoustic.
Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace: I don't think there is a gimmick, but mainly they experimented more with blending acoustics with the heavy stuff in the same song.
Wasting Light: Recorded in analog and in Dave's house in LA.
Sonic Highways: Recorded in eight different cities in the States
Concrete And Gold: Album produced by a pop producer.

I wasn't too impressed with Concrete and Gold.  Run was very good as a lead single, but I didn't like The Sky is a Neighborhood.  Honestly, I had very little desire to relisten to it in full again unlike Wasting Light, There is Nothing Left to Lose, and even Sonic Highways where I didn't feel like it's a drag listening to those albums in full.

[fadetoblackdude7]

I hated C&G when it came out. Spinned it maybe twice and that was it. But very slowly, random riffs and songs started to pop up in my memory and it grew on me. Definitely a slow burner and I’d rank it probably in the middle. Dirty Water and Arrows are my favs from it.

[Kotowboy]

I am f---ing SHOCKED that literally NOBODY else has ever mentioned how APPALLING it sounds..

I find " La De Daa " Literally unlistenable.

It sounds like they recorded it on a boom box in a warehouse.

It's dreadful.


---

In My opinion it makes Saint Anger sound like The Black Album.

[Zydar]

New album is on the way, 'Medicine At Midnight'. Coming some time next year.

https://www.amazon.com/Medicine-At-Midnight-Foo-Fighters/dp/B08MVZFBFN?tag=ultimategui0f-20

We also have a brand new single from the upcoming album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1G6-RUz3OA&feature=emb_title

[Kotowboy]

New single is OK but for me the last truly great album was Wasting Light TEN years ago. . .

I'm hearing this new album is most like that one - but they're no longer one of my favourite bands.

Too many sub par albums in a row and way too many gimmicks.

Sad really since I was a fan since the first album.

If Medicine At Midnight is another stinker - i'm probably done with the band.

[DoctorAction]

They're a funny band for me. They've always reminded me of The Wildhearts but nowhere near as good.

They have some amazing tracks but I never listen to any of their albums all the way through.

[Zydar]

Apparently it's going to be a "groove oriented party album".

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/upcoming_releases/dave_grohl_says_new_foo_fighters_is_disco_groove-oriented_party_album_talks_if_nicest_guy_in_rock_reputation_bothers_him.html

[Stadler]

They're a funny band for me. They've always reminded me of The Wildhearts but nowhere near as good.

They have some amazing tracks but I never listen to any of their albums all the way through.

I think I'm saying something similar to you and Kotowboy, but... this is a band that, on paper, I should LOVE, but I don't.  I have the Greatest Hits, the acoustic show (Skin And Bones, I think) and Medium Rare (a covers compilation) but when I dig in to the albums, I'm bored.   I don't like Grohl's screaming, so there's that, and the music just doesn't grab me.   So even though I like that they do cool covers, and they are music geeks, in conjunction with the original music, it's got a hispter, contrived feel for me.   Like "hey, look how COOL we are!  We're embracing Rush!  We like Kiss!"

[DoctorAction]

I like his screaming. I'm less keen on his cleans, I think. As you say, should love it but... I'm this way with Alter Bridge too.

Wasting Light was very solid. I used to run to it a lot when it came out. Not been back to it, tho.

Everlong and Pretender are AMAZING tracks, afaic.

[Kotowboy]

Wasting Light was a top 3 Foos album along with the debut and The Colour & The Shape.

Their trouble is they have way too many boring AOR middle of the road songs and albums.

Sonic Highways was just OK and as a follow up to Wasting Light it was pitiful.

Concrete and Gold is probably the worst sounding rock album i've ever heard. By far their worst album. By a long way.

St. Cecilia was a decent one-off EP . But as I said it's now been TEN YEARS since their last truly great album and they just rely on gimmicks more than solid music.

And also - they made such a big deal of getting the Sound City desk and made both a film and a (non foos) album to go along with it.

And since then have not used it ONCE to record a Foo Fighters album. That's f-ing mental to me. You have your very own recording studio

with a legendary console. And then you never use it.

[ReaperKK]

I think Wasting Light and In Your Honor are my top tier FF albums. I have a sentimental place for IYH simply because it was the first FF I got.

[Kotowboy]

It's hard to rank FF albums cause apart from the really good or really awful ones - most of them are just bleh...

But easier in tiers 

The Colour And The Shape
Wasting Light
Foo Fighters


There Is Nothing Left To Lose
Echoes, Silence, Patience, Grace
In Your Honour Disc 1 then Disc 2. I don't think i've ever listened to Disc 2 in full mainly because FF ballads and slow songs are beyond dull. **


Sonic Highways
One By One
Concrete And Gold



Actually that was really easy   - And I always forget about the song Wheels. Great song.


------------------------------------


** Dave seems to think all ballads ever should be " Singing in a hushed voice and every so gently strumming a clean guitar or acoustic and drums play with brushes

or every so gently tap them with sticks ". I can't get on board with songs like that in the slightest.

[Kotowboy]

Shame, Shame

No Son Of Mine

Waiting On A War

-----

So far this album is like a cross between St. Cecilia and Sonic Highways. And so far sounds A LOT BETTER than Concrete and Gold - which imo was f--ing dreadful. 

I usually give my favourite bands three shit albums in a row before I stop listening to them. Wasting Light was amazing and up there with the first two / three albums

Sonic Highways was middle of the road AOR but was *fine*. Concrete and Gold was Dreadful. This album needs to be as good as Wasting Light.

And so far - as far as I know - no stupid gimmick to promote the album.



No " we recorded to tape in my shed ! "  or " We recorded in 8 different studios with 8 different guests ! " or " We used a pop producer who's never made a rock album before

and made the worst sounding rock album ever made " ...

I really liked " Run " ( a sped up version of Pantera's Walk ? hehe ). But nothing else from the last album.

 So far this new album doesn't sound like they recorded onto a boom box in an empty warehouse.

[soupytwist]

The first two albums still had a Nirvana influence on them, being somewhat quirky and angry.   After that they changed in to a rather meat and veg rock band, still capable of knocking out a few great songs on occasions, but generally a lot of their stuff is quiet forgettable.

[twosuitsluke]

Ranking the Foos? Don't think I've ever thought about it. They've been a band that I've followed (for close to 20 years) but never considered them as one of my favourite bands. They are just a really solid reliable band, but never one I've obsessed over.

1. The Color and the Shape
2. Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
3. One By One
4. There is Nothing Left to Lose
5. Wasted Light

6. Foo Fighters
7. In Your Honor
8. Sonic Highways
9. Concrete and Gold

There is a distinct drop off, after my top 5, for me.

I'm surprised to see One By One so low in people's rankings, I always liked that album (although it was the first album I owned by them, so it's likely just that).

Also, I've never been a fan of In Your Honor. I've always thought Best of You is easily their most overrated song and as lead single I think it shaped my overall opinion about In Your Honor. None of the songs really stuck.

[Kotowboy]

In Your Honor - the rock side is pretty average and sounds like theyre trying too hard and the acoustic side is completely forgettable.

It backs up my assertion that Raskulinecz doesn't get the best out of the bands he works with. And Shogun by trivium was a fluke.

[EPICVIEW]

Huge Nirvana Fan,
I liked the first CD by FOO and saw them on that tour but since then Im not a fan

[Kotowboy]

No Son Of Mine Live



This is pretty good. That live sound too. Sounds way better than the last album.  It'll always confuse me the number of bands who sound amazing live

- have access to the best studios and gear and producers - and time and time again - make albums that sound like a fuckin' distorted mess.

I think some musicians ( like Grohl ) think that to make an album sound "fuckin' huge" - everything has to be peaking so it's distorting

and you have to put tons of reverb on literally everything.









.

[twosuitsluke]

Just coming here to echo what someone had recently said about Wheels. It's an amazing song that people might have missed (because it was a song that was only released on the greatest hits, as far as I know).

Possibly a hot take, but I think Wheels and Hey, Johnny Park! are their two best songs!

[Kotowboy]

I  love Wheels. I always forget it exists too. It's like Tom Petty's Learning To Fly ( ironically ) - in that it's the same 4 chords over and over for the whole song.

[MinistroRaven]

Who wants to review this one?

[Kotowboy]

I've been a fan of Foo Fighters since the first album so i'll happily post my thoughts of the new album on Friday  


My Top 3 albums are

1. Foo Fighters
2. The Colour And The Shape
3. Wasting Light.


My Bottom 3 are


7. In Your Honour
8. One By One
9. Concrete And Gold



I thought Sonic Highways was a bit bland coming after Wasting Light - but I played the whole CD recently whilst playing some Zelda - and it's a decent album. Way better than what followed.

St. Cecilia is a neat little EP too.

[twosuitsluke]

Just listening to the new album and enjoying it so far. It's a short album (there seems to be a lot of them so far this year, and I'm fine with that). Waiting on a War is great and exactly the sort of song I feel I've not heard from the Foos in a while. Early favourite for sure!

[Zydar]

I really enjoy this album, for me it's much better than Concrete & Gold. It simply has more songs that I like.

[Kotowboy]

I really enjoy this album, for me it's much better than Concrete & Gold. It simply has more songs that I like.

This. Actually sounds like Foo Fighters and doesn't sound like it was recorded on a ghetto blaster in a warehouse.

" La De Da " from the last album was literally unlistenable.


...Cloudspotter from the new album reminds me of " Wind Up " or " My Poor Brain " from The Colour And The Shape 

They've not sounded like that in a long time.

...and that chromatic riff reminds me of Weenie Beenie !

[Kotowboy]

The production on this album is LIGHT DECADES better than Concrete And Gold. It sounds like The Colour And The Shape ! 

[Kotowboy]

OMG Holding Poison sounds just like The Colour And The Shape !!

I thought that version of Foo Fighters was gone forever 



-----

Ok so this is the best album they've done in TEN YEARS.

[ReaperKK]

I completely forgot this was coming out but now I'm getting excited to listen to it.