Released on July 4th 1995, the Foo Fighters debut album came just over a year after Kurt Cobains death. To some Nirvana fans, a new band fronted by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl should have been a continuation of Nirvana’s DIY ant-corporate sound and ethos but instead Grohl delivered a more polished sounding effort. Perhaps it was unfair to compare the two bands but equally I get the notion that the Foo Fighters should have waited longer before putting music out. The band have of course since gone on to release several albums and become extremely popular. The 25th anniversary of this record has just passed and Foo Fighters is this months retro album review.
Dave Grohl wrote and recorded the album himself at the Robert Lang studios in Seattle, Washington. Upon its release the album received positive reviews and made the top 5 in the UK, Canada and Australia.
First single release and the first song on the album, This Is A Call, is a crashing erm call to arms that is catchy and a fast tempo introduction. I’ll Stick Around is very Nirvana, from the sound to the arrangement; you can actually picture Kurt singing. Big Me is slower and has more of a 60’s vibe. Weenie Beenie is raucous with muffled screamy effect laden vocals on a track that doesn’t seem to go anywhere or warrant any further listening. Oh, George is a glimpse into what the band would become in future years; corporate dad rockers. For All The Cows is a little ditty that is cute enough while X-Static and Wattershed are by the numbers rock filler. The album closes with an overlong jam in Exhausted.
To some, Foo Fighters are an amazing band and to those people, this is likely to be a very important album to them. However to this writer, this debut album failed to deliver and upon reflection that opinion hasn’t changed. **
You can buy the album here
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