I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: FOO FIGHTERS-In Your Honor Disc One (2005).

It took another couple of years before Foo Fighters’ next album came out.  Grohl was unsure what to do with the songs he had been writing.  He originally thought perhaps a film score.  But when he realized he had a whole bunch of acoustic songs, he decided to do a double album–one heavy and loud and one acoustic and mellow.

The rocking side opens with some fast guitar and Grohl’s voice kind of deep in the mix.  He is screaming as the song continues unabated.  And then about two minutes in, the song doesn’t change but the drums kick in and the song grows quite dynamic.  The song pauses near the end so that Grohl can take a breath and give a big scream to end the song.  “No Way Back” is the first great song on the album.  It’s got a fantastic opening riff and a big chorus.  It’s followed by “Best of You” a wonderful single that’s a big song with a super-sized chorus.

“D.O.A.” has a unique guitar sound for the Foos.  Not heavy metal but more punk.  Then there’s the big chorus that kind of quotes Jim Morrison “No ones getting out of here alive.”  I had this chorus in my head for a couple of days last week.  “Hell” is only two minutes long but it feels like a much more complete song–big choruses and really fast verses elevate this from what could have been filler.

“The Last Song” has a very punk feel (especially the pounding snare drums in the opening and verse).  It’s followed by “Free Me” one of my favorite Foo Fighters deep cuts.  The riff is awesome and Grohl totally unleashes as the song progresses.  There is something about the way the song seems to get busier and louder as it ends that is really cool.

“Resolve” is a nice come down from the intensity of “Free Me.”  It’s not quite as mellow as the stuff on disc two, but it definitely slows things down.  And is still very catchy.

The final two songs don’t run out their welcome (it could be that this disc is only 40 minutes, not 55 like their more recent ones)–these songs don’t drag.  “The Deepest Blues Are Black” has a cool transition from loud bashing into really grooving chorus.  It’s quite a heavy song but it’s really melodic too.  And “End Over End” is another song that gets stuck in my head over and over again.  It’s not terribly original, but it rock and is catchy as well.  I find it to be a far more successful album ender (with it’s repeating outro) than “Come Back.”

I tend to forget about this disc because the news (and guests) of disc two tended to overshadow the solid songwriting of disc one.  But this is a great Foo Fighters disc, no question.

Tomorrow’s post: Disc Two

[READ: August 29, 2012] Goodbye, Chunky Rice

I’ve read a few books by Craig Thompson and enjoyed them quite a lot.  And this one, with the strange title and cute looking characters on the cover seemed like a sure fire hit.

As the story opens, we see a deer mouse riding her bike to visit her friend, a turtle.  The turtle hops on the back of the bike and off they go.  They have a great time at the beach (we even see a heart form over the turtle’s head as he watches her in the water).

And then we learn that the turtle is Chunky Rice and he is leaving.  He asks the mouse to come with him, but she says she cannot, and that they are to have no more tears while they are together.

The scene cuts to a human guy telling the Eurydice story to a bird (we hear “doot doot”).  The man has found the bird, who was injured, and has brought him back to his place.  He has named it Merle.

The next morning the man, who is Chunky’s landlord, helps him take his heavy box down to the docks.  While they travel, the man tells a horrific story about how his father made him drown the puppies that their dog just had.  Yes, this is not a jolly cute story about cute animals.   He also tells a story about he played hide and seek with his older brother and his friends.  Basically, they knew where he was and left him there for hours.

When they get to the dock, the man, whose name is Solomon, introduces the captain, Charles, who is also Solomon’s older brother.  The same older brother as before.   Charles is still an ass and goes through Chunky’s box to remove the heavy stuff (which he says that his wife will just love to have).  The Captain takes all of Chunky’s money and also plans to have him work on board.  Also on board is a conjoined twin.

Meanwhile, the mouse is sadly looking at the water, throwing bottles with notes in them to her love.  Back home, Merle is mended and so he flies out the window much to Solomon’s great sadness.

There is a terrible storm on the ship and even more sad stories of these individuals’ lives.  As the book ends there is some hope, but honestly it is all pretty bleak.

I really didn’t enjoy this book very much, even though I liked the illustration style and a lot of parts of the book. That overall bleakness was a bit too much for me.  I just learned that this was his first book, so perhaps that’s why I didn’t find it quite as good as Habibi or Blankets.