SOUNDTRACK: FOO FIGHTERS-One By One (2002).
Foo Fighters had a really hard time recording this album (it came three years after the previous one). I understand the band nearly broke up during the recording sessions. Eventually they scrapped the whole thing and wound up re-recording it in Grohl’s home studio in about two weeks.
The band says they loved the album when it came out although they are all pretty critical of it now. Grohl says there are “four of the songs were good, and the other seven I never played again in my life. Not sure which ones he means, but I have some ideas. This is also the first disc to include Chris Shiflett on lead guitar.
I love the opening song, “All My Life.” The guitars are aggressive and noisy and even though the verses are sort of whispered you can just tell the whole song is going to explode..and then it does. This has some serious vocal shredding from Grohl. “Low” has some more great aggressive guitars. Once again Grohl whisper-sings in front of the aggro guitars giving a nice contrast.
“Have It All” has another good heavy riff complimented by a soloing riff over the top. It’s a heavy song that has a surprisingly mellow and sweet bridge. It ends with a really heavy series of chords. “Times Like These” has a bright guitar riff. The inclusion of the line “I’m a New Day Rising” makes me think of Hüsker Dü again. It has a really catchy chorus and is a really strong song.
“Disenchanted Lullaby” starts off kind of mellow but then offers a great yelling chorus. There’s not a lot to “Tired of You” but the guitar sound is pretty cool and unexpected. It’s a little long and samey though. “Lonely As You” has an unusual sound. I’m not sure that I like it, although it is strangely catchy.
“Halo” has a cool bridge and chorus. “Overdrive” is one of their midtempo songs that might have been a huge hit, but there’s something missing. I like some mellower Foo Fighters ballads, although sometimes their songs seem to drift a little too much which makes them sound a little stuck. It’s especially notable because Grohl often writes some amazing choruses that when one doesn’t quite work it really feels flat.
The final two songs are fine, they just feel a bit like filler, especially “Come Back” which is quite long. I do like that it’s in a couple of parts (with mellow acoustic section in the middle), but it doesn’t really hold up for 8 minutes. Which is a shame because when it comes out of the acoustic part, t could have been really dynamic.
Even though the end of the album is a bit flat, the beginning of the album is really great. And four or five great songs is not too shabby.
[READ: January 8, 2015] Garage Band
Although I read this book before Notes for a War Story, it comes after War Story so here they are in order.
This is simple story told in five chapters. It revolves around a garage band. Specifically, one of the band members’ (Guiliano)’s fathers has arranged for them to practice in a garage. We learn a bit about the peculiarities of each member (and how most of them are pretty unlikable).
Their drummer Alex, is really into Nazi memorabilia (he’s apparently not a Nazi himself, but he does have a poster of Hitler on his wall–weird!). Stefano the lead singer is a general troublemaker–none of the adults like him, and he plays up his eccentricities. When the adults first arrive to check out the garage, he puts on the veterinarian garb that is still in the garage and acts crazy. Alberto is a hypochondriac, looking for diseases everywhere.
Guiliano (could he be the same Guiliano in War Story?) is the only one who seems kind of normal. He has a girlfriend and although he makes excuses for his band mates, he doesn’t seem to fall for any of their nonsense. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 