Foo Fighters (album)
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Good article Template:Infobox album
Foo Fighters is the debut studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on June 26, 1995, through Roswell and Capitol Records in the United Kingdom and on July 4, 1995 in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl wrote the entire album. He recorded it himself in six days with the assistance of producer Barrett Jones at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle, Washington, in 1994.
Grohl said that he recorded the album just for fun, describing it as a cathartic experience to recover from the suicide of Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain in 1994. The album, featuring more traditional rock stylings than what was typical in grunge, is considered to have established the post-grunge genre.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
After Grohl completed the recordings, he passed cassette copies of the sessions to personal friends, using the name "Foo Fighters" to conceal his involvement. When the tapes attracted record label interest, Grohl signed with Capitol and formed a backing band to perform the songs live. The album was promoted through extensive tours and four singles, two of which were accompanied by music videos.
Upon its release, Foo Fighters earned positive reviews, praising its songwriting and performances, and was also a commercial success, becoming the band's second-best-selling album in the United States. It also peaked within the top five of charts of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Background
In 1990, Dave Grohl joined the grunge band Nirvana as drummer. During tours, he took a guitar with him and wrote songs, but was too intimidated to share them with the band, as he was "in awe" of the songs written by frontman Kurt Cobain.<ref name="Foobulous">di Perna, Alan. "Absolutely Foobulous!". Guitar World. August 1997.</ref> Grohl occasionally booked studio time to record demos and covers, issuing an album of demos, Pocketwatch, under the pseudonym Late! in 1992.<ref name="Alien parking">Bryant, Tom. "Alien Parking". Kerrang! Legends: Foo Fighters. 2007.</ref>
Following Cobain's suicide in April 1994, Grohl entered a state of depression,<ref name="back">Template:Cite video</ref> and found it difficult to both listen to music and play instruments.<ref name=dark/> He was uncertain of what to do next, and despite being invited to drum for bands like Danzig or Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Grohl almost decided to abandon his musical career: "I just couldn't imagine [playing in other bands]", he explained in a 2005 interview with Classic Rock magazine, "because it would just remind me of being in Nirvana; every time I sat down at a drum set, I would think of that."<ref name=classic>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=career>My Brilliant Career Template:Webarchive, Q (November 2007)</ref>
Grohl's first musical performance after the demise of Nirvana was with The Backbeat Band at the 1994 MTV Movie Awards in June. Soon thereafter, Mike Watt invited Grohl to play drums on his album Ball-Hog or Tugboat? (1995). Grohl enjoyed these experiences and thus decided to work on his own musical project,<ref name=ker>From Penniless Drummer To The Bigest (sic) Rock Icon In the World Template:Webarchive, Kerrang! (November 2009)</ref> which he believed could serve as a "some sort of cathartic therapy."<ref name=career/> Grohl consequently booked six days at Seattle's Robert Lang Studios, which were located near his house, where he recorded several of his favorite personal compositions with the assistance of Pocketwatch producer Barrett Jones.<ref name="back" /><ref name=story>Template:Cite book</ref> Although Grohl played all the instruments on the album, he intended to release it under a name that would make people believe it to be the work of a full band, similar to Stewart Copeland's 1980 EP Klark Kent.<ref name=dark>"Everyone Has Their Dark Side Template:Webarchive", Mojo (April 2005)</ref> “Big Me” and “Exhausted” had already been recorded by Grohl in January 1994 when Cobain was still alive during the sessions that produced Nirvana’s final song, “You Know You’re Right”.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Recording
Grohl and Jones produced the record across a period of one week in October 1994, with Grohl on vocals and all instruments. Both would arrive in the morning at Robert Lang Studios, start production by noon and do four songs a day.<ref name=career/> According to Grohl, during the recording process he would run from room to room, "still sweating and shaking from playing drums and [then] pick up the guitar and put down a track, do the bass, maybe another guitar part, have a sip of coffee and then go in and do the next song". The only performance by an outsider was a guitar part on "X-Static" provided by Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs, who was watching Grohl record the songs. Grohl eventually asked him if he wanted to play and handed him a guitar.<ref name=command>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Each song took about 45 minutes to be completed, and the compositions were recorded in the same order that became the album's track listing. The only song that required two run-throughs before completion was "I'll Stick Around".<ref name=story/> Grohl was insecure about his singing, and added effects to his voice in "Floaty",<ref name=mm/> and tried to enhance the performance through double track – "You know how people double their vocals to make them stronger? That album the vocals are quadrupled."<ref name=career/>
In an attempt to keep his anonymity, Grohl planned to release the songs under the name Foo Fighters,<ref name=ker/> a name he took from a ufology book he was reading at the time, Above Top Secret, that in a chapter described the "foo fighter" phenomena.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It would be a very low-key release, with only 100 LP records being pressed after the sessions were finished.<ref name=story/> Grohl also went to a cassette duplication lab in Seattle and created 100 cassette copies of the session and started handing them to friends for feedback and "I'd give tapes to everybody. Kids would come up to me and say 'Nirvana was my favourite band' and I'd say 'well here, have this'".<ref>Heatley, Michael. Dave Grohl: Nothing to Lose. 2006</ref> Eddie Vedder premiered two songs from the recording on January 8, 1995, during his Self-Pollution radio broadcast.<ref name=ker/> The recordings quickly circulated amongst the music industry, which in turn created record label interest. A deal was eventually signed to Capitol Records, as president Gary Gersh was a personal friend of Grohl ever since he worked on Nirvana's label Geffen Records.<ref name=classic/><ref name=billboard>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
The mixing sessions of the album began in Robert Lang Studios (which were used on the 100 tapes Grohl gave away) but eventually those mixes were discarded and the sessions moved to Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock's "The Shop" studio in Arcata, California. Mixes were done on a 32 channel API DeMedio console, custom built by Frank DeMedio in 1972 for Wally Heider Recording's 'Studio 4'. A Stephen's 24 track 2" tape machine was used for playback. Processors used in the mixes included an Eventide Omnipressor compressor for vocals and guitar solos, an Alan Smart stereo compressor for "squashing" the drums and mixing them back in as well as being used over the entire mix. Other processors included UREI 1176 and LA3A compressors as well as an Echoplex for delays and a "crappy digital reverb". Mixes were "nothing that crazy" Rob described, adding that he "mixed 'Big Me' in 20 minutes".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
During the sessions, Grohl was invited by Tom Petty to perform with The Heartbreakers on Saturday Night Live one month later. The performance was followed by an invitation to be a full-time member of the Heartbreakers, but once Petty heard about the Foo Fighters, he instead encouraged Grohl to move on with this solo project.<ref name=mojo/> Grohl soon recruited a full band, which included bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith of the recently disbanded Sunny Day Real Estate, as well as Nirvana touring guitarist, and former Germs member, Pat Smear.<ref name=back/>
Music and composition
Template:Listen Nine of the songs in the album were composed before or during Grohl's tenure with Nirvana, and existed in demos created by Grohl on his home 8-track tape recorder.<ref name=mojo>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The only compositions done after Cobain's death were "This Is a Call", "I'll Stick Around", "X-Static" and "Wattershed".<ref name=classic/><ref name=ap>Daley, David. Feels Like The First Time Template:Webarchive, Alternative Press (January 1996)</ref> The album's sound has been primarily described as punk rock,<ref name="mundy">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Foege"/> grunge,<ref name=nymag/><ref name="avclub">Template:Cite news</ref> alternative rock,<ref name="avclub"/><ref name="Foege">Template:Cite magazine</ref> melodic hardcore,<ref name="ct">Template:Cite news</ref> and post-grunge.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic stated that the album was a "handful of punk-pop gems that show, given the right musicians and songwriters, the genre had not entirely become a cliché by the middle of the '90s."<ref name="allmusic"/> The music mostly followed a hard rock sound with the soft-loud dynamics seen in Nirvana tracks such as "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Heart-Shaped Box".<ref name=story/> Variants include the melancholic "Exhausted", which Grohl defined as a song that's "sad but makes you feel good".<ref name=story/>
Most of the lyrics on Foo Fighters are nonsensical lines written by Grohl in the 20 minutes before recording began.<ref name=kerrang>Template:Cite magazine</ref> As Grohl later explained, "I had seven days to record fifteen songs. I was just concentrating on everything being as together as possible, having everything be tight and in sync. There wasn't too much time spent sitting in a chair thinking."<ref name=classic/><ref name="ap"/> Grohl would add that the gibberish was deliberate, given that "there was too much to say" following Cobain's death and "a lot of emphasis [was] placed on the meaning of the first Foo Fighters album."<ref name=mojo/> Grohl still considered that "the things you write down spur of the moment are most revealing. Now I look at them and some of them seem to actually have meaning",<ref name=classic/><ref name="ap"/> and revealed that a few songs have lyrics inspired by "personal experiences of the last four or five years", with the standout being "Big Me", an "out-and-out love song" to Grohl's then-wife Jennifer Youngblood that he described as his favorite track on the album.<ref name=mm>Template:Cite journal</ref> Contrasting with the aggressive and rebellious themes of Nirvana, Grohl had positive and cheery tunes such as "This Is a Call", defined as "a 'hello' and a 'thank you'" to everyone that had played a key role in Grohl's life;<ref name=story/> the playful "For All the Cows"; and "Wattershed", with a title referencing Mike Watt and lyrics that described Grohl's "love of hardcore and old school punk rock".<ref name=story/>
Title and packaging
The name "Foo Fighters" was taken from the description World War II aircraft pilots would use to describe various UFOs.<ref name=classic/> This science fiction theme is further continued with the name of Grohl's Capitol Records imprint, Roswell Records, a reference to the city of Roswell, New Mexico, known for the Roswell UFO incident of 1947; and the album cover done by Grohl's then-wife, photographer Jennifer Youngblood, featuring a Buck Rogers XZ-38 Disintegrator Pistol.<ref name="/story714">Apter, 2006. pp. 271-4</ref> Some reviewers considered the gun on the cover as insensitive,<ref name=billbreview>Template:Cite magazine</ref> given Kurt Cobain died by shooting himself, but Grohl dutifully disregarded it as just a coincidence.<ref name=classic/><ref name="ap"/> Goldsmith later explained, "It was all pretty much based on the whole Foo Fighters thing—Roswell, the space stuff, an antique Buck Rogers raygun. It's really a completely separate thing. Dave wasn't even conscious of that."<ref name=classic/><ref name="ap"/> Despite Grohl being the album's only contributor, at Capitol's insistence the liner notes included a picture of the full band that Grohl had recruited.<ref name=aptertour />
Release and promotion
In spring 1995, Foo Fighters embarked on their first ever United States tour, supporting Mike Watt on his Ring Spiel Tour along with fellow tour newbies Hovercraft, whose line-up included Vedder at the time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As well as performing with their own bands, Grohl and Vedder each picked up a role as a member of Watt's backing band throughout the tour, supplying drums and guitar respectively. In May 1995, radio stations KROQ-FM and KNDD started playing some tracks of the then-unreleased album before receiving a cease-and-desist from Capitol. That June, "Exhausted" and "This Is a Call" were sent to college and modern rock radio stations.<ref name=billboard/> One week later, "This Is a Call" became the band's first commercial single.<ref name="/story714"/>
Foo Fighters was released June 26, 1995, on Roswell Records, distributed by Capitol Records. The band promoted the release that summer by completing another US tour with Wool and Shudder to Think, with 25 concerts in little over a month. Foo Fighters also made their network television debut on the Late Show with David Letterman on August 14, performing "This Is a Call". Afterwards, the band played several of their largest shows up to that point, making their debut on the European festival circuit with performances at Pukkelpop, Reading and Lowlands.<ref name=aptertour>Apter, 2006. p. 294-8</ref>
"I'll Stick Around" was issued as the second single on September 4, 1995, and would also mark Foo Fighters' music video debut, directed by Gerald Casale. That fall, the band continued to tour extensively,<ref name=aptertour/> with a European tour with Built to Spill,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and visits to Japan, Australia and New Zealand.<ref name=aptertour/> The tour was wrapped with a performance at the Phoenix Festival on July 20, 1996. The Foo Fighters performed nearly 100 concerts throughout 1995, and over 70 dates the following year.<ref name=aptertour/>
Three more songs of the album were issued as singles: "For All the Cows" in 1995,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and both "Big Me" and "Alone + Easy Target" in 1996.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> "Big Me" was the band's first commercial single to be made available in the US; it was also the second song on the album to receive a music video. Directed by Jesse Peretz, the music video parodies the distinctive commercials used to advertise Mentos candy.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Critical reception
Template:Music ratings Foo Fighters earned mostly positive reviews upon release. Many critics compared the album to Nirvana.<ref name="/story714"/> Reviewer David Browne of Entertainment Weekly considered that "[Grohl's] songs pack the riffy wallop of unpolished Nirvana demos, and his voice has Kurt Cobain's lunging, over-the-top passion."<ref name="Browne">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Writing for Spin, Terri Sutton stylistically compared the album to Nirvana's second album, Nevermind, saying that "the album's first half [...] owes much to Nevermind, and it's tempting to hear it in the way Nevermind taught us to hear."<ref name="Spin">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Paul Rees of Kerrang! admitted that "Foo Fighters cannot fail to evoke Kurt Cobain's memory, whether if through Grohl's ragged howl of a voice or the way a number of its songs go soft-soft-loud", but ultimately considered the record "more than strong enough to stand or fall in its own merits".<ref name=kerrang/> Billboard complimented the "inspired songwriting and passionate performances", adding the album could please grunge fans and "also remind fans of other rock and punk taste makers, from Green Day and the Offspring to Better than Ezra."<ref name=billbreview/>
The album received minor criticism for its lack of intensity, which many proposed was because Grohl played all the instruments himself. AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "Since he recorded the album by himself, they aren't as powerful as most band's primal sonic workouts, but the results are damn impressive for a solo musician."<ref name="allmusic">Template:Cite web</ref> Rolling StoneTemplate:'s Alex Foege described the record as a "remarkable yet coolly understated solo debut" and felt that "the album's only disappointment is that despite its home-studio feel, it ultimately reveals little about its creator."<ref name="RollingStone">Template:Cite magazine</ref> New York described both the overall melodies and Grohl's singing as derivative of the grunge sound, but praised the "tight Beatlesesque harmonies" and lyrics that "key into the more poetic moments of dudespeak."<ref name=nymag>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Robert Christgau wrote in The Village Voice that the band shows "spirit" but lacks an "identity" and cited the songs "Big Me" and "This Is a Call" as highlights.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He later rated the album a three-star honorable mention in his Consumer Guide book, indicating "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure".<ref name="CG">Template:Cite book</ref>
The album was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 1996 Grammy Awards ceremony, but lost to MTV Unplugged in New York, an album by Grohl's former band Nirvana.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kerrang! named Foo Fighters the best album of the year,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and Rolling Stone put it second on their list, behind PJ Harvey's To Bring You My Love.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> It also ranked sixth on the Village VoiceTemplate:'s Pazz & Jop poll,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and 20th on SpinTemplate:'s list.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Commercial performance
Foo Fighters was a commercial success. In the United States, it debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 23, with first-week sales of 40,000 units.<ref name=gersh/> The album debuted at number 2 in New Zealand's album chart,<ref name="NZ chart">Template:Cite web</ref> number 3 in the UK Albums Chart,<ref name=ukcharts>Template:Cite web</ref> where it was the highest new entry of the week,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and number 5 on Australia's ARIA Charts.<ref name="AUS chart">Template:Cite web</ref> It also peaked at number 5 on the Canadian Albums Chart.<ref name=can>Top Albums/CDs – Volume 62, No. 3, August 21, 1995 Template:Webarchive, RPM. collectionscanada.gc.ca Retrieved June 26, 2016</ref> By December, it had reached 900,000 units domestically and 2 million worldwide.<ref name=gersh>Template:Cite magazine</ref> On September 27, 1995, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),<ref name="riaa"/> being later certified Platinum on January 26, 1996.<ref name="riaa">Template:Cite web</ref> By 2011, Foo Fighters had sold 1.468 million units in North America, being the second most successful release of the band behind follow-up The Colour and the Shape.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was also certified Platinum in both Canada<ref name=MusicCanada/> and the United Kingdom.<ref name=BPI/>
Track listing
Template:Track listing Template:Track listing
- The album was reissued in 2003 (on CD) and 2011 (as an LP and for download) with the normal track list.
Personnel
Foo Fighters
- Dave Grohl – vocals, guitars, bass guitar, drums, production
Additional musician
- Greg Dulli – additional guitar on "X-Static"
Technical
- Jaq Chartier – jacket artwork
- Steve Culp – engineering
- Curt Doughty – photography
- Tim Gabor – art direction, album design
- Barrett Jones – production
- Stephen Marcussen – mastering
- Charles Peterson – photography
- Jeff Ross – photography
- Tom Rothrock – mixing
- Rob Schnapf – mixing
- Jennifer Youngblood – cover photo, photography
Charts
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Weekly charts
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Alternative Albums (ARIA)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 1 |
| European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 10 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1995) | Position |
|---|---|
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 37 |
| European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 80 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 41 |
| UK Albums (OCC)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 86 |
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 135 |
| Chart (1996) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 124 |
Certifications
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