There's poetry in being the band that can sell out Wembley but also makes a record in a garage.
-Dave Grohl
When last we left Foo Fighters, frontman Dave Grohl had announced an indefinite hiatus for the band. After 15 years as the group's leader, Grohl hinted the break would be a long one as he wanted to spend more time with his young family and stretch his music muscle as a member of the rock supergroup, Them Crooked Vultures. Together with Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and the mighty John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, the trio released their self-titled debut album to much acclaim and set off to tour the world, leaving an uncertain future for the Foos.
Well, this week the Foo Fighters returned in a big way with both the release of a film that chronicles the history of the band and not one, but two albums released within a week of one another. Foo Fighters: Back and Forth, which was directed by Emmy and Academy Award winner James Moll, premiered in over 80 theaters around the US on April 8 and aired commercial-free on VH1, VH1 Classic, and Palladia. As part of the promotion leading up to the drop of a brand new Foos' album—their first in four years—the documentary film charts the entire career arc of the band, from the cassette demos Dave Grohl recorded during his time as Nirvana's drummer through their rise to the top of the rock world.
Four days after the documentary aired, Foo Fighters' seventh album, Wasting Light, hit record shelves. The band swapped the comfort and technology available in a studio to record the new album in Grohl's garage using only analog equipment. He says the organic process was "badass," adding that, "I'm sure most people would go and get the newest stuff and work in the nicest studio and spend a trillion dollars and just, like, try to make these computer hits. I like that we're a band that, when we play live, we don't have, like, computers and stuff behind us making half of what you're hearing. And you know what? Sometimes we suck. Sometimes it sounds like, 'Oh, wow, that guy's not singing in key,' or, 'Whoa, that guitar's out of tune.' And I like that, because to me, that's rock and roll."
Wasting Light is the Foo Fighters' first full-length collaboration with famed producer Butch Vig, who had previously produced the two new tracks on the group's Greatest Hits album and was the man behind Nirvana's masterpiece, Nevermind. The album also marks the return to the Foo fray of guitarist Pat Smear, who last played with the band on their second LP, 1997s The Colour And The Shape, and toured with them in 2006. And for some added oomph, Grohl's former Nirvana bandmate Krist Novoselic makes a cameo appearance playing bass and accordion on "I Should Have Known."
The Foos' back-to-basics approach on Wasting has resulted in one charmer of an album that hits harder than most other Foo albums but in an energetic, fun and catchy sort of way. Rolling Stone gives the album four stars, calling it "eleven tracks of fuzz-box brawn, mosh-pit-hurrah choruses and iron-horse momentum," while Ultimate-Guitar.com says Wasting is "a solid album. For the first time Foo Fighters are operating with a 3 guitar line-up with awesome results. There is a touch of grunge in the sound of the album, but mainly it is straight forward hard rock with a dash of the indie sound." In a recent NME interview, Grohl named ABBA and the Bee Gees among his influences when writing the record, both of whom were melody-driven bands.
In addition to the film and studio album, Foo Fighters have something else in store for fans this week. The band are also releasing the full-length cover album, Medium Rare, on April 16 as a limited-edition vinyl for Record Store Day, an event that honors independent record stores. Now in its fourth year, Record Store Day is observed internationally on the third Saturday of April each year. Conceived of by independent record store employee Chris Brown, it is the one day every year that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music.
Officially kicked off by Metallica in 2008 at Rasputin Music in Mountain View, California, Record Store Day has been observed over the years by artists from the famously reclusive Leonard Cohen to Emmylou Harris and Bob Dylan to The Stooges, Vampire Weekend and Disturbed. Last year more than 1,400 independent record stores participated globally in the unofficial holiday.
Apart from the new recordings of Thin Lizzy's "Bad Reputation" and "This Will Be Our Year" by The Zombies, all tracks on the Foo Fighters' Medium Rare have been previously released as B-sides or in other compilation albums. They include "Band on the Run" (Paul McCartney & Wings), "I Feel Free" (Cream), "Life of Illusion" (Joe Walsh), "Young Man Blues" (Mose Allison), "Darling Nikki" (Prince), "Down in the Park" (Gary Numan), "Baker Street" (Gerry Rafferty), "Danny Says" (The Ramones), "Have a Cigar" (Pink Floyd), "Never Talking to You Again" (Hüsker Dü), and "Gas Chamber" (Angry Samoans).
Foo Fighters are taking Wasting Light on the road this spring for a series of US tour dates with Motörhead. The band will also be headlining several European music festivals over the summer, including Scotland's T in the Park, Ireland's Oxegen, the UK's Isle of Wight, Germany's Hurricane, and the Netherlands' Pinkpop Festival. Check out the band's website at www.foofighters.com for further concert information.
And in case you're pondering the fate of Them Crooked Vultures now that the Foo Fighters are back in the cockpit and flying high, John Paul Jones confirmed in an interview with BBC 6 Music in November 2010 that the band are ready to resume working on material for a new album, and plan on going into the studio very soon. Jones also stated that they are tentatively a year or so away from completing the record and hinted at a possible late 2011 release.
