A Case Study

The last few weeks I have been contemplating music and how certain artists I in general like have released albums recently that either felt like the defining statement in the artist’s catalog or a regression from previous work.  I initially was thinking about the Kings of Leon’s albums from Youth and Young Manhood to Come Around Sundown, then Coldplay’s recent effort, Mylo Xyloto, which I haven’t fully heard but the reviews I have read suggest this is along the lines of X&Y, which was a disappointment.  So then I thought “why not listen to most of, if not all, of an artist’s music catalog and give my impression” (however lowly that impression really means in the grand scheme of things), which leads me to my “case study” ideas.

With these studies, my goal is to really hear how the band’s sound has evolved from album to album and give an assessment of where I think the band is.  I don’t want it to come off as a retrospective or some biography about the band.  I do, however, want to see how my interest in the band and music in general has evolved from the time the record first came out.  So, I thought I’d start with a band who I believe released one of the best albums so far in 2011 – the Foo Fighters.

Case Study:  Foo Fighters

The Foo Fighters have officially released seven studio albums, one live album, and one compilation album of their hits:

·         Foo Fighters (1995)

·         The Colour and the Shape (1997)

·         There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999)

·         One by One (2002)

·         In Your Honor (2005)

·         Skin and Bones (2006)

·         Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007)

·         Greatest Hits (2009)

·         Wasting Light (2011)

I will attempt to be as concise as possible, but knowing me I will go off on a tangent about an album or seven, so bare with me.

Foo Fighters:  I remember when this record came out, which happened to be a little over a year after Kurt Cobain died and Nirvana ceased to exist.  Dave Grohl, the drummer for Nirvana for its biggest albums, was the ultimate drummer, and I wondered what would happen to him now that this gig was up.  I didn’t know that he had put together this hodge podge of songs, let alone played all the instruments.  For a debut, this is definitely a great kickoff.  As a teenager I was drawn to the energy behind each song, particularly the hits—“This Is a Call”, “I’ll Stick Around”, and “Big Me”.  “I’ll Stick Around” even had controversy surrounding it, with media and Nirvana fans wondering if Grohl was taking a swipe at Cobain in the lyrics (as I recall, ANYTHING that had something to do with Nirvana at that point was controversial).  Musically this record features some of the dynamics and volume that would be taken to new heights through the rest of their catalog (particularly their hard rockers), even if it wasn’t nearly as loud as future releases would be.  Lyrically the experience is sort of up and down; the singles were definitely the better lyrical songs of the set.  All in all, for any band this would be a tremendous start.

The Colour and the Shape:  Until recently, I felt that this was the best album they had recorded.  Unlike on Foo Fighters, Grohl was backed by permanent bassist Nate Mendel, drummer William Goldsmith (who would shortly after this record would be replaced by now drummer Taylor Hawkins), and frequent collaborator and guitarist Pat Smear (who also played with Nirvana).  This album takes dynamics, soft and loud, to levels far superior to the debut.  Cohesively this record also surpasses the debut, with Grohl writing most of the songs around a crumbling relationship.  Lyrically this is a great record.  Tie the musically dynamics to this, and you become emotionally a part of the music.  From “Monkeywrench” (a fantastic rocker) to “New Way Home”, the Foos made this amazing record that many fans and critics considered their best.  It certainly plays out of the speakers that way.  The best songs to me on this set are “Monkeywrench”, “Hey Johnny Park!”, “My Hero” and the ultimate “Everlong”.

There Is Nothing Left to Lose and One by One:  Stylistically these two records are somewhat similar, with the lineup now becoming fixed for the long haul (Grohl, Mendel and Hawkins recorded Nothing Left, Shiflett joined up on One by One) and growing into their roles within the band.  Both records maintain that musical blueprint that began on Foo Fighters, though they attempted to expand the sounds used on their records.  I like One by One; Nothing Left to Lose is my least favorite of theirs (ironically, Grohl likes Nothing Left to Lose but hates One by One).  Both albums had some great songs, but there were elements on the first two records that just didn’t feel like they were there on these.  Neither is lyrically up to snuff compared to The Colour and the Shape, though the highlights from each record (from Nothing Left to Lose, there was “Breakout”, “Stacked Actors”, and “Learn to Fly”; from One by One, there was “One by One”, “Times Like These”, and “Have It All”) are very good.  “Times Like These” in particular seems to hint at what the future would be like for the band.  To me the band seemed to stagnate a bit here, though their popularity continued to build.

In Your Honor, Skin and Bones, and Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace:  These three records represented a bit of a departure in sound for the band.  While they still were very good with the hard rock tunes (“In Your Honor”, “No Way Back”, “DOA”, “The Pretender”, “Erase/Replace”, and “Cheer Up, Boys”), their exploration into softer dynamics expanded exponentially compared to their first four records.  There were a lot more acoustic songs, a lot more softer sounding songs.  All of Skin and Bones is an acoustic retrospective of their music, the bulk of which came from In Your Honor (disc 2 of that record was practically an acoustic affair).  Results were mixed on both musical and lyrical fronts.  “Best of You” is the best lyrical song from either record.  “What If I Do?”, “Miracle”, “Let It Die”, and “Long Road to Ruin” are all great songs.  What I worried about with these records was if the band was starting to lose its identity.  I loved them for their harder stuff, and that seemed to be taking a back seat for this softer side.  At the same time, I started to think that maybe by growing older and more mature they (particularly Grohl) were starting to think about their long-term legacy and that the progression could lead to better stuff down the road.  I thought about how other bands I love (the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Pearl Jam, the Beastie Boys, etc) had evolved and how the Foos were evolving.  Something had to give.

Wasting Light:  When this record came out, I realized that my latter feelings were true.  This is my favorite record and, in my opinion, their best record.  They returned to the hard rocking they had done on Nothing Left to Lose and One by One though channeled the music through the melodicism of The Colour and the Shape and In Your Honor.  Each song is consistently good much like The Colour and the Shape, not hampered by the filler songs that had burdened all of the previous records.  The recording sounded more organic than it had on previous records.  Lyrically this is their best record despite not being as cohesive as that of The Colour and the Shape.  I can listen to this record from beginning to end and repeat and not tire of it.  The band plays to their strengths here, which is rocking and rocking hard.  My favorites on this record are “Rope”, “Dear Rosemary” (with Bob Mould), “White Limo”, “Arlandria”, and “Miss the Misery”, though I really like the majority of the record.  This is also their best reviewed record (not counting Greatest Hits).

Listening through their records, I better appreciate the progression the band has taken up through now.  While they have gone through creative ebbs and flows, the Foo Fighters have managed to sustain their excellence by staying true to themselves and releasing the music they feel best represents them.  They have also managed to maintain their sense of humor through nearly two decades of recording and performing.  They’re a great band that I hope continues to push themselves as they have.