It’s very hard to believe that it’s been 25 years since Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters released their eponymous debut album… yet here we are.
About the band (or the project); the origin story from Grohl is that the band and the album wasn’t really what was on his mind. he just needed an outlet to cope with what was going on in real-life. Keepign busy and music is what he knew.
He worked on entire album himself, apart from a guest guitar spot by Greg Dulli, with the assistance of producer Barrett Jones. Grohl has said that they recorded the album just for fun.
Best describing it as a cathartic experience. That what he needed to move forward with life and try to recover from the death of his band mate and friend, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana.
After Grohl finished the tunes, he needed a name. He read a lot back then, he still does… and loves SciFi, who doesn’t!
He loved the stories about UFO’s, he loves the lore behind those stories. Anyway, during World War II Allied pilots in both theaters of war used the term Foo Fighters to describe unidentifiable aerial phenomena. We all know and love these flying crafts as UFO’s. Now when we think UFO’s we also think Foo Fighters so thank you Dave.
WHAT A FOO BELIEVES
“All I really had was a suitcase and my drums. So I took them up to Seattle and hoped it would work.”
Dave Grohl
He’s often said he was very lucky to have joined Nirvana, and he will always be grateful to Kurt for that. Nevermind, In-Utero and Unplugged were so instrumental in his development of being a professional musician he just can’t imagine what his life would be like today without that experience.
We all know that saying, all good things eventually come to an end. But, just because something end, it doesn’t mean it’s over. For Grohl, music has been his beginning, his past, his present and his future.
In those early days, his little music project was created in a very old-school way. It was put on cassette tapes. Which he shared with his family and friends.
When the tapes attracted label interest, Grohl signed with Capitol Records and recruited a full band to perform the songs live.
Once they got the album out, it was heavily promoted through extensive tours and six singles, two of which received music videos. Like I said, old-school.
Before you knew it, Foo Fighters were a thing, AND Grohl had a new mission. GOOD FOR HIM!
Upon its release, Foo Fighters earned some positive reviews. The critics praised the songwriting and performances. It didn’t hurt that the album became a commercial success.
To-date, it’s the band’s second-best-selling album in the United States.
Circling back to the origin story, after Cobain’s death, Grohl has said that “we were all lost.” This project was cathartic in so many ways, something he really needed, Regardless if it was a success or not. In the past, he’s said that music has a way of bringing us back to life.
“This is a Call” was just that for Grohl, he said “that song was more than a project, it helped me love music and life all over again.”
The album blew up and had a few other songs that propelled the band to uber-stardom. Songs like “I’ll Stick Around” and “Big Me” created a new path for the Foo’s and the post-Nirvana music world.
The Foo’s have come a long way since those early days. Their music catalog is huge and insanely good. No matter what is happening in the world, we will always love our sonic heroes. The Foo’s represent great music. For their fans it also represents hope, strength, perseverance and inspiration.
