Foo Fighters is one of the most popular Rock bands in the music scene since years, being active since 1994. The band is led by Dave Grohl (ex Nirvana drummer), and composed of Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, and Pat Smear.

Although Foo Fighters’ success is not new, what this band accomplished this year is unbelievable. Their 7th studio album “Wasting Light” debuted as number one in the Billboard 200 chart upon its release on April 12 this year, sold 235,000 copies only in its first week, becoming soon a Gold record in the U.S., as well as in other countries. In some others it even became Platinum record. As Dave Grohl declared, although they were big before, mainly in some parts of the world, this album made them huge.

The record comprises other artists’ participations, including the ones of Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) and Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü, Sugar). The album has been recorded in Grohl’s garage completely analog to tape, and was produced by Butch Vig, the same producer of Nirvana’s “Nevermind”. As Dave Grohl recently declared referring to the producer “Together, we made the album of a lifetime. Again.”

The record sound is raw, powerful, loud, aggressive, sweet, melancholic, and angry, it explores all of the aspects of Rock. It is the heaviest record belonging to the band so far as well as the “grungiest” one. The lyrics come as emotional waterfalls on the perfectly melt sounds. It goes from the screaming hard rock of “White Limo” to the deep and intriguing “I Should Have Known” where Novoselic’s performance gives goosebumps due to its perfection.

Besides the album release, the documentary “Back and Forth,” which explores the development of the band, came out in April; in the same month the band released the limited vinyl “Medium Rare,” a covers album, for Record Store Day. Furthermore this year their video for the track “Walk”, which is a parody of the movie “Falling Down,” won the prize as Best Rock Video at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.

After recording the latest album in Grohl’s garage, the Foo Fighters also started touring in some garages. The band, indeed, performed from New York to Seattle in garages belonging to their fans who participated to a dedicated contest. Moreover the band played secret gigs in small clubs. Then, they started the world tour, touching Europe, North America, South America and Australia. Japan and other countries are coming next year. They played in arenas, festivals, stadiums. In July they played two concerts at the Milton Keynes National Bowl in the U.K to over 140,000 fans. The band just owns it all.

Foo Fighters started in 1994 as a solo project by frontman Dave Grohl, after the death of the late Kurt Cobain and the consequent disappearance of his band Nirvana. What Grohl had for Foo Fighters at the time was only a tape, not even a band. During those seventeen years a lot happened to Foo Fighters. Musicians have come and gone, motivation seemed to be lost for a moment, but what always stayed was Grohl’s determination.

The guy who gained the title of “The nicest guy in Rock,” due to his particularly considerate and respectful personality, seems to be also the toughest guy in Rock, in the best sense of it. He had a dream and did not let anything corrupt it. He did not just try, he did it. Not even when Foo Fighters gained the big scene he let the business corrupt the music. He came back to his garage with a finally solid and sound group which expressed its cooperation in the highest level possible, recording the album on tape where everything sounds just real.

Foo Fighters’ history shows that probably the most remarkable characteristic of Grohl’s personality is his respect to music, and to Rock in particular, beyond any boundary. Let’s not forget this guy, twenty years ago, changed the music scene forever together with two friends of his. Listening to Foo Fighters one can feel the same attitude is still all there in Mr. Grohl.

Image Courtesey of  http://www.facebook.com/foofighters

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About the author

Veronica Cinti
Italian native, extremely passionate about music in general. Although she appreciates a wide variety of music genres, her strongest field of expertise is Rock music, Grunge and Punk among its styles. Contact the author: veronica.cinti@toonarimedia.com; Follow Veronica on Twitter: @VeronicaCinti