Foo Fighters

(Roswell/Capitol)
by Chris Adams

Poor Dave Grohl has got his work cut out for him. Having been the drummer in legendary grunge kings Nirvana, he has to live with the fact that every project he does is gonna be overshadowed by the ghost of Cobain. That’s really a shame, ‘cos Foo Fighters (Roswell/Capital) is, in fact, a really good record. Really good. No, it doesn’t reach the heights of Nirvana’s best stuff, but there are moments when it comes damn close. The first single, “This Is A Call,” is undeniably the best song on the album. It’s got most of the Nirvanian trademarks – a great melody, massive guitars, roller-coaster dynamics – without all the raw nerves that made Cobain’s work so scathing. Grohl (lead vocals and guitar) would rather sing stuff like “fingernails are pretty…” than rip his guts out on record which, in this case, is fine by me. The first half of this album is loaded with great songs – the furious “I’ll Stick Around,” the acoustic, lilting “Big Me,” and the atmospheric “Floaty” (maybe the second-best song on the record) being just a few. The songs on what would be considered “side two” of the record are by no means weak, but they tend to bleed into one another, requiring repeated plays before their individual distinctions rise to the surface. Regardless, this is probably one of the best American guitar-rock albums of the year, testament to the fact that Nirvana were more than just Cobain and a coupla incidental players.