NBrid

I'm sorry about the bad pun, but Dave Grohl rocks! Plus he's all over right now and has no less then THREE songs atop the modern rock charts. From his own band the Foo FIghters to his stint playing drums for the Queens of the Stone Age to some band called Nirvana.

We all know Grohl joined Nirvana for the Nevermind release (after Nirvana's first CD Bleach). Coincidence Nevermind is one of the best albums ever? Maybe. But I digress. AFter years of battles with some self-righteous whore, Nirvana was able to release a new song: "You Know You're Right". The last song they ever recorded together. It's actually a pretty cool song. At least I like it. It's very "raw", but there in lies the charm. Just don't get the Nirvana greatest hits CD just for it. Just download it so you don't support a heroin addict. Plus just wait for the box set, in 2004?!

Another song tied to Grohl that is making the rounds on the charts is "No One Knows" by the Queens of the Stone Age. Grohl isn't really a "member" of the band, he just plays drums on this, the QOTSA's second album. I was going to just ignore this CD, but I liked this song and heard good things about the CD on a whole. After many listens, I will say it is a great album. Really it has nothing to do with Grohl since way too often his drum beat is washed out by loud guitar riffs, but a good CD is a good CD.

Now I can get to the core of this article: the Foo Fighters. In short, Grohl had written songs on the side for years but never really planned to form a band around them. Then some music exec heard about it and thought, "Hmm, a former Nirvana member would sell millions of CDs even if his band sucked!" Thankfully, Grohl quickly showed his band could stand alone. He got fellow Nirvana "member" (really he just joined as a touring member for In Utero) Pat Smear and former members of the defunct Sunny Day Real Estate to create the force known as Foo Fighters!

I've been a big fan since their self-titled debut. Their follow-up "Colour & the Shape" showed this wasn't going to be a one-album wonder. I got to see them live (the first of three times now) on tour for this second album at Summerfest here in Milwaukee. It was a killer show. If you haven't seen them live, you're missing out big time. Grohl knows how to put on a show. For a cover of some song he conviently forgot the lyrics to, he got an audience member to come up and finish it, who then proceeded to stage dive after he was done. It kicked ass to say the least. The place was the most packed I have seen a side stage to this day at Summerfest. I was saddened to learn just a few weeks after this that Pat Smear had left the band. Life goes on!

Their newest release (One-by-One) is nothing really new. It sounds very much like past Foo Fighters efforts. It's heavier then their last (There Is Nothing Left to Lose), but really not all that much so except for a few songs. What I do know though is that it's another great CD.

Say what you will about Nirvana and their 3 studio albums (plus the raw B-side CD, Incesticide), and while I do enjoy them, I'll take Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters any day over Kurt Cobain's brooding.