One By One Each Track Impresses (One By One - Foo Fighters)

Member Name: fooyoo

Product:	One By One - Foo Fighters
Date:	25/02/04 (228 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well crafted and lyrically strong

Disadvantages: A couple of tracks were too polished

Nirvana....now there is a band which evokes many different reactions from people. Was Kurt Cobain a musical genius or completely overrated? I come somewhere in the middle because I was not a huge fan, but I can 100% appreciate tracks such as 'Come As You Are' for the classic tracks that they are. Unless you were a devoted Nirvana follower, you probably never paid the long haired drummer a second glance......until now that is. That long haired drummer was Dave Grohl, and after Cobain's death, he set out to follow his dream, which was to make music. He was satisfied that he had made it big once, and was happy with the idea that as long as he could keep making music, whether or not it was commercially successful, then he would be a happy man.

Dave Grohl stepped out from the shadows, and became the front man for The Foo Fighters. This, the band's fourth album was released at a time when Dave Grohl was going through a lot of unsettlement due to a lengthy and unfriendly legal battle with the tiresome Courtney Love over Nirvana material. A lot of people thought that he would be less focused on this album because of the legal issues and also because of the numerous side projects he was involved in, most notably drumming on the most recent album released by the excellent Queens Of The Stone Age and the surprisingly good Tenacious D (Jack Black). He has also started a project called Probot where he works with different artists on each track.Does this make him the hardest working man in rock, or someone who is spreading himself too thin. Read on to find out....

***ALL MY LIFE***
Debut release from the album and an absolute gem of a track. The opening riffs never fail to stir up my insides with excitement and delight at such brilliance. It is a pure adrenaline rush and the perfect choice to prepare you for the musical journey that will follow. It is a song which lulls the listener into believing it is going to be a mellow offering with a
lmost whispered vocals, until after 10-15 seconds this song wakes up and lets the whole world know about it. The band had been away from the scene for a while before this song was released and it certainly announced their arrival back where they belong. When I went to see the band play live in 2002, this was the song that they opened with, and I have never been so in awe of a band as I was that night.

'All my life I've been searching for something....something never comes, never leads to nothing'

***LOW***
This is a much heavier track from the outset, and Taylor Hawkins' drumming is one of the high points. Again, you can feel the song building up as it goes along, and then when the chorus kicks in it all starts to make sense. It is the type of song that is typical of the band, and it has a real spikiness about it which I love. The enthusiasm the band have for their art really shines through on this track, and the chorus has the all important hook to make you want to listen, and it draws you into the story behind the lyrics. This band show once again that you don't need to have a fake attitude and sneer to succeed in this business, and I would even go as far to say that it seems like they are mellowing with age!

'You'll be my passer by, I'll be yours.....'

***HAVE IT ALL***
An outstanding track, and one of the best on this album sees this pretty simple rock song putting a new slant on the love song. Even though it is quite upbeat, and reliant on the guitars and drums, which are really intense, and the lyrics show that this is a love song, but not your standard rock ballad. It has a real rawness about it, even though the studio production is probably the slickest of any of the previous albums. It is a song about relationships, confusion, and confidence, which goes to show even big shot rock stars suffer the same insecurities as we all do, and the approach to this song leaves me singi
ng along, and surprisingly leaves me feeling completely exhilerated!

'You're my size, I need to try you on'

***TIMES LIKE THESE***
This was the second single to be released. It won't initially grab you, but listen to the riffs and the lyrics, and I guarantee this track is a grower. It reminds me a lot of the material on their first album, but just more together and better thought out. In truth, it is a really slick track which has benefitted from the improved production the band are now experiencing, but I would tell them not to polish the tracks up too much more, as they would be moving too far away from their roots to keep the bulk of their fanbase interested. The chorus is lyrically very strong, and the musical arrangement is one of the best on any Foo Fighters track on this or any of the three other previous album releases.

'It's times like these you learn to love again'

***DISENCHANTED LULLABY***
A complete change of mood and tempo with this track, as we venture into the melancholy for the first minute or so, but then we get the trademark chorus, which is full of passion and attitude, although not as in your face as some of the others. Grohl's vocals are at their strongest on this song. It is another grower, as anyone who is not an avid fan may not be immediately enamoured with this song, but give it a chance is all I can say. For me, this is a really satisfying track as there are still some rough edges on show, which shows that they have not fully succumbed to the glossy sound that they threatened to with the previous track, and the track still has substance which makes it a winner.

'What does it matter, no-one has a fit like I do, I'm the only one that fits you'

***TIRED OF YOU***
My favourite track on the album starts off in much the same vein as 'All My Life', as Grohl's vocals are barely audible for the first thirty seconds or
so. It is a simple song with a basic guitar riff being the only accompaniment to the vocals for a large chunk of the song. It is a song which just sets the hairs on the back of my neck up as it is so haunting, and you can hear (especially live) that this is a track that affects Dave. It shows that they can do loud, the can do rock/pop, and they can also pull off ballads full of emotion. Brian May, ex of Queen appears on this song, but I have to admit unless I was told I would never have noticed, so in truth I have to say his inclusion added nothing to the quality of the track.

'Is this just desire, or the truth?'

***HALO***
Up tempo track which is probably as close to a pop rock song as you will find on any Foo Fighters album, and would have been a good choice as a single release. There are rumours that this is a track which led Grohl to have a face off with the record executives, as he feels that they are trying to take the heart out of his writing, and he says as much in the CD booklet. Why this track set that off I don't know, as there are others which sound as if they were written with a lot less feeling than this, and I am sure he has enough pulling power now to go in the direction he and the rest of the band want to go, rather than be dictated to by the men in the suits sitting in the high rise offices.

'Halo....God only knows....hide behind me everywhere I go'

***LONELY AS YOU***
Another trademark mellow entrance which leads to a rocking chorus and middle section. It is a song which lacks the raw touch that I like in Foo Fighters songs, and I think as an introduction to anyone who has never heard any Foo Fighter's material, this would be an excellent choice, as it has all of the hallmarks we have become accustomed to whilst still sounding very fresh. Grohl's talent for songwriting is more apparent on songs like this, but the overall feel lets him down a little, and although I still
like it, if I am honest, this would rank as my least favourite track on the album. Please forgive me, as I have to find some small flaw or this review just would not be objective at all, would it!!

'One more time for the last time for the very last time'

***OVERDRIVE***
On most of the albums the band have released, there is one song that really reminds me of one of their other albums, and on this album 'Overdrive' is the song, as it reminds me of the brilliant 'This Is A Call' from their second album or the haunting 'My Hero'. That is no way a negative point I stress to add, as both have their place, and sometimes there is no need to change something when it works so well. It is the song on the album which I listen to for a bit of a mood lift, and vocally Grohl impresses me when I thought he could not do that anymore, and on this track in particular his voice packs a pretty hefty punch, and he really commands this song and draws the listener into his world if only for a brief moment.

'You change..and then..you change again'

***BURNAWAY***
With it's uncharacteristic length guitar intro, this is a real standout track in the collection of 11 songs, and one that I am sure is an anthem to Foo Fighters fans around the world, especially at live dates. It sounds so much like the music they were making in the mid 1990's, when they were just a band who were jamming in a garage attached to one of their houses, when the passion for music was their one and only driving force. As with many of the other songs, this track has a more deeper meaning than is immediately apparent, and the driving guitars take this track to another level, which I am sure more ardent followers will appreciate, and it is one of the most dramatic sections of the album.

'Burnaway my pride'

***COME BACK***
How do you end an album which has been so entertaining and powerful as thi
s one? Well you choose a track like 'Come Back', and all of the pieces to the puzzle fit. It is a mammoth song, which heads towards eight minutes in length, but then I would have been disappointed with a quick thoughtless end to the album, and it seems like Grohl is telling the fans, that no matter how many rumours do the rounds, he will be back. It is a slower tempo track but still keeps the volume to a respectible loudness! With this album, I am hoping that the band have finally put to rest the claims and accusations that they were lucky to raise from ashes of what was Nirvana, and hit lucky with their sound. This is a band who can hold their own against anyone who is out there at the moment.

'But I will come back....I will come back....I will come back'

Grohl is a very convincing frontman, and it makes you wonder how Nirvana would have been had the limelight not been so firmly set on Cobain. Grohl has mastered his art. He is a world renowned drummer, whose presence is requested by many artists, but he has also improved his guitar playing no end since the first Foo Fighter's album. I think he feels more confident in approaching songwriting that he has allowed some rawness back into his music, and I for one welcome the punk influence that is so apparent on this album. The current line up of Grohl, drummer Taylor Hawkins, bassist Nate Mendel and guitarist Chris Shiflett seems the most balanced out of the various line ups they have had over the years, and they seem to be on the same wavelength music wise.

I can't believe it has taken me so long to write an opinion on this album. The Foo Fighters are one of my Top 5 all time favourite bands, and although their second album 'The Colour And The Shape' is my number one album, this comes a pretty close second. It comes with 4 stars, and a recommendation to those of you who like music to give it a listen.

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