"10 songs that run the emotional gamut from rage and sorrow to serenity and acceptance, and myriad points in between." Without knowledge of their recent history, Foo Fighters' summary of their forthcoming record sounds like the usual pre-release spiel. Yet, as with everything Dave Grohl has touched over the past 35 years, this statement is grounded firmly in authenticity.
But Here We Are is the Foos' 11th studio effort and first record since the untimely passing of Taylor Hawkins, just hours before they were due on stage at Colombia's Estéreo Picnic Festival in March 2022. The drummer had been the backbone of the constantly changing group for quarter of a century, and so his death at the age of just 50 inevitably threw their future into question. Following hugely affecting tribute concerts on both sides of the Atlantic, Grohl et al concluded, much to fans’ relief, that the show must go on.
Expectedly, the devastation of losing a bandmate permeates their first studio effort since; it takes just 12 seconds to position But Here We Are as something of a musical eulogy. "It came in a flash/It came out of nowhere/It happened so fast/And then it was over," an anguished Grohl sings on opener "Rescued," one of many attempts to make sense of the sudden nature of his bandmate's death. But while the album's words are often steeped in melancholy, its sound is lean and loud.
First taster"Rescued" harks back to the '00s triple whammy of lead singles ("All My Life," "Best of You," "The Pretender") by combining stadium-sized hooks with speaker-blowing guitar riffs and dynamic rhythms. Perhaps not in the right headspace to hire a permanent replacement, Grohl returned to his former day job by taking to the drum kit for all ten tracks. And the majority of this third consecutive collaboration with Greg Kurstin, the super producer best-known for his work with pop powerhouses Adele and Sia, shares a similar full-blooded energy.
Of course, the Foos were born out of a similar tragedy. Grohl only made that rare leap from drummer to frontman in the wake of Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain's 1994 suicide. The "nicest guy in rock" had initially considered joining Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers before heading into the studio to test out his singer/songwriter skills. Knocked out in just five days, the 15 tracks that emerged were distributed on cassette to friends, with the overwhelmingly positive feedback inspiring Grohl to pursue the Foo Fighters ("the stupidest f—ing band name in the world," he'd later concede) concept further.
Grohl quickly assembled a line-up that included drummer William Goldsmith and bassist Nate Mendel of the defunct Sunny Day Real Estate and Nirvana's brief touring second guitarist Pat Smear to help perform the self-titled debut he issued on his own Roswell Records label. Fans hoping for insights into Grohl’s state of mind may have been left disappointed: Feeling pressured to address Cobain's demise, he opted for a stream-of-consciousness lyrical approach that resulted in gibberish.
First taster "Rescued" harks back to the '00s triple whammy of lead singles ("All My Life," "Best of You," "The Pretender") by combining stadium-sized hooks with speaker-blowing guitar riffs and dynamic rhythms. Perhaps not in the right headspace to hire a permanent replacement, Grohl returned to his former day job by taking to the drum kit for all ten tracks. And the majority of this third consecutive collaboration with Greg Kurstin, the super producer best-known for his work with pop powerhouses Adele and Sia, shares a similar full-blooded energy.
Of course, the Foos were born out of a similar tragedy. Grohl only made that rare leap from drummer to frontman in the wake of Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain's 1994 suicide. The "nicest guy in rock" had initially considered joining Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers before heading into the studio to test out his singer/songwriter skills. Knocked out in just five days, the 15 tracks that emerged were distributed on cassette to friends, with the overwhelmingly positive feedback inspiring Grohl to pursue the Foo Fighters ("the stupidest f—ing band name in the world," he'd later concede) concept further.
Grohl quickly assembled a line-up that included drummer William Goldsmith and bassist Nate Mendel of the defunct Sunny Day Real Estate and Nirvana's brief touring second guitarist Pat Smear to help perform the self-titled debut he issued on his own Roswell Records label. Fans hoping for insights into Grohl’s state of mind may have been left disappointed: Feeling pressured to address Cobain's demise, he opted for a stream-of-consciousness lyrical approach that resulted in gibberish.
However, Foo Fighters' sound wasn't too much of a departure from the quiet/loud grunge-rock that had catapulted Nirvana to blockbuster success. And despite a deliberate lack of promotion, melodic singles such as "This Is A Call" and "Big Me" — the latter penned in honor of Grohl's then-wife Jennifer Youngblood — steered the record to nearly 1.5 million domestic sales and the first of many GRAMMY nominations. Interestingly, it lost Best Alternative Music Album to Nirvana's MTV Unplugged in New York.
1997 follow-up The Colour and the Shape also had ties to Grohl's previous day job. "February Stars" derived from a Nirvana recording session with bassist Krist Novoselic in early 1994, while producer Gil Norton had also worked with the Pixies — Cobain's biggest inspiration. And just like Nevermind, it's a sophomore that remains its band's commercial peak: despite charting no higher than No. 10 on the Billboard 200, it's still the Foos' biggest seller.
Although the group now sounded even bigger than before, their lyrics this time round were of a far more intimate nature. Propulsive lead single "Monkey Wrench" is one of several numbers inspired by the breakdown of Grohl's marriage, a period the rocker has described as the winter of his discontent, while "Everlong" (David Letterman's all-time favorite song) found him lauding new love, Veruca Salt’s Louise Post. There was even talk of placing a therapist's couch on the album artwork to reflect the more confessional tone.
But The Colour and the Shape also kickstarted a personnel merry-go-round: Goldsmith left to be replaced by Alanis Morissette drummer Hawkins, while Smear followed suit soon after due to exhaustion. Within a year, his successor Franz Stahl, formerly of Grohl's early hardcore punk outfit Scream, had been given his marching orders over the age-old reason of creative differences.
By the time There Is Nothing Left to Lose hit the shelves in 1999, the Foos had been reduced to a three-piece. Nevertheless, what they'd lost in members they appeared to gain in melodies. Accompanied by an MTV-dominating video in which Grohl assumed multiple identities, "Learn to Fly" became the band’s first Hot 100 hit. And the swoonsome college rock of "Next Year" proved the band could be compelling without turning things up to eleven. It was little surprise when they scooped their first-ever GRAMMY for Best Rock Album.
Whereas There Is... was created in idyllic circumstances ("It was one of the most relaxing times of my whole life," Grohl later enthused. "All we did was eat chili, drink beer and whiskey and record whenever we felt like it"), the recording of 2002's One by One was fraught with tension. Firstly, Hawkins had delayed proceedings when a heroin overdose left him in a coma for two weeks. Then Mendel and Grohl spent most of their studio time warring with each other, with new guitarist Chris Shiflett often left twiddling his thumbs as a result. The situation eventually got so bad their headline slot at Coachella was regarded as make-or-break.
Luckily, the band enjoyed playing together again on stage so much they decided to keep the Foos train running. And after re-recording much of the material Hawkins dismissed as "million-dollar demos" in Grohl's basement, One by One eventually saw the light of day. Despite such a difficult inception, the album spawned two of the group's most enduring songs: the turbo-charged ode to oral sex that is "All My Life" and the contrastingly sweet "Times Like These," a self-help anthem which has since been championed by everyone from Glen Campbell to George W. Bush (and taken to the UK No. 1 spot by a Grohl-led charity supergroup).
While Grohl later became disillusioned with One by One ("four of the songs were good, and the other seven I've never played again in my life"), he's remained positive about 2005 follow-up In Your Honor, a double album which allowed the Foos to showcase both their full-throttle and sensitive sides. Audiences appeared just as enthused about this separation of electrified and stripped-back material: it posted the highest first-week sales of the group's career. GRAMMY voters leaned into all the magnum opus talk, showering the LP with five nominations. However, the band still went home empty-handed on Music's Biggest Night.
A disappointing awards haul is far from the only notable thing about In Your Honor, though. Based on his experiences living with Cobain and Novoselic, "Friend of a Friend" originates from 1990, making it Grohl's first acoustic composition. "Cold Day in the Sun" gives Hawkins a debut on lead vocals, while Norah Jones collaboration "Virginia Moon," an unlikely detour into bossa nova, is the band's first duet.
2007’s Echoes, Silence, Grace and Patience also boasted a Foo Fighters milestone: "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners" was their first ever instrumental piece. But elsewhere, the band went back to basics, reuniting with Norton to produce what some considered to be a belated sequel to The Colour and the Shape. Once again, multiple GRAMMY nods followed, although on this occasion, the Foos got to add to their trophy cabinet, winning Best Rock Album and Best Hard Rock Performance for anthemic lead single "The Pretender."
A 2009 Greatest Hits compilation appeared to close the door of another Foo Fighters' era. Yet 2011's Wasting Light suggested the group still had one eye on the past. Not only did they invite Smear back into the recording fold, they also hired Butch Vig — the man behind Nevermind — as producer, asked Novoselic to guest and made the whole thing analog-style in Grohl's Encino garage ("Why go into the most expensive studio with the biggest producer and use the best state-of-the-art equipment?" he posited. "Where's the rock 'n' roll in that?")
The nostalgic approach paid off when Wasting Light became the Foos' first U.S. chart-topper and added three GRAMMY Awards to their collection. However, few fans would agree it achieved Grohl's goal to create the band's definitive album, its 11 tracks following the arena rock handbook just a little too closely to stand out.
Playing it safe is not an accusation you could level at 2014's Sonic Highways, an albumteased by Grohl as one made "in a way that no-one's ever done before." And he wasn't exaggerating. Accompanied by a same-named HBO documentary in which the rocker interviewed local musicians, engineers and producers, the highly ambitious project attempted to recapture the musical spirit of eight different American cities.
The Foos also roped in several hometown heroes on record, with country star Zac Brown representing Nashville, Cheap Trick frontman Rick Nielsen flying the flag for Chicago and, most unexpectedly of all, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band paying tribute to New Orleans. The Vig-produced affair was still very much a Foo Fighters album, albeit one steeped in classic rather than alternative rock.
The unpredictable collaborations continued on 2017's Concrete and Gold, a deliberately weird record featuring Boyz II Men's Shawn Stockman, saxophonist Dave Koz and Justin Timberlake, not to mention Paul McCartney on drums. The strangest aspect of the album for Grohl, however, was the location of its recording: "I thought, 'What's the strangest thing for this band to do at this point?' And then I realized it was just to go into a studio and make a f—ing album like a normal band," he told Rolling Stone.
The first LP since keyboardist Rami Jafeee became a permanent member took a little longer to make than expected: Grohl was forced out of action for six months after breaking his leg during an on-stage fall in Sweden. The timeout, which occurred during Donald Trump's rise to power, allowed the frontman to take stock of America's future, resulting in the Foos' most politically charged effort as well as their poppiest.
Foo Fighters doubled down on the big hooks for 2021's Medicine at Midnight, resulting in their first ever consecutive No.1. Grohl even compared it to Let's Dance, the David Bowie record which briefly reinvented the musical chameleon as the ultimate party-starter. GRAMMY voters obviously approved, awarding the band Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song for "Waiting on a War" and Best Rock Performance for "Making a Fire." Of course, just over a year later the feel-good vibes dissipated in the most heartbreaking way imaginable.
Whereas Grohl completely avoided the subject of Cobain's passing on Foo Fighters’ debut LP, almost every song on their 11th album alludes to Hawkins'.
Under You" finds Grohl looking at "pictures of us sharing cigarettes and songs," going through the various stages of grief via a punchy piece of power pop. And on the cathartic title track, the frontman unleashes the kind of fierce, throat-busting howls more suited to his extracurricular forays into death metal.
And then there's the behemoth named "The Teacher." Surpassing "Come Back" as the Foos' longest song, the 10-minute epic is also one of their most powerful, encompassing themes of existential despair and extolling various life lessons ("Try to make good with the air that's left/Counting every minute, living breath by breath") while segueing from riotous post-grunge to bittersweet folk-rock and back again.
But Here We Are does have other quieter moments of introspection. Violet Maye Grohl — teenage daughter of the Foos’ leader — lends her cooing tones and a reassuring presence ("I'll take care of everything from now on") to the gorgeously ethereal melodies and dreamy crystalline guitars of "Show Me How." And there's unlikely to be a dry eye in the house as a hushed Grohl Sr. bids a final farewell on the closing stripped-back bars of finale Rest, ("Waking up, I had another dream of us/In the warm Virginia sun/There I will meet you").
The recent appointment of Josh Freese, the journeyman drummer who appears to have played with every notable rock band of the past 30 years, appears to confirm this won't be the last we hear from Foo Fighters. Indeed, Grohl and company have described But Here We Are as "the first chapter of the band's new life." This heartfelt yet utterly emphatic tribute suggests it will be just as compelling as those gone by.