Album: There Is Nothing Left To Lose
Artist: Foo Fighters
Released: 1999
Label: RCA Records
Foo Fighters:
Dave Grohl - vocals/guitar/drums
Nate Mandel - bass
Taylor Hawkins - drums
Foo Fighters is a band composed of former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl with Pat Smear, who worked with Nirvana on the live "Unplugged" performance, bassist Nate Mandel, and drummer William Goldsmith. Their sound is basically alternate rock, but you can hear a lot of hard rock and "grunge" influences in their music. They've recently released the two disc "In Your Honor" with the single "Best of You" and their album "One By One" is still selling well.
Track listing:
1. Stacked Actors - 4:17
2. Breakout - 3:21
3. Learn to Fly - 3:58
4. Gimme Stitches - 3:42
5. Generator - 3:48
6. Aurora - 5:50
7. Live-In Skin - 3:53
8. Next Year - 4:37
9. Headwires - 4:38
10. Ain't It The Life - 4:17
11. M.I.A. - 4:03
The Review:
1. Stacked Actors - This track begins with a cool commanding bassline and some guitar and goes into a nice mellow verse. Dave whispers more than sings. The track sounds sort of dark with the bass and guitar creating a powerful hard rock performance along with Dave's screaming vocals. The drums are quiet for the verse and come back up for the chorus. Dave expresses anger towards so called "stacked actors" by singing "Line up all the bastards/ All I want is the truth". It's a good beginning, and I like the bassline and guitar riff for the song. There's a short solo but it's nothing all too grand. The song sounds fine even so.
4/5
2. Breakout - Starts with Dave singing with a phased guitar and then the drums and the second guitar come in. It gives the song a sound I've always identified with the Foo Fighters. It sounds rather punk rock to me at some points like when he sings "Burning in the blast off/ Watching me crawl away/ Try to get out/ Try to get out" and it's sort of cool. After this part, you hear another chorus and then a short guitar part where all it is is one repeated note and then Dave begins to scream. It's a good catchy song and it sounds fine, even if you look at this and towards their newer stuff, with a more serous side.
4/5
3. Learn to Fly - An awesome single for the album. The entire song is upbeat and the guitars do a good job of giving you a sensation of rising up. The entire song is rather mellow and it's excellent to relax to after some hard work. Dave's lyrics add to the upbeat guitars, bass, and drums by saying "Make my way back home and I'll learn to fly". The music video is alright too, as it has appearences by Tenacious D and they're never a bad thing. The song is overall quite pleasant to listen to.
4.5/5
4. Gimme Stitches - This song is fine, and it starts with guitars which are nicely distorted and fit Dave's lyrics just right. It doesn't effect me as much as "Learn To Fly" but there are some nice parts to it where it sounds like it's sort of rising up and the bassline is very nice, as well as the drums. The entire song isn't as memorable as it could be, but it's still alright.
3/5
5. Generator - This song starts out with a cool "Ottowah" effect. The verse is typically mellow, but the feel of it is still rather upbeat and the drums give you the feeling from the verse into the chorus, as do the guitars as Foo Fighters tend to do. INothing really defining about the song, but the lyrics are cool and I like the intro. Like I said, though, nothing defining. Still a beautiful song to listen to when riding aimlessly through Charleston, S.C.
3.5/5
6. Aurora - At 5:50, this is the longest track on the album. It starts out with a cool delay effect, and a nice bassline and calm drums. The guitars give you the feeling of a fairly calm, mellow track, and it certainly seems like it. This is a very nice mellow song to go to sleep to. The guitar occasionally builds up a bit, but it doesn't really move away from it's calm and mellow sound. It's a very nice song to mellow out to and is one of the better tracks on the album, in my opinion. At the end, they start to crescendo and it finally ends at a high and powerful level.
4.5/5
7. Live-In Skin - Starts out with upbeat guitar and drums. I have found that the basslines are very nice and catchy. They work well for this song and it maintains a nice "up" feeling to it. As with a lot of Foo Fighters songs, this one sort of gives you an idea or feeling of rising up in the chorus. The guitars work very well together and the bass is very good for the mood and feel of the song. Dave's voice sounds very nice, as usual. A fine addition to the album.
4/5
8. Next Year - This song is just as mellow as "Aurora" and "Learn to Fly" and the bass is very nice. The guitars are upbeat and the drums compliment them well. The bass gives us the rising feeling I look for and Nate does a good job. The laid back feel of the song is characeristic of most Foo Fighters songs on the album and it is rather beautiful. It's fun to sing along with Dave as he sings "I'll be coming home next year". The only thing I have against this track is that they sort of bluff you closer to the end. You think the trac is done, and then they come back and repeat "I'll be comeing home next year" until they fade away. It does seem rather unecessary, but the track is still a pleasant addition to the album.
4/5
9. Headwires - Another typically mellow track, but nothing as defining as the other tracks. The bassline is what I love and the way the guitars work towards the chorus catch my attention too. I haven't taken much interest in the lyrics or the way Dave sings them because they sort of act like they're trying to put me to sleep even though the guitar gets louder eventually. It sounds cool, but it just doesn't grab my attention as well as it could.
2.5/5
10. Ain't It the Life - The intro reminds me a little bit of surfer music, especially with the slowly strummed chord and the easy tremolo. The entire song is very nice and mellow, and some aspects remind me of the Beatles as I listen. I like the general feel of this track and it's one of my favorites to just sit back and take everything to. There's a cool sounding solo that I think fits the mood perfectly. It works excellently for the mood of the guitar and bass, even if it's not that difficult. I've found this track very enjoyable to listen to.
4/5
11. M.I.A. - This song starts out very silently and then comes up just to give us a more mellow verse which builds to a a nice distorted chorus. Everything comes together for this and it's another one of those pleasant tracks to listen to. Dave is singing about leaving everything behind as he sings "You won't find me/ I'm goin' M.I.A./ Tonight I'm leavin'/ I'm goin' M.I.A" but the sound of the track doesn't sound like it's a bad thing. The entire track is rather upbeat and it is enjoyable for the most part. I think a solo for this song would have worked quite nicely, but it sounds just as good without it. The drums give a cool sounding outro for a few seconds and then it's over.
4/5
Pros:
- good production
- fine vocals, guitar, bass, and drums
- very mellow feel if you like to mellow out
- tattoo included
Cons:
- no lyric booklet
- doesn't say who the band is (this can be frustrating if a friend recommended them to you and you end up liking them)
- some repetitive guitar
Overall: 4/5
I found this album very nice to listen to, especially on the way back from the music store I bought it from. I like the mellowness of the music and I'm starting to look into Foo Fighters more now because of this album. I recommend it to anyone who just likes to mellow out and relax.
Recommended tracks:
Breakout, Learn to Fly, Aurora, Live-In Skin, Next Year, Ain't It the Life, M.I.A.
Note: If you disagree with any of my ratings, please let me know why so I can take them into consideration. I hope you find this review helpful. I tried to make it shorter and to the point.
