There Is Nothing Left To Lose by Foo Fighters
Back in 1995, in the aftermath of Nirvana while the world was still mourning Cobain's passing former Nirvana-drummer Dave Grohl put together a band known as Foo Fighters. The self-titled debut was recorded by him alone (except one guitar part on X-static played by Greg Dulli from Afghan Whigs) from demos he had put together during Nirvana. For the second album, named The Colour And The Shape Dave were accompanied by ex-Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear, bassist Nate Mendel from Sunny Day Real Estate and drummer William Goldsmith. Actually, Krist Novoselic (former bassist of Nirvana) was for obvious reasons the main candidate for the bassist-role, but Grohl was worried that three former Nirvana members in the same band would be considered a reincarnation of the old grunge band. During the recording of The Colour And The Shape, released 1997, problems erupted. Disputes between Grohl and Goldsmith resulted in the drummer leaving the band. Dave himself picked up the drumsticks and they re-recorded almost the whole album with Grohl on drums. After the release, Smear also left the band due to fatigue and internal conflicts with Dave. The band needed to fill their ranks for their third album, so Dave contacted Alanis Morissette's current drummer Taylor Hawkins and asked if he had any ideas on who to sign. Surprisingly, he volunteered himself. This was enough to put together a record and the result came out in 1999, called There Is Nothing Left To Lose.
Lineup:
Dave Grohl: Vocals, guitars and drums.
Nate Mendel: Bass.
Taylor Hawkins: Drums.
As stated above, this was the Foo's third album and the follow-up from the very successful The Colour And The Shape, that featured the smash-hit "Everlong". It was at the time Foo Fighters' biggest U.S. seller, with 1.9 million copies sold, so the band felt the pressure on them. Personally I think this album had much more strong singles than the previous albums, except from maybe "Everlong". I got into the Foo's in the winter of 2002, where a friend of mine convinced to go see them on their "One By One"-tour. I had heard a couple of singles and thought they were rather nice so I accepted this invitation and tagged along. This was my first real gig-experience and it was a fabulous night, since then I'm hooked on them and I've seen 'em live once more earlier this year on their "In Your Honor"-tour, on the last gig of the tour. Anyway, back to the review and the tracklisting is as follows:
1) Stacked Actors
One of the singles and the opener for this album. Heavy opening with hard guitars and some serious beating on the drums which then turns mellow and soft at the verse were Grohls' singing comes in. After the almost jazzy verse and Grohls' "sing-talk" the sounds turns up for the pre-chorus and chorus and gets into the same trace as the intro, hard and rough and then turning mellow with a short interlude and then back to the verse again. I personally ain't very fond of this song, for me it's too much of a mix between "For All The Cows" and a random song of The Colour And The Shape and I don't really see it fit in on this album. 2/5
2) Breakout
Intro with a phased guitar and Dave singing a while until the drums, bass and another guitar accompanies for the chorus. A kinda slow and short verse is followed by a fast pre-chorus. The song ends very rock-raw with Dave screaming and some rough riffs, together with Stacked Actors these songs are the most rock on this record. One of the more known songs. 3.5/5
3) Learn To Fly
Kind of the anthem and main single for this album. Good mixture between rock and the "alternative" sound and still very Foo-like. Fast intro with distorted guitars, bass and drums, the whole kit basically, that then transcends into a mellow, soft guitar-picking verse which then turns up again for the chorus. The song features amazingly cool guitar-sound and great lyrics by Grohl and it's a very easy listening which could hook you instantly. Easily one of the most loved Foo's song and it's excellent live. Also, the ending is really cool. 5/5
4) Gimme Stitches
Following "Learn To Fly" is "Gimme Stitches", one of the most underrated songs of this album. The music fits in really good with Dave's lyrics though not really single material. Intro is made of guitars with distortion and a nice interlude behind it, verse features the same plus Taylor's excellent drumming. Even though the singing by Dave is great the verses kinda fails to deliver but then again the chorus sounds great, especially the last ones featuring Dave singing two different parts at the same time. 3/5
5) Generator
Starts off with Dave "singing" a guitar part with "wah-wah"-effect on his voice, making it sound really cool. The verses are like all previous songs very mellow and slow but still very emotional and enjoyable. Again, turns up for the "wah-wah-singing" as interlude and back to verses then quickly over to the chorus. Different from "Gimme Stitches" the chorus in this song feels rather empty, the lyrics are kind of lame with lots of "yeah yeah's" but it still have its moments, though I consider the verses to be the strongest part of this song. 3/5
6) Aurora
Now we're talking. This song is the masterpiece of this album. Opening up with really neat delay-effected guitars and some really emotional and touching singing by Dave. The lyrics in this song is so awesome that there's really no fair way of describing them more than Dave at his absolute best. The chorus turns it up a bit, but without losing the mellow tone. Longest track on the album but I'm really glad it is, 'cause I like every second of it. For the outro everything's turned off except the delayed guitars and then Dave comes in again singing "On and on and on..." repetitive and then the whole outro is blended by Taylor's powerful and great drumming, ending a great song in a great way. 5/5
7) Live-In Skin
Starts up with guitar and drums in a cool harmony and you can also hear Dave faintly in the background. He opens up this tune great really matching up the guitar and nicely extending the last words of each line. The chorus is a nice upbeat drumming experience and also Nate does an incredible work on the bass. The ending is awesome with Dave singing "Turn your insides out to the outside, turn the outside in to the inside". This is not your ordinary Foo's song, the lyrics are unlike any of the other tracks. 4/5
8) Next Year
Cool little tune, kinda slow song with beautiful emotional lyrics and some great drumming for being such a soft song. The verses are incredibly well done, every word etches into you brain. The chorus is a little weaker, but still very good due to the amazing lyrics. The whole song is basically built on some major and minor chords but they work extremely well together with Nate's bass, which purely rocks on this track. The little sneaky ending is a funny thing, you'll understand if you listen to the whole song I promise. 4/5
9) Headwires
Must be the darkest track on the album. Some kind of echo-effect on Dave's voice and some interesting guitar-effects make the verses very good. The chorus makes me a bit disappointed though, the music isn't as cool as on the verse but at least the lyrics keep the same standards. Must have been one of the harder songs to sing by Dave but he manages very well. He also does some cool mumbling after one of the choruses just before the bridge, which is my favourite part of the whole song. Very underrated song that deserves more credits than it gets. 5/5
10) Ain?t It The Life
Could easily have been an all acoustic song. One electric picking guitar leading the song safely forward, with distinguished basslines and some light but good drumming. The lyrics are good and fits perfectly in with the guitar. The song also features a cool solo/interlude which I enjoy a lot. At the end the electric guitar is backed up by an acoustic which adds even some more depth to it. The fading in the end makes it good as a lullaby too. 4/5
11) M.I.A.
The last song on this album is everything but a filler track, personally it's one of my favourites. Very mellow intro which at the end of the verse pumps up by great bass and drums to explode into a fantastic anthem with amazing lyrics about leaving everything behind and never looking back. What I can find disturbing though is the bridge part where everything's slowing down again, luckily it builds up again rather quickly but I would rather have seen it escalade even more and end like that in a really cool finale as in Aurora. Overall, one of the real highlights of this album. 4.5/5
To summarize I would call this album an easy listener. Really easy to find stuff you like and to connect emotions to. If you're looking raw-rock, go buy One By One instead, this is more like a mellow alternative album than a rock album, except maybe Stacked Actors and Breakout. If you enjoy some great singing and a form of mellow rock this definitely is a record for your collection. Too bad Foo Fighters have left this era, 'cause I really like songs like these even though I sometimes enjoy their real rock songs a la One By One too, it's all about which mood your in. As you might have noticed I've used the word "mellow" quite a few times in this review and that word summarizes this record pretty good by itself.
Recommended tracks are Aurora, Learn To Fly, Headwires and M.I.A.
Overall rating: 4.5/5
