| Foo Fighters - There
Is Nothing Left To Lose |
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 Well
here it is, it's that time again… and so soon. Time for the post
Nirvana dissection that always takes place when this band release
anything at all, time for the usual "well, they're a let
down" vibes that circulate because they aren't Nirvana II,
never were or ever shall be. I think this is a bit of a shame and I
get the feeling that everything they ever do is going to be
overshadowed by this unfair comparison with past glories, mainly
because this was quietly (kinda) one of the finer moments of
American music from last year.
While critics were filling CD sticker quotations for the last
Flaming Lips album (in case they happened to completely miss another
Mercury Rev) this was incredulously dismissed as being quite a
toothless safe affair, not at all influenced by Phil 'Kill' Spector
and therefore not really worth bothering about. I came to it with a
sense of the usual vague misgivings mixed with the painful memory of
the crushingly duff last album they had churned out. I went from it
thinking I'd heard a pretty ingeniously melodic record from a band
who are at last sounding comfortable enough with themselves and
confident enough to groove on with their talent and let everything
else go to shite. Good for them and good for you if you prefer
rocking good attacks at hypocrisy and warm nostalgic interludes that
prickle the neck hairs to mindless brow beating and post adolescent
self indulgence in a band.
Nirvana were about challenging the listener, sonically, lyrically
and to some degree emotionally, Foo Fighters are about embracing the
listener sonically, emotionally and to some degree emotionally. The
difference between a childish destructive affair and a mature
passionate relationship. To my mind there is no overshadowing by the
past, there is humanity were there was self destruction, there is an
evolution instead of no solution and a forest fire where there once
was a match.
Listen to it. See what you think. Get a mate to tape it for you.
Maybe you'll still prefer Bleach, maybe you'll move on. They have.
If you want my recommendation it's yours.
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Rating: 8 out of
10
Reviewed by Gordon Peppard
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| Foo Fighters - There
Is Nothing Left To Lose [ a
2nd Opinion ] |
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There
Is Nothing Left To Lose, named after a Wiper's song? Who knows, but
what I can tell you is that the Foo Fighters are still making some
damn fine music. This, their latest release, has a quieter, more
relaxed, more mature feel to it than their previous two albums.
Unlike Monsignor Denis... sorry, Mr Peppard, I did think their last
album was rather good. Even though that album didn't really work as
a whole, the individual songs themselves were great, such as, My
Poor Brain, My Hero and Everlong.
The first song that I heard of TNLTL was Learn To Fly and upon first
listen I just thought it was ok, nothing special, a little lighter
and poppier than usual, but not bad. I said to myself "This
must be one of the quieter songs on the album". The next track
that I heard on the radio was Stacked Actors. "What the hell is
this?" I thought upon listening. I'd never heard a song like it
before in my life, it was so fucked up, yet so brilliant. I couldn't
wait for the album to be released. I just hoped that each song would
be as good as Stacked Actors.
After listening to the album a few times I couldn't really decide
whether it was good or not. The album starts off with the excellent
Stacked Actors (which by the way is totally different to everything
else on the album) and is followed by Breakout (the weakest song on
the album). Only now, after about a month or so, have I decided. The
answer my friend is... its really rather good. Definitely better
than their last album, though not as good as their first (which I
still have a sweet spot for). Songs such as Generator, Aurora and
Headwires are possibly the finest the Foos have ever written, and
with other songs such as, Learn To Fly and Live-In Skin, this album
is definitely worth getting. One final point, not everyone likes the
direction the Foo Fighters have taken, so try before you buy.
However, I wholeheartedly recommend this album to both Foo and non-Foo
fans.
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Rating: 8 out of
10
Reviewed by David Majors
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