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The First Foo Fighter Article explaining how they got together

Toward the end of the second World War, U.S. Air Force flyerspatrolling the German skies would
encounter a number ofstrange aerial phenomena in the area betueen Hagenau inAlsace-Lorraine and
Neustadt an der Weinstrasse in the Rhine Valley. Similar to modern reports of UFOs or so-called
"flying saucers," these objects would come to be referred to as "Foo Fighters" 
("Foo" being slang for the French feu, fire) or, by those who believed the highly maneuverable
balls of light to be a newly developed German weapon, "KrautBalls."

Dave Grohl:
"Had a guitar around the house all my life but never got around to really learning how to play
it until I was about 10 years old. I was told to take lessons because everyone was sick of 
hearing 'Smoke On The Water.' Took lessons for about one year and stopped because it wasn't 
teaching me how to play music. About the same time I was trying to figure out Beatles songs by 
myself. I was always really good at figuring out songs byear. I always thought that it was in 
my blood, seeing as mymother was in singing groups as a teen and my father was an accomplished 
flautist. At 11, I started recording songs on a Fairfax County Public School issue cassette 
player with my best friend, Larry Hinkle. My first electric guitar was a Silvertone (the cool 
kind fromthe '60s with the amp built into the case) that I got for Christmas at age 12. By 
spring it was dropped and broken. It was replaced by a Memphis Les Paul copy. Black. Soon 
discovered distortion and joined a neighborhood cover band. Played Who, Stones, etc.. Actually 
performed at a nursing home and played "Time Is On My Side." People danced.
On the summer of my 13th year. my family took its annual trip to Evanston, Il. to visit my 
cousins. Upon arrival, I was greeted at the front door by my cousin Tracey. But this wasn't the 
Tracey I had grown to love, this was punk Tracey. Complete with bondage pants, spiked hair, 
chains, the wholenine yards. It was the most fucking awesome thing I had everseen. That few 
weeks in Evanston changed my life forever. I was totally amazed at the extensive underground 
of fanzines and labels and bands. Her record collection (worth a mint today, I'm sure) was 
incredible! Hundreds of singles from all over the world. I no longer thought that punk rockers 
existed only on CHIPS and Quincy. It was especially moving seeing my first show 
(Naked Raygun/R.O.T.A. at the Cubby Bear, summer 1982), having never been to a rock concert 
before in my life. To me, this was what a rock concert was really like until I saw my first 
"real" concert at age 19. Needless to say, it was quite a disappointment (the big concert, 
silly)."

William Goldsmith:
"When asked in fifth grade if anyone wanted to play drums in the school band, William raised 
his hand. I didn't quite have the patience to focus on the sheet music they gave us, so I threw 
it away and decided to write my own parts in my head. I received many detentions for adding too 
many rolls.
When I was in seventh grade, my brother sat down with me and taught me that I was a real person 
and that I could think for myself, then proceeded to introduce me to many bands: Led Zeppelin, 
the Who, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Cream, Jethro Tull, etc.. When I got into eighth grade 
I got a drumkit and somehow already knew how to play it. I took it to the school band and said 
'I'm not going to just play the snare anymore. I'm going to play the silly little songs with a 
drumkit by ear.' But really all I wanted to do was be Keith Moon, with the kick drum foot of 
John Bonham."

One incident reported on November 23, 1944 had Foo Fighterstailing an American plane over 
the Rhine for some 18 miles.Four days later, two pilots logged an encounter with a large, 
glowing, orange mass moving at approximately 250 mph. They followed it briefly before sudden, 
inexplicable radar malfunctions forced their return to base.

Nate Mendel: 
"I bought my first bass not because I knew howto play one or had any intention of becoming a 
musician, but because I really wanted to be in a band and a friend had toldme that the bass 
was the easiest instrument to play. I neverplayed in a band with that guy."

Dave Grohl: "In the summer of 1984 I met some guys at a Void show in D.C. who were in a 
band that needed a guitar player. I gladly offered my services and was given an audition. The
band was called Freak Baby. I was accepted and my career as a punk rocker began. We played a 
few shows at a local high school and recorded a demo that fall with local studio wiz Barrett 
Jones. This was my first recording in a real deal 4 track studio. We convinced the local punk 
rock record store Smash to sell our cassettes and managed to gain a following of four or five 
local skinheads. Go figure. After kicking out our bass player a few months later, I had the 
chance to put down the guitar and rescue the drums from our struggling drummer, Dave. 
Turns out he was actually a rather fine bass player to begin with, making the decision even more
logical(or palatable). ENTER MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.
Mission Impossible was a super-fast hardcore delight--achance to try out all the tricks I hat 
learned from mygrowing record collection, on a real drumset even! I hadn't the slightest idea 
how to set the fucking thing up, but I sure loved beating the shit out of it. We actually 
wrote songs that had little breaks in them so we could jump justlike the pictures we'd seen in 
Maximumrocknroll and Flipside. It was 1985 and I was living my hardcore dream."

William Goldsmith: 
"My friend Peter Augustino started introducing me to more underground punk rock music. We 
started our first band, the Screaming Hormones. We could notplay. When I got into high school, 
I met a guy named JohnAtkins who decided to collaborate with the ScreamingHormones. There was 
about 10 people in the band; we basically took everyone in the school who was even remotely 
interested in classic rock or punk rock and put them in the band. It wasperhaps the worst band 
that ever existed. Then John Atkinsand I broke off from the Screaming Hormones and decided 
to spend the next four years of our lives together learning howto write and shape songs. That 
was the most influential parto f my career."

Naturally, pilots who made official reports regarding the FooFighters were subject to 
skepticism if not outright ridicule. An imposed silence ensued, only to be broken a month later
by two flyers from the 415th Squadron who reported a December 22pursuit by two Foo Fighters. 
Two nights later the same pilotswere "attacked" by a glowing red object while flying over the 
Rhine.

Dave Grohl: "Mission Impossible played its last show in the summer of 1985. Over the 
course of that year, I'd had many great experiences: opening for the legendary Troublefunk at a
high school prom, Ian Mackaye publicly declaring that he liked my band, finally being able to 
send demo tapes to all the pen pals I'd acquired over years of fanzine collecting,even releasing
a split single with local heroes Lunchmeat(now Girls Against Boys).
Enter Reuben Radding, an 
extraordinary bassist in band called A.O.C. that had just broken up as well. His knowledge of
hardcore was negligible, his taste being more in the Mission of Burma/Television vein. We set up
our stuff in my living room and smoked a whole bunch of pot, wrote four songs, and Dain Bramage 
was born. With Reuben on guitar and vocals, Dave(ex-Mission Impossible) on bass, and me still 
at the drum set, we started writing song after song at an alarming pace. We started playing 
shows around town, whenever we could get them, usually to the hardcore kids' dismay. This band 
was where I really started to utilize my growing interest in songwriting: arrangement, 
dynamics, different tunings, etc..We were extremely experimental, usually experimenting with
classic rock clich-s in a noisy, punk rock kind of way. Like every other band I'd been in, we 
eventually recorded a few demos with Barrett. After being discovered by C.O.C. drummer Reed 
Mullin, we were courted by L.A. independent label Fart blossom, much to our surprise. Flattered
beyond belief, we went into a 24 track studio near Annapolis and recorded Dain Bramage's only 
LP, I Scream Not Coming Down. It was a fine demonstration of our blend of rock, art punk,
and hardcore. I still like it."

Disturbed by the frequent and vivid nature of these reports, authorities attempted to dismiss
them as St. Elmo's Fire, anaturally occurring by-product of mutual electrostaticinduction caused
by the very planes being "tailed" and"attacked." Theoretically, the immaterial nature of 
St.Elmo's Fire would account for its radar invisibility, whilethe charges present in these 
energy bodies could explaininterference in the planes' radar functions.

William Goldsmith:
"I then joined a band with Jeremy Enigkcalled Reason For Hate. I got into some trouble just 
aftergraduating from high school. My friend Greg Williamson waslooking for a replacement drummer
for a band he was in called Positive Greed. It seemed like a good idea at the time because they
were going to take me on tour, and I needed toget out of town."

Dave Grohl: 
"A year or so later, I saw a flyer that read 'Scream looking for drummer, call Franz.' Now, 
Scream was legendary in D.C.. They had been a band since 1979 or '80 and I had seen them many a 
time. Their first two records were among my all-time favorites, so this little flyer was more
than just that. Originally, I'd just wanted to call Franz, jam with them once or twice, then be
able to tell my friends' I got to play with Scream!!'. So I called Franz a few times and finally 
got an answer. I explained that I was a huge fan, told him which bands I'd played in, and that 
I'd love to give it a shot. When he asked how old I was, I lied and said I was 20 (I think I was
17). He never called back. I guess a few months went by and I called him again. This time I 
convinced him to give me an hour or two of his time and scheduled my audition. Seeing as how 
Scream records were among those I used to play drums to on my bed when I was first learning, I 
knew all their songs by heart. I even had an advance copy of their latest demo. So when Franz 
looked at me and asked, 'What do you want to play? Some Sabbath? Or some Zep?' I said, 'Nah. 
let's play...' and rattled off the names of all their songs. The next two hours were heaven for 
me, to be able to play Scream songs with the real deal.
After a few more practices, it was apparent they were serious about me joining. This was 
something that never entered my mind, the possibility of actually joining Scream. I had to 
really weigh the options: 1. Leave my two greatest friends inthe dust and travel the world with
one of my favorite bandsever. Or 2. Stick with Dain Bramage and hope it all worksout.
I called Franz and told him no. I explained my situation and apologized. I think he understood 
and invited me to their next show a few weeks later. It was one of the greatest Scream shows 
I'd ever seen. I changed my mind."

Nate Mendel: "I first started playing with my friend Jason Cobb. He was an excellent 
guitar player, from the "sit in your room, smoke pot and learn Led Zeppelin songs note for note
all day" school of guitar. Our first band was an argument. Sitting around one day with our 
friends Glen Essary and Glen Attebury, Jason decided to demonstrate the inane simplicity of 
punk rock by composing a typical punk rock song on the spot. He lost the argument and that song 
became Product of Rape's first song."

Yet reports of Foo Fighters persisted, climaxing in May 1945 withthe sighting of five orange
balls traveling in a triangular formation near the eastern edge of the Pfazerwald. With the
conclusion of the war, however, decreased air activity in thisregion logically led to fewer 
sightings of Foo Fighters. Eventually, they would be forgotten until their reemergence in 1950,
heralding the modern age of UFO sightings.

Dave Grohl: 
"It was spring of '87 and here I was in one of D.C.'s most respected bands. Scream was no longer
making records for Dischord, but another D.C. label had signed us. Ras Records was a reggae 
label about to try (unsuccessfully) to expand into the rock market. So we were thrown into a 
fancy 24 track studio with a reggae producer to make No More Censorship, Scream's fourth 
LP.
We set out on what would be our first American tour in the fall of 1987. I was 18 years old, 
doing exactly what I wanted to do. With a $7 a day per diem, I traveled to places I'd never 
dreamed of visiting. And all because of music. The feeling of driving across the country in a 
van with five other guys, stopping in every city to play, sleeping on peoples' floors, watching
the sun come up over the desert as I drove, it was all too much. This was definitely where I 
belonged.
My first trip to Europe was amazing. In February of 1988, we flew into Amsterdam and spent the 
next two months playing in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, England and 
Spain. Most shows were in squats (buildings taken over by punks atwar with the system, fighting
the police for their right to aplace to live) and youth centers, very few in bars or nightclubs.
It was awesome. Most shows were actually pretty crowded sinceScream was one of the few American
hardcore bands to visit Europebefore.
We did another short U.S. tour, returned to Europe in the fall forthree months, recorded a live
record (Live At Van Hall InAmsterdam), and continued writing new songs. This was also 
the year I attended my first big stadium concert, Monsters of Rockfeaturing Metallica, Van Halen,
Dokken, Scorpions, etc., etc..Needless to say, I found the whole thing extremely comical and
couldn't for the life of me understand the appeal of something so contrived and phony. Good 
thing I would never have to do that."
Foo Fighters. Self-titled Debut Album.

Nate Mendel: "Diddly Squat was my first actual band. We played hardcore and put out one 
7" record. I bought a van and we did afew tours, breaking up after the last one in 1988. Diddly
Squatdrummer Eric Akre and I then conspired with friends in a Washington D.C. band called 
Christ on a Crutch (which included Product of Rape singer Glen Essary) to reform that band in
Seattle. In the six month interim between Diddly Squat and Christon a Crutch, I moved to Seattle
and played in a straight edge bandcalled Brotherhood. This band had pretty great songs but was
weighted down with burden of being a straight edge band. It wasreally fun, though. Christ on a 
Crutch got together and played for a few years, doing tours and putting out a bunch of singles 
and anLP. We played at an anarchy festival once. This band died in 1993."

Dave Grohl: "In between Scream tours, I was hanging out with Barrett more and more, 
helping him out with his solo project inthe studio. Since he had his own 8 track in the 
basement, we wouldjam on his songs and record them pretty quickly. I sometimes played bass or 
guitar on some songs. That summer I realized that if I were to write a song, record the drums 
first, then come backover it with a few guitars, bass, and vocals, I could make it sound like a
band. So I came up with a few riffs on the spot andrecorded three songs in under 15 minutes. 
Mind you, these were noepic masterpieces, just a test to see if I could do this sort of thing 
on my own. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
I then started writing more and 
more stuff, some used in Scream's final tape (later released as Fumble), some hidden 
away for later use. We did our final tour of Europe in the spring of 1990. It was a real ball
buster, 23 shows in 24 days, so draining that one member quit 3/4 of the way through, only to 
be promptly replaced so that we could finish the tour. We recorded anotherlive record (Live 
In Germany) and headed home.
Upon returning, an eviction notice was discovered, unopened, in (Scream vocalist) Pete Stahl 
and (bassist) Skeeter's mailbox. Itwas for the next day. The only logical thing to do: Get back
on the road. So we booked what would be our last tour, rather hastily, and hit the road in the 
summer of '90. Plagued with cancellations and low attendance, it was apparent that something
had to give. That something would be our bassist Skeeter. Upon waking up in Franz's sister's 
house in L.A. halfway through thetour and discovering that Skeeter was gone, we realized some 
heavy decisions had to be made. Suckers for punishment that we were, wedecided to stay in L.A. 
and search for a new bassist."

Band Personnel (alphabetically):
William Goldsmith (drums)
Dave Grohl (guitar, vocals)

Nate Mendel (bass)
Pat Smear (guitar)

Dave Grohl: "After I explained our predicament to him, Buzz Osborne from the Melvins 
told me that this band called Nirvana was looking for a drummer. He said they'd seen Scream in 
S.F. and really liked my drumming. After waiting a few days, I gathered upenough courage to 
call this guy Chris. I introduced myself and he remembered seeing me play. I explained my 
situation and he told me that they had already recruited Mudhoney drummer Dan Peters and that 
they were practicing with him for an upcoming UK tour. Iwished him luck and told him that if 
they were ever in L.A. (which was looking more and more like my permanent home) to give me a
call.
Chris called back that night and asked if there was any way I could fly up to Seattle.
Another heartbreaking decision: Was I to leave my best friends in the world, the ones who had 
taught me everything I knew about touring, playing, writing, living, etc. to move to Seattle 
andjoin a band full of people I had never even met? It was the toughest decision I ever had to 
make. Honestly, 100%. I got the hell out of L.A. and there was no looking back.
With only my drum set in a huge box and a bag of clothes, I was greeted at the Seattle airport 
by the biggest guy I had ever seen and the scrawniest guy I had ever seen. After a brief run 
through of the songs on Bleach a few days later, it was clear thatthis was my new 
position."
* Greg Dulli plays guitar on "X-Static" and is therefore the onlyother musician to play with
Dave on this recording.

Dave Grohl: "On my trips back to Va., I started recording more and more at Barrett's 
studio. I had probably finished six or seven songs and was writing a lot of stuff in my spare 
time in Olympia. After recording Nevermind, I went home for a few days and recorded at a
different local D.C. studio. This tape was heard by a friend named Jenny Toomey who had a label
called Simple Machines. She had heard other recordings and asked if I was interested in doing a
cassette release. I was a little hesitant,always having been very shy about people listening to
me sing, butI eventually said yes. This was to become my alter ego, "Late." The cassette was 
entitled Pocketwatch and was (and stillis) duplicated from a second generation copy that
I had given Jenny months before and included early versions of "Winnebago" and "Marigold" 
(later Nirvana B-side).
The explosion of my real band kept me pretty busy for a while, butI always managed to bring 
along a guitar so that I could writesongs to record upon returning home. By this time, Barrett 
had moved to Seattle and become my roommate. The 8 track studio was inthe basement, at our 
disposal anytime we came up with an idea.
This is where I really started to focus on my songs.
After touring America and Europe for Nevermind, we had some time torelax. It was my time
to get to work downstairs. "Alone & EasyTarget," "Floaty" and maybe 10-15 others were recorded
there. Thenit was back on the road with the N-band."

Production Credit:
Barrett Jones & Foo Fighters

William Goldsmith: "Played in the Igloo Sect then formed aband called Chewbacca Kaboom 
with Dan Hoerner and Nate Mendel. Chewbacca Kaboom was the fourth band I was in at one time. I
eventually quit the other bands, continuing to play with Chewbacca Kaboom, which became Sunny 
Day Real Estate after several other corny names."

Nate Mendel: "Around 1992, Dan Hoerner, William Goldsmith and I formed band called a lot
of things and then finally Sunny Day Real Estate. While I was in Europe on Christ On A Crutch's
final tour, Jeremy Enigk joined the band. We had an easier time getting shows with him in the 
band."

Dave Grohl: "The summer of 1992 was a blast. With little action on the Nirvana front, I
could pay more attention to my music. The studio was moved to a different location, as were we,
and recording became a full time deal. Between sporadic Nirvana trips and visits to D.C., most 
of my time was spent writing and experimenting with harmonies and arrangements. Songs like 
"GoodGrief" and "Exhausted" were written around this time.
"Weenie Beenie" and "Podunk" were 
thrown together in early 1993,as were lots of other songs I sure hope no one ever hears. "For 
All The Cows" was done around the same time, and my growing loveof recording cover songs led me
to record "Ozone" from Ace Frehley's solo record and the Angry Samoans' "Gas Chamber."
Around the summer of 1993, I had been talking to a fellow in Detroit about possibly releasing 
some of my stuff on his small label. I wanted to remain anonymous, but ultimately have 
something to send to friends and stuff. Nirvana's upcoming tour put that stuff on the back 
burner, but I was genuinely looking forward to pursuing it once the band had some time off."

William Goldsmith: "While Nate was in Europe touring with another band, Dan and I formed
a band called Thief Steal Me a Peach with Jeremy Enigk playing guitar and singing and Dan 
playing bass. Nate's return failed to dislodge Jeremy from the band, but it did return Dan to 
the guitar. This group was also called Sunny Day Real Estate."

Label:
Roswell/Capitol (note the order)

Dave Grohl: 
"After Kurt's death, I was about as confused as I've ever been. To continue almost seemed in 
vain. I was always going to be 'that guy from Kurt Cobain's band' and I knew that. I wasn't 
even sure if I had the desire to make music anymore. I received a postcard from fellow Seattle 
band 7 Year Bitch, who had also lost a member. It said, 'We know what you're going through. The
desire to play music is gone for now, but it will return. Don't worry." That fucking letter 
saved my life, because as much as I missed Kurt, and as much as I felt so lost, I knew that 
there was only one thing that I was truly cut out to do and that was music. I know that sounds 
so incredibly corny, but I honestly felt that. I decided to do what I had always wanted to do 
since the first time I'd recorded a song all by myself. I was going to booka week in a 24 track
studio, choose the best stuff I'd ever written out of the 30-40 songs that had piled up, and 
really concentrate on them in a real studio.
So I booked time at the studio down the street and got my shit together.
The first four hours was spent getting sounds. This was a cinch for Barrett, whom I'd asked to 
produce since he was the one person in the world I felt comfortable singing in front of. By 
five o'clock we were ready to record. Over the past six years, Barrett and I had perfected our 
own method of recording. Start with drums, listen to playback while humming tune in head to 
make sure arrangement is correct, put down two or three guitar tracks--Mind you, all amplifiers
and everything are ready to go before recording begins--Do bass track and move on to next songs,
saving vocals for last.
This time, though, it became sort of a game. I wanted to see how little time it could take me 
to track 15 songs, complete with over dubs and everything. I did the basic tracks in two and a 
halfdays, meaning I was literally running from instrument to instrument, using mostly first 
takes on everything. All vocals andrough mixes were finished on schedule: one week.
Then the question of what to do with it.
I made my first mistake: my trip to the duplication lab downtown for 100 copies. My next 
mistake was my blind generosity. That fucking tape spread like the Ebola virus, leaving me 
with an answering machine tape full of record company jive."
I jammed around with a few people before meeting Nate Mendel. His girlfriend was a good friend 
of my wife, and they joined us for a Thanksgiving party at my house. It was the night we 
discovered my house was haunted, but that's a different story altogether.
Not long after meeting Nate, I gave a tape to Pat Smear. I knew that the band would need two 
guitars, but didn't think that Pat would want to commit to anything (or that he would even like
the music). To my surprise, not only did he like the tape, he expressed interest in joining up.
I just wanted to find theperfect drummer."

Pat Smear: "After you've been in the coolest band ever, what do you do? I sat on the 
couch with the remote control in my hand for a year. I didn't know if I ever wanted to be in a 
band again. I was just working on solo stuff. Dave and I had kept in touch and I had heard 
about his tape, but I didn't know what to expect. When I heard the tape, I flipped. Dave gave 
it to me at a club and I went home. After I listened to it, I went back to the club. But I
didn't want to ask to join the band. I waited for him to askme."

William Goldsmith: "Sunny Day Real Estate began to fail in mid-1994 with the conversion 
of Jeremy to Christianity, a condition unfamiliar with artistic tolerance."

Nate Mendel: "Jeremy quit in 1994 and the band broke up. This is about the time that 
Dave started handing out his tape and thinking about putting together a band. And then we had 
to write these embarrassing little things."

Dave Grohl: "Enter William Goldsmith. Will was in Nate's band, Sunny Day Real Estate. 
The band had become extremely popular in Seattle and had an album out on Sub Pop. Though I had 
never see nor heard them, I knew a little about them. I saw them play their last few shows in 
Seattle and was blown away by Nate and Will. So you can imagine my first reaction when I heard 
the band was calling it quits. I gave the two of them tapes through my wife's friend and prayed
they'd enjoy them."

William Goldsmith: "I was hanging out, depressed, in D.C. after Sunny Day Real Estate's 
final tour when Dave came up to me and said, 'Hey, how's it going?'"

Pat Smear: "Dave had been talking about Sunny Day Real Estate, though I had never heard 
them. Then one night I just walked into a club and heard over the PA: 'Let's hear it for 
Sunny Day RealEstate!' They'd just finished their set. I met William and Nate and they said,
'See you in a couple of days at rehearsal."'

Dave Grohl: "I didn't want this to be some ridiculous solo project. I sure as fuck 
didn't consider Pat, Nate and William my backing band. I realized this was a bizarre foundation
for a band, but that's exactly what my goal was: To have another band. We got together and it 
was soon apparent that this was to be that next band. I wanted everyone to have the freedom to 
do whatever they wanted to do within the songs, each member as important as the next."

Thank you.

This is the end of the article.

Article On the Making of The Colour And The Shape

"The album really tells the whole story," says Foo Fighters lead 
vocalist and guitarist David Grohl on the making of his band's brand new 
The Colour & The Shape. "It begins with 'Doll,' which is a song about 
entering into something that you weren't prepared for and being scared 
of that. Then you go through 11 songs that have to do with guilt, love, 
the pain of losing someone... It runs the course, the whole thing, until 
you get to the end, to 'New Way Home,' which is meant to be the 
resolution."

Flash back to 1995-96: A platinum-plus debut LP, "Best New Artist" 
awards--not to mention high marks across the board--in the Rolling Stone 
and SPIN readers polls, a year and a half of sold out shows from the 
U.S. to Southeast Asia, the 1996 MTV Video Award for "Best Group 
Video"... You'd think these guys would take some time off to rest on 
their laurels, to smell the flowers, to bask in the praise and 
accolades...

You'd think, but you're not a member of the Foo Fighters. August 1996 
marked the end of the band's grueling touring regimen supporting the Foo 
Fighters album--and a week's vacation for Grohl before composing the 
music for the Paul Schrader feature film Touch (on which he once again 
performed virtually every note save for a few guest spots, which 
included John Doe of X and Veruca Salt's Louise Post). By early October, 
certified workaholic Grohl's fellow Foos had sufficiently recovered from 
road fatigue to begin pre-production on the new album at the 24-track 
studio of Barrett Jones, with whom Grohl had co-produced the first Foos 
LP.

But there was the matter of those pesky lyrics. Or as Grohl puts it, "I 
had nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"I had three or four weeks to write lyrics for 13 songs," He recalls. 
"It's strange, now, the way it's all fallen into place. It seems like it 
was intended to be this thematic, conceptual thing. It wasn't, but when 
I look at it now... I was joking that the cover should be just a picture 
of a therapist's couch. It's just weird. The way it's worked out is just 
really weird. And it's liberating. The lyrics are like my therapist's 
notepad. Completely bizarre. I can really say if people start asking 
about the last six months of my life, I can honestly say, 'Go read the 
lyrics.' I'm not even saying 'Go try to figure it out from the lyrics,' 
just read them. It's right there."

That said, anyone who should ask those personal questions now knows what 
the answers will (or won't) be in advance. As for the music, however, 
The Colour & The Shape is everything the first full length, full band 
recording by the Foo Fighters should be. Where the first Foos record was 
essentially the David Grohl project (For those terminally out of the 
loop: Grohl sang and played everything on the first album, with the 
exception of a guest guitar turn by Afghan Whig Greg Dulli on 
'X-Static'), with guitarist Pat Smear, bassist Nate Mendel and (now 
former) drummer William Goldsmith joining later, The Colour & The Shape 
is a truly collective effort. And Grohl has nothing but the highest 
praise for his fellow voices on The Colour & The Shape.

"Nate's an amazing bass player. He's so good at finding a sub-melody. I 
come up with a riff and I want to find a perfect vocal melody, something 
that's unpredictable, clever, and not so similar to anything else. I'll 
think I've found that perfect melody and I'll be singing along, thinking 
'This is so great, it goes so well with the chord progression,' and then 
Nate starts doing this bass thing that just blows the vocal melody away. 
He's just got such a great sense of melody.

"The cool thing about Pat is I'll come up with a song and show it to him 
and he refuses to play the same chords that I play. If I'm down low on 
the neck, he's way up there. We'll never meet. Sometimes I'll try to get 
him to play something more similar to what I'm doing: 'Pat, that sounds 
a little weird, maybe you should come down to where I am' and he'll just 
say 'No, that's OK. I like this.' It's great. The dynamic of the band 
has just, sort of, expanded. You can tell on the record."

That group dynamic shows and shines throughout: On the subtle and 
subdued beauty of opener "Doll," the infectious and sublime harmonies of 
first single "Monkey Wrench," "Everlong" and "New Way Home," the balance 
of gentle melody and cathartic rage on "My Poor Brain" and "Enough 
Space," the epic centerpiece "February Stars," and so on, and so on ad 
infinitum. The Colour & Shape expands from the singular voice of 1995's 
Foo Fighters into a work equal parts realized potential and promise for 
the future.

"We didn't want to make this record a lo-fi basement project," Grohl 
says. "I'm sort of tired of these bands who write really amazing pop 
songs and record them on an 8-track for the sake of recording their 
album on an 8-track; people who think that's the punk rock purist thing 
to do. That would be the wrong thing for this band. For these songs. 
There's stuff on this album where I'm singing falsetto, stuff where 
there's four or five guitar parts going on at once. I just thought 'I'd 
rather have this sound like a Queen record than, say, a... Rapeman 
record.' But we didn't make it that big a production. It's not like Guns 
'N' Roses' 'November Rain' or anything. But for us, it's a stretch. I've 
never done anything like this before."

Props are therefore due Gil Norton, who did a stellar, if stern, job of 
guiding the Foo Fighters through their first band/producer relationship 
on The Colour & The Shape. "I wanted Gil because of the work he'd done 
with the Pixies," Grohl recalls. "His knack for making a really fucked 
up sound sound really... divine. He can sort of polish a really messy 
guitar sound so that it's still a messy guitar sound, but it's really 
clear and distinct. The clarity on all those records is really great. 
You can hear everything. It's so good. I'd never met with producers 
before so I had no idea what to expect. So we met up in New York and I 
brought along some rehearsal tapes. We sat down and started listening to 
them and within two seconds he started making suggestions. He got 
through the verse and the chorus of one song and he said, 'Oh, you know 
what you should do? You should take that guitar line and the chorus and 
bridge it...' It was exactly what I imagined a producer should do."

"Plus Gil's a fucking whip-cracker," Grohl continues. "He made us do 
things 20 to 50 times. There's only one first take on the entire album. 
I thought he was going to have a heart attack when that happened. Still, 
he was like 'That sounded great. Want to try it again?' It could see the 
beads of sweat forming on his forehead. It's almost like an 
obsessive-compulsive thing. He has to do things ten times because that 
next take might sound a little better."

Six weeks spent living and recording at Washington's remote Bear Creek 
studios were followed by a record two-week break to assess the work in 
progress (It was also during this period that Grohl found time to record 
"Walking After You" at Washington DC's WGNS studio, the only demo-style 
track to make it on to the record; "It was the moment. I'll never be 
able to capture that again"). Reconvening at Grandmaster in Los Angeles, 
the band recorded the bulk of material that would become the finished 
album at a breakneck pace. By the final stretch of recording, the band 
was bouncing between recording and mixing in the space of the same day. 
"I had resigned to the idea that I was just going to be in the studio 
for the rest of my life," says Grohl. "By this time, it was the middle 
of February. Four months of being in the studio. And the one day that I 
had off while we were in L.A., I went to another studio to go fuck 
around. I just couldn't be out of the studio. After the record was 
finally done, it took me two weeks to get used to the idea, the feeling 
of not being in the studio."

Following the completion of the L.A. sessions, drummer William Goldsmith 
made final his decision to leave the Foo Fighters (Rumors that Goldsmith 
was ousted or left due to Grohl's alleged recording over his tracks have 
proven unfounded, as Goldsmith has left on completely amicable terms). 
"The idea that I just scrapped his tracks and did them over is just 
wrong," Grohl explains. "We re-did entire songs. The L.A. recordings are 
different versions. Completely different. We basically re-did a lot of 
the record. William just felt that he didn't want to go back out on the 
road again for such a long time. I don't know if he'd ever gotten used 
to the idea of being in a band that would play a festival in front of 
60,000 people or a headlining show for 4000. Let alone doing things like 
that for a year and a half. I think William felt like he'd be more 
comfortable living a more stable, grounded life."

With the record completed and new drummer Taylor Hawkins in place, it's 
back to work for the Foo Fighters. A "Monkey Wrench" video directed by 
Grohl (Does this guy sleep?) will be completed by the time you read 
this, after which the band hits the road for, well, probably longer than 
a year and a half this time.

The Foo Fighters are David Grohl (guitar, lead vocals), Pat Smear 
(guitar), Nate Mendel (bass), Taylor Hawkins (drums).

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