A Review of the First Foo Fighters Album Called "Foo Fighters" Featuring Former Nirvana Drummer Dave Grohl

1. "This is a Call"
2. "I’ll Stick Around"
3. "Big Me"
4. "Alone + Easy Target"
5. "Good Grief"
6. "Floaty"
7. "Weenie Beenie"
8. "Oh, George"
9. "For All the Cows"
10. "X-Static"
11. "Wattershed"
12. "Exhausted"

Foo Fighters is the band formed by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl following the suicide death of Kurt Cobain. The first album of the same name is a pretty solid effort by this alternative and hard rock band. This was initially Dave Grohl’s side project in the early days.

"Big Me" is one of the singles on the album and the only really soft song on the album. Dave Grohl was depressed around this time and he even considered exiting the music business altogether in spite of an invitation by Danzig to become their next drummer. I am glad that he chose to stick around and continue playing instruments and singing. He does a good job with the vocals, better than Kurt ever sang. Dave does not try to strain his voice and he just has that more natural sound. Foo Fighters was released on July 4, 1995 also the birthday of the United States. We have to consider also the time period in which the album was released. Grunge rock was getting really popular and this was a great start to the band’s career.

What are the pros of this first album other than the good songs previously mentioned? One of the obvious pros is the heavy rock song "This is a Call." Even if the lyrics don’t quite make total sense, it showed that this band was determined to get off to a good start! This is a call to all fans of grunge rock. Get ready to have some fun especially if this is the first time you’ve heard of this band. "I’ll Stick Around" is a good song about someone that saw everything in his insane and abusive relationship and he will stick around even though he does not owe his ex a thing. Sometimes we are better off alone than being in a relationship with someone that spreads toxicity. "Floaty" is a song about people that float and then come back down.

I congratulate Dave Grohl for not quitting after the death of his former bandmate and friend Kurt Cobain. It is safe to assume that Kurt would have wanted Dave to go on with his life as well. Dave Grohl revealed in 2011 that this first album wasn’t meant to be an album that it was just done for fun. It makes sense to a point because he had to find a creative way to get his stresses and anxiety out of his system. I will also say that there is a section in the song "Weenie Beenie" that has a heavy riff that is pretty good in spite of the rough, hardcore vocals. That’s something we don’t hear all the time from Dave Grohl.

The first sub-par moment in the album is the heavy, distorted song called "Weenie Beenie." It has some strange vocals by Dave Grohl as he is really shouting and it is tough to understand the vocals in much the same way that the song Tourette’s on the album In Utero was. The strongest song in the album is the one called "Wattershed" which is a fast, heavy punk rock song which I have loved since I heard it for the first time. The album did pretty well in the US debuting at #23 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. "Exhausted" starts off with some dirty guitar tone. The strong songs in this album are many, including the opener This is a Call, I’ll Stick Around, Oh, George, Alone + Easy Target and the classic punk rocker song Wattershed.

For the time period that this was written in “Foo Fighters” as an album is still a very good statement by Dave Grohl and he basically says “hey guys I’m back!” For an album that wasn’t meant to be initially released, this is a very good start to Dave’s post Nirvana career and I know that Kurt Cobain would have been proud of him had he lived to see this. This is largely a solo effort by Dave Grohl other than a minor contribution by Greg Dulli on the song called "X-Static."

Looking back, the self-titled album from this rock band is still memorable and pretty darn good. 1995 was a great year for music and Foo Fighters the debut has very little flaws in it and this first effort by Dave Grohl is a very good start after the years he spent with Nirvana.

There’s a good chance that songs such as "Big Me" might be more famous but taking a listen to this album in 2022 has me thinking that for some fans, this Foo Fighters debut may be their best album. From the great chorus in the song I’ll Stick Around to the very melodic Alone + Easy Target, the album has plenty of songs to enjoy. Then there is “Good Grief” with its punk rock style and drumming that is underrated.

Rating for "Foo Fighters" as of 2022: 90 out of 100 points