Foo Fighters "Sonic Highway" documentary series on HBO

Yeah that was good
Still enjoying the show despite it's obvious shortcomings

didn't know Grohl compared "single ladies" to the jeffersons theme…

Ha wut

28 minutes in the Austin episode, and a claim appears to be made that the 13th Floor elevators moved from Austin to San Francisco and transformed the coffeehouse dwelling folkies into acid rockers…this is a claim that I have never encountered before…anyone else heard this? I gotta call bullshit, otherwise…

while illustrating this point, they sloppily show John densmore and Robbie Krieger talking about the environment in pre-Dead, pre-Airplane SF, but…those guys were not SF.

i've heard they were influential on the scene and were doing serious acid dropping & playing in the mid 60s, def ahead of the curve...but that said i doubt you can say any one person was responsible for the SF psych/acid scene...surely some must've come up from those LA doctors who were prescribing it to Hollywood folks

the Ken Kesey 'Acid Test' events in 65/6 were a big influence on popularizing all that stuff, Grateful Dead played their first gigs at them etc.

Yeah, the Elevators were there at the right time, but to say they alone transformed SF's sound is a bit generous. It was a community effort.

I really liked the part in the Austin ep about digging out the old piano from behind the bleachers, but then wished they hadn't when the new song debuted at the end of the episode. Worst of the batch yet.

The Foos are ripe for a St Sanders' production.

Esp. Uncle Dave and that gurning drummer

My initial enthusiasm for the series has been tempered, although it remains watchable. Austin was fairly complete with nods to Big Boys, Scratch Acid and Buttholes. But where the hell was the massive segment on Spoon?

from steven hyden's grantland review of the album:

Every Foo Fighters record is the same. As in, exactly the same. Sure, some Foo Fighters records (like One by One and Wasting Light) are a little louder, and some (like 2005’s In Your Honor) are a little quieter. But for the most part, you can expect a Foo Fighters song to sound like this: The rhythm guitar goes DUNGA-dung-DUNGA, the lead guitar goes weow-WHEEDLE-weow-WHEEDLE, and Grohl sings the verse softly and screams the chorus, which will typically be about heroes, living forever, or things that are the best.

SICK BURNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

we built these cities
we built these cities
on rock and roll

im listening to it right now b/c mockery requires due diligence, and its p. much exactly what i expected. def sounds more classic/dad-rocky than he ever has, shedding all vestiges of his 90s alt-origins, a few songs are legitimately ok but nothing that's not ultimately boring 4 tracks in

But where the hell was the massive segment on Spoon?

Spoon fans unaware the rest of the world doesn't give a shit.

I think Spoon is here now:

that stage where you think they aren't popular anymore but are actually way more popular than they were when they had "buzz"

Mark Anderson on TV. That excuses just about anything in my opinion.

Finally got around to the DC episode (I'm in no hurry to stay current with this) and it was really good! Still, I had no idea they were toting Butch Vig around to all these studios with them. Doesn't that miss the point? I would rather see them bring in a dozen different name producers and have them take turns recording in the same room than one producer recording in different rooms. I mean, there's a reason all this Foo Fighters shit sounds the same!

watched the Austin one and fatigue w this series is starting to set in - I like seeing the guests/interviews and some of the clips involved but p much everything else is annoying

half-decent doc footage, but the spectre of their next lyric video hangs over it all.

it's like the candyman. someone says a phrase three times in the interviews and you know dave will yell that phrase at the end

WELL THE SAINTS ARE LIVING REBIRTH GUMBO RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

is the reason they're not going to haight asbury is that starship got there first

the spectre of their next lyric video hangs over it all

Yeah, that time comes around and I remember this is all just one big commercial for an album that, based on what I've heard so far, is the worst one they've ever made.

someone says a phrase three times in the interviews and you know dave will yell that phrase at the end

haha yeah this is so annoying

seattle one is either going to be the most affecting or the most infuriating, maybe both. great opportunity for soul-searching or going full david crosby.

"can't believe this is the *actual* shotgun Kurt used to blow his head off. Lotta ghosts, man, lotta ghosts."

guessing there will be some great interviews with some great people, then dave steps to the mic and goes ABERDEEN SURVIVOR TEARS CORPORATE MAGAZINES STILL SUCK BUT ROCK STILL LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES

Yep. Grohl seems like a truly inquisitive and interested and motivationally pure guy, but has a difficult time channeling what he's learned into his own songs/writings/interviews.

he does appear to have a bottomless well of self-help platitudes

keep hoping someone other than dave in the band is going to get to express an emotion other than "i dunno much about this shit, but this place was pretty cool"

remembered while watching the nashville one some spin article years ago where the rest of the band admitted they didn't know the words to "monkeywrench"

On the plus side: Pat's one line per ep.
On the negative side: Taylor's two-lines and slo-mo soul-search walk per ep.

Foo Fighters should collectively move to a new city each year and record one song after 12 months of residency. Then release their next album in 12 years. I give them permission to film themselves as a "Real World" styled show in each town as long as they stick to the schedule.

can we get just one "some kind of monster" breakdown where nate mendel throws down his bass and says I DO NOT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT NEW ORLEANS

i mean probably not, these guys seem like the chillest bros, but i can dream

this is definitely the worst show i love

Dave wrote "Monkeywrench" after he saw a movie where a MONKEY tried to WRENCH the door off of its cage.

In the DC one, where they shoot out a list of the bands influenced by the local scene there, and the first three that come to mind are Jane's Addiction, Beastie Boys, Green Day, I almost barfed.

Alternate sequel album: the band breaks up, and each member records a 5 songs in 5 different states, then they put all the EPs together as one album called "United States of Foo Fighters," and also it takes a decade to make, too. Vig produces.

I think if there was going to be anything like that, it would've happened 15 years ago. At this point, they're only a "band" in theory. In reality, they're friends that Dave Grohl gives checks to for helping him play his songs.

yeah i realize this line-up achieved "five guys who can stand dave grohl and like money" about a decade ago

this show is definitely forcing me to address all my own hypocritical bullshit vanity re pop/rock/indie/authenticity etc - can i really say i'm keeping the dream alive when i'm making spotify playlists of AM Gold?

are they going to L.A...? I kinda assumed so when Joan Jett's involvement was noted. at which point maybe Pat will get more than one line to talk about the Germs.

5 	"Los Angeles" 	November 14, 2014
6 	"New Orleans" 	November 21, 2014
7 	"Seattle" 	November 28, 2014
8 	"New York" 	December 5, 2014

they are! yeah that's promising...though i bet there's going to be some impressive waffling between which hair metal bands suck and which were cool

like how the band chicago was included in the "great bands of chicago" montage and then there was some random styx diss later in the episode

I've got no argument with the cities they're choosing—all of them are essential American music hubs—but no Detroit? C'mon.

xp I love Chicago and hate Styx, so I get that.

"well, iggy told me to go fuck myself, and bob seger wants to get paid...kid rock...fuck it, i can't"

maybe they're saving the shaggy 2 dope and wayne kramer interviews for the second season

a monkeywrench is an actual tool, right? kinda like ppl who hate on Dave Grohl for 500 posts.

I liked that early song about all the cows

i'm sorry, morbz. please ignore me.

austin is kinda weird just because it's not really that significant historically compared to the other cities

That show wasn't really about the city. It was about the show originating in that city that brought live music around the whole country like it had never been broadcast previously. And also Townes Van Zandt.

(And Roky Erickson.)

i'm behind, just weird that they didn't do memphis or (as mentioned) detroit

There are definitely enough cities left over for a second series to take place, but is there any talk about that happening? The album's done and out now.