Foo Fighters "Sonic Highway" documentary series on HBO

I think we can say that they are a no surprises band.

Grohl is so confusing to me. As much as he's a wannabe and annoying cheeseball, he has this lush history as a musician and fan, having been in his high school bands like Brain Damage, and then having gone on tour in high school, followed by living the dream of drumming for his favorite band and then joining -the- mainstream band of the early 90s, also being revered as an energetic drummer to see. So like, I can respect his TV series as well as enjoy it. I've been enjoying Sonic Highways a lot. I feel like I get to travel to a different city every week. I'm not much of a traveler, and this is cool for me, and also inspiring to get this account of stuff happening outside of Taylor Swift (no comment on his comment on her.) But why is he so --to use one of his favorite pieces of language, censored--effing content to make stupid music? Do they just not care? Is he just loving the shit out of being a frontman as his other TWO guitarists pick up for him? Is he just being a business man at this point? He's had enough experiences in the music biz (see: him leaving a broke Scream to join an up-and-coming Nirvana; see: him negotiating his own label to skirt something about contracts...) to know that it's about money. Is he using this documentary to connect with this longing to be authentic while he sells out on the side to survive? /hipsterrunoffesquerant.... ha. anyway, his musical stupidness has been causing me a headache as I try to defend Sonic Highways to my friends when I have no desire to defend his band. I've been tuning out during the last five minutes of each episode. But I do look forward to the showcase of these cities each week and at the start was pleasantly surprised about how little the Foos featured into each episode.

Well, yeah.

But why is he so --to use one of his favorite pieces of language, censored--effing content to make stupid music? Do they just not care? Is he just loving the shit out of being a frontman as his other TWO guitarists pick up for him?

The Foos are basically an incredibly well-funded and well-connected Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp. Rather than (to use a random example that popped into my head) use Rush's "YYZ" as an inspiration/jumping-off point and saying, "Hey, what else can be done with something like that?" and creating something new, they jump onstage with Rush and scream bug-eyed "OMG I'M PLAYING 'YYZ' WITH RUSH!" And their ambitions have never extended beyond the musical equivalent of getting their picture taken with their favorite bands.

The part where he interviews Roky was really cringey. He acts so smart for asking if he was influenced by James Brown then they cut to an old interview where Roky says that making it clear that Grohl was fed the question

Grohl is Ron Wood with Bono's ambition

I think Dave hired Taylor for his teeth
Brothers in Gums.

Foo Fighters have really made me respect Pearl Jam, another band boring in its stability that does a better job of balancing its punk background and diverse interests with its inherently conservative execution.

i dunno the last pearl jam album was launched off a ballad i swear to god sounded like "walking in memphis" can't say i think they do a better job of balancing so much as a better job of being avoidable

pearl jam isn't as inclined to engage in and promote Events

i'm super biased to pj but as a fan of both bands, foos to a lesser extent now, pearl jam is much more interesting *as* a band. it's not just the eddie show even though they're easily marketable as that.

with the foos it's basically always felt like "dave & his bros"...which i mean you have pat smear in your band and he still is just kinda one of the guys. dave seems to just absorb all the light

Despite my ribbing of the Foos, I still think Everlong is such a great song. It's so easy to play too with that dropped D.
Is Everlong a fan's fave or dismissed as too commercial or something?

I also think the first album was good

first album is great

couldn't care less about anything they've done since tho

first album is great, and I love Color & The Shape

To my knowledge I've never heard a FF song but Everlong, which I've always enjoyed. Watching Sonic Highways has not made me want to change that situation in any way. I'm a little baffled that these guys want to make music that sounds like this.

it's not baffling to me at all that the guys who seemed more excited to hang with Rick Nielsen than any of the other dozens of music legends interviewed for this series basically make post-grunge Cheap Trick records

How dare you demean cheap trick

The Foos are what they are at this point, but to say they've never had any ambition beyond getting their pix taken with their favorite bands is ridiculous. How many hit songs does Grohl have to write, and records does he have to sell, and arenas does he have to fill before this increasingly insufferable thread can acknowledge that maybe he has a little bit of skill and know-how and ambition?

Like I don't even care about the Foo Fighters, really, but you guys are turning me into Captain Save-A-Grohl...

Also, he didn't join -the- mainstream band of the '90s. He joined the band and they became the mainstream band of the '90s, thanks in no small part to his drumming.

yeah, I'm with you. no Grohl, no "Teen Spirit" opening fill and who knows what else would have gone far differently from there. and it's easy to dump on the Foos unless you try to name some bands on the same commercial plateau over the last 18 years that have been so much better. everyone agrees on "Everlong" but there are about a dozen singles that are nearly up to its standard.

but to say they've never had any ambition beyond getting their pix taken with their favorite bands is ridiculous.

I meant that figuratively/musically. Any artistic ambition (or even the slightest sense of almost maybe approaching taking a tiny risk maybe) beyond that isn't something I've been able to discern in their records.

after There Is Nothing Left to Lose, it has felt to me like they're just trying to improve on that sound. Wasting Light was a good album, but it was a pretty rare standout and even then the biggest tracks still sound like FooFighters.xls

I mean, if they dig that monolithic sound then no shade on them but it's hard to maintain the will to actively listen to it rinse-repeat every few years.

I meant that figuratively/musically.

I know, i guess the whole rock 'n' roll fantasy camp and jumping onstage with Rush thing pushed me to respond. why, i don't know ... like i need to be in here defending the Foo Fighters. my two year old just woke up from nap and is crying for me to come get him as i type this!

I enjoy quite a few of the early singles and album and will confidently say that Everlong is in a league of its own imo

I do like some of the songs on the first record, fwiw. Oddly enough, the first time I heard Foo Fighters -- on the radio, before I knew who it/he was -- I was immediately reminded of Chris Mars' first solo record (mainly "Popular Creeps").

FF continued success reminds me a bit of bob mould winding up Sugar, in retrospect the correct thing to do - they were tired and flabby sounding by FUEL and thats the FF blueprint to me - vaguely distorted anonymous rock

album is pretty solid. not as good as Wasting Light, but it also doesn't have any one song that would irritate me in heavy rotation as much as "Walk" did.

Taylor Hawkins flipping out over Joe Walsh's cool but totally ordinary guitar solo was both fun and sort of depressing.

Finally the germs and the eagles have been brought together by the power of corporate rock

Is there anything capitalism can't do

Finally the germs and the eagles have been brought together by the power of corporate rock

Belinda Carlisle sang on Henley sessions back in the early '80s.

But, Yay Capitalism all the same!

So this HBO series, in its own little way, is turning out to be Grohl's own U2/Apple moment, huh? No one gives a shit about the album, and for all the good things about each doc, I've never seen so many people - press, fans, armchair observers - taking so many pot shots at Grohl at once. For being corny, for being over-exposed, for being ridiculous, for being nowhere near the level of the music he praises in each doc.

There should be a drinking game for this show where you have to drink every time a Foo Fighters lyric video quotes an interview in the episode

So you just shotgun a beer at the end?

Basically

Taylor Hawkins does the same thing

Shotgunning beers is rad, dude.

Taylor should get a spin-off sitcom.

http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/images/story/taylor-hawkins-the-birds-of-satan-stream-eclectic-new-album-20140407/20140407-birds-x624-1396904658.jpg

taylor lookin like if they mated dave grohl and kurt cobain basically

Love that the foos are 2/3 SoCal and Dave managed to spend most of their ep in the desert, with pat lucking out by being a punk icon and Taylor getting a minute of outta nowhere eagle worship. The other two getting zilch.

I'm no FF fan but really appreciated these shows, particularly the Austin one. Dave Grohl seems a very genuine guy to me and anyone who appreciates and promotes the likes of 13th Floor Elevators/Roky Erickson, Butthole Surfers etc gets my vote. Well done!

Yeah, loved the D.C. episode, but I grew up on nothing but Dischord and a handful of eye-opening Go Go shows in the early 90s in the Maryland suburbs. I'd never seen the inside of Inner Ear or seen what Don Zientara looked like and that kind of thing so it was really pretty awesome.
It ends with Grohl throwing a huge b-day party concert for the guy from Trouble Funk at the 9:30 Club, which is really nice.

The BBC is fucking with this in a most peculiar way. First 2 episodes on BBC4, next 4 on iplayer only, then last 2 eps back on BBC4. Seems unnecessarily complicated imo.Anyway I'm enjoying them greatly esp. Mr Smear and his perpetual grin.

he's such a chill dude

Fave moment of whole series might have been pat saying la is the best place to live, with Dave showing clear disbelief before fleeing to the desert

Was certain that Dukowski or Morris would pop up in the LA episode, but I guess you can't cover every base.

Grohl should make a doc about forming a band, touring arenas and teaching kids about guitars. Talking heads should be all uncool butt rock: Styx, REO, Nugent et al.