Fresh off of watching their fantastic set at Glastonbury, I have to review an album by the Foo Fighters. The Foo Fighters have been releasing music pretty consistently for nearly thirty years, going right back to their fantastic self titled debut, which was released in July of 1995. Their first album is very special, obviously because its the inception of one of modern music’s best loved bands but also because Dave Grohl played all the instruments in the recordings for this album. Much like his excellent set on Friday at Glastonbury, grief underpinned Grohl’s energy going into the first Foos record.

It’s an all killer, no filler 45 minutes of fantastic alternative rock songs proving Dave Grohl wasn’t just to be remembered as the drummer from Nirvana but a multi instrumentalist and excellent songwriter in his own right. Tracks like ‘This is a Call’ and ‘Big Me’ offer more radio friendly rock which the Foos would continue to produce in their subsequent albums. The energy throughout this record is immense, which is propelled by Grohl’s work on the drums, ‘Weenie Beenie’ and ‘Watershed’ are an indication of the harsher sounds emanating from the Seattle scene which Grohl emerged from. There’s also early indications of the range of rock songs Foo Fighters would produce down the road, particularly on their next record The Colour and The Shape, which shot them into the spotlight, which they’ve not since departed.

I see this album as a complete absence of ego, just twelve really enjoyable songs from a songwriter who was only just getting started. This is certainly one of the Foo Fighters’ best albums, unfortunately though, it seems to get lost in the majesty of what followed it. For me, their best work was in the first two records, the debut, in particular, is cohesive and succinct. This is a call to readers of this, please give this album a listen, it’s magnificent.v