LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MAY 20, 2019…22 YEARS AGO THE FOO FIGHTERS RELEASED ‘THE COLOUR AND THE SHAPE.’ EVEN THOUGH IT IS OFFICIALLY THE SECOND FOO FIGHTERS ALBUM, IT’S ACTUALLY THE FIRST FOO’S ALBUM TO FEATURE AN ACTUAL BAND. THE DEBUT FOO FIGHTERS ALBUM WAS A GLORIFIED DAVE GROHL SOLO PROJECT.
‘THE COLOUR AND THE SHAPE’ SOLD OVER 2 MILLION COPIES, AND WAS DRIVEN BY TRACKS LIKE ‘EVERLONG’ ‘MY HERO’ AND ‘MONKEY WRENCH.’
IT WAS ALSO NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY AWARD IN 1998 FOR ‘THE BEST ROCK ALBUM.’
HERE ARE 10 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ‘THE COLOUR AND THE SHAPE.’
1. The Colour and the Shape has old more more than any other album in the band’s extensive catalog.
2. “My Hero,” the first of the album’s songs to be played live, debuted in concert nearly two years before album was released.
3. “Enough Space” was written because the band needed a good set-opener for their 1995 European tour.
4. Gil Norton pushed Grohl to write more meaningful songs than those he’d written for the first album.
5. The initial sessions for the album were “a bad experience” – especially for drummer William Goldsmith – and produced little in the way of usable material.
6. “Everlong” began life as “a Sonic Youth rip-off.”
7. Most of the finished tracks were re-recorded at a Grandmaster Recorders, a Hollywood studio that previously birthed massive albums by the Black Crowes, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Stevie Wonder.
8. Goldsmith left the band after learning that Grohl had re-recorded most of his drum parts behind his back.
9. The album’s title was inspired by a bowling pin that the band’s tour manager purchased at a thrift shop.
10. Pat Smear wanted to leave the band before the album was even released – though he eventually stuck around until they could find a suitable replacement.
HERE’S ONE OF THE TRULY GREAT SONGS ON THE CD
