'Foo Fighters - Back & Forth' documentary on tv the other night

[Kylenz]

Having been the biggest Nirvana / Dave Grohl fan over the years, and a huge fan of the Foo Fighters' first two albums, this documentary was a 'must-see' when it aired on New Zealand tv the other night.

It turned out to be one of the best rock documentaries I've ever watched.. right up there with the Ramones 'End of the Century', and as vital as the Beatles Anthology. I liked how it dealt primarily with how the band members related to eachother. I had no idea things got so tumultuous between them and the dramas they went through. I had no idea they were on the verge of dissolving when Dave played drums for Queens of the Stone Age. I knew Dave played drums on The Colour and the Shape but had no idea he'd re-recorded William Goldsmith's drum parts, and the band basically re-recorded the album! I thought Goldsmith was a good sport to actually turn up on the documentary and talk about it.

It was interesting to hear Dave talk about what Kurt meant to him and the way Nirvana was incorpoated into the story. It was cool to hear Pat Smear and how he felt about Kurt and joining Nirvana prior to Kurt's death. There was some super-amazing concert footage with terrific sound quality and lots of clips I'd never seen before.

I also loved the final section involving the recording of their latest album 'Wasting Light' in Dave's garage. It was so cool to see Dave spending time with his daughter, tapping him on the shoulder as he tries to record a guitar part and asking to go swimming! :) The recording of Wasting Light had to be my favourite part of the documentary, seeing all these guys together hanging out at Dave's house and recording, the whole gang, Butch Vig (what a legend), Taylor doing his drum parts, even Krist from Nirvana comes in and blows everyone away with a typically boomy bassline on 'I Should Have Known'.

Just a wonderful rock documentary, and a must-see for any rock music fan, no matter who you are. I went off the Foos around the turn of the decade once they became staduim rocker radio staples, but now have a renewed appreciation for their career and all the guys who were a part of it. I had no idea Nate the bass player was such a nice quiet unassuming guy, the sort of dude I think I'd get along with quite well. Chris was a cool guy and so was Franz - it was good to see him also talk about his departure without animosity and also play at the reformed Scream gig later on. Taylor is like one of my favourite drummers EVER (and his solo 'Coattail Riders' album is amazing!). And it was great to see Pat with such a huge smile on his face with Dave's children! They all are such a nice bunch of people. So glad I saw it :)

[chris]

great post. and i too have admired the work of the foos for a while now. and their new album is getting great write-ups. details magazine actually said the album is a motorhead hot-rod with a beatles engine.

[Kylenz]

Yeah! 'Wasting Light' would have to be the best cd to come out this year so far. Usually with a new album, I'll hammer it til I get sick of it, but I've been playing it in small doses and supping on it like a fine wine! One of the things I like about it, is the absence of ballads.. the majority of the album gets down to business and delivers the big souped-up guitar hooks and catchy choruses. The one song that I guess qualifies as a ballad, 'I Should Have Known', builds up to a huge crescendo and becomes a big rock song regardless!

I must remember to get this album onto my Ipod and enjoy it in the car :)

[chris]

been meaning to tell you, i, too, saw this documentary recently. it was as fine a rock-doc as i've seen. crazy how they would ask someone to join, think things were going fairly well, then kick them out for not clicking with everyone else. i always liked the foos, anyway, but after seeing this. i will say...it is impossible not to like dave grohl. he seems honest, he seems passionate, and his videos are downright hilarious. music is pretty good too. i look at the foos as grohl's wings. i loved (am i rambling) practicing in his garage when his daughter poked him on the back saying dad we have to go swimming. so, what did he do? he swam with his daughter.

this is a must see rock-doc.

[Kylenz]

I saw this on blu ray disc the other day, and very tempted to buy it. I will if I see it on special. I agree, it's a must-see music doco.