Taylor Hawkins

[amoergosum]

The Foo Fighters are back....freaking awesome!

[Matus]

All I can say is F*** YEA.

[Gaddabout]

At this rate they're going to have to build Grohl his own wing at the RnR Hall of Fame.

Of all the drummers in the world, Grohl is the one guy I think I'd love to sit and just hang with for a few hours. Can we get him and Taylor come to a HoD hang?

[amoergosum]

And this is how it's done!...love this >>>

[sejuba]

And this is how it's done!...love this >>>

well, it sucks when you only have a garage less a million dolars worth of recording gear and a kick ass sound engineer to make a record...
You gotta give credit to Grohl. He keeps reinventing the Foo Fighters. Their new single called "Rope" not only sounds great but catchy
and original. 5 stars

[amoergosum]

Their new single called "Rope" not only sounds great but catchy
and original. 5 stars

>>>

[patdrums]

God I love the Foos. What a great friggin' band. The other day I heard something on the radio that just made me cringe and was TOTALLY disappointed when the DJ announced who it was......

Driving around town, I flipped on the radio and caught a horrendous cover version of Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street". It was just god-awful. My first thought was 1) What boneheaded band would even DREAM of re-doing a classic like that THAT way? It was all metaled-up with the distorted guitar copping that classic sax melody and the time was edgy and erratic and all over the place. It sounded like a really bad young band doing a really bad demo. Then 2) This had to be a case of some young, eager band being told by their label that covering it would be a "killer way to get airplay". I could see the whole scenario in my head....some label guy behind a desk came up with the idea, pushed it on a young band that didn't know any better, asses were kissed all over the label headquarters and it was released without anyone ever having the guts to stand up and say "This is horrible." Happens every day.

Well, the DJ announced it was a new Foo Fighters track, released underground and spreading virally. I almost cried. Dave Grohl has plenty of clout in the biz now so the fact that he wanted to even CUT it saddens me to no end. He could have easily had a moment of clarity and put his foot down. But then to actually let it get out and make radio? Wow.

I still love them and I'm willing to let this one slide. I won't give up on em.....yet. But they're too good for that kind of crap and I'd be willing to bet that after getting away from it and having a chance to regain objectivity, They probably all are cringing as much as I did when I first heard it. I think it's gonna be their Charlie Sheen moment.....

Someday they're both gonna look back and go "GOD! What were we THINKING!!??" At least, I HOPE they will.....

But I still love em. : )

[amoergosum]

Well, the DJ announced it was a new Foo Fighters track

???...."Baker Street" is not a new Foo Fighters track.

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colour_and_the_Shape

"Even though the Foo Fighters are an American band, the word 'Colour' in the album title is always spelled with the British spelling. This was a nod to producer Norton, who is British. To commemorate the album's tenth anniversary, it was re-released on July 10, 2007, and included six previously released B-sides, consisting of "Dear Lover", "The Colour and the Shape", and four covers, including "Baker Street"."

[funkydrummer]

A kickass band! And Taylor Hawkins and Dave Grohl both rock it behind the kit. Very cool vids! Thanks for sharing

[patdrums]

Then I guess the DJ had his facts wrong. I had never heard it and didn't know anything about a re-release so I assumed he was correct and it was new. Regardless, they did it and it is not.....umm....not.....good. I gotta apologize if I sounded like I was badmouthing them. I had a moment of reluctance after I posted the above. I kinda went into rant mode and let it fly but I think I only did so because I think they're SO frigging good that it really pained me to hear them do something that gave me that gut reaction of "Oh my GOD! What kind of lame band would release such a CRAP version of that tune??" They're WAY better than that.

When it comes to covers, I'm a huge fan of taking a song and twisting it around and making it completely different than the original. A perfect example is Kevin Gilbert's version of Kashmir. Messing with Zep tunes is a strong move. You'd better do something cool or you're always gonna be compared to the original. I think he did it well. Some songs are just so branded into my grey matter that apart from completely rebuilding them from the ground up, I don't see what aping them gets you. Some songs are just so identifiable that no amount of changing them is gonna sound anything better than the original. You don't hear many people covering Steely Dan tunes, ya know? They're just so RIGHT that it's almost sacrilege to try to "improve" on them. Baker Street has a vibe and a mood that is just classic. And it was like they just played it as a simple rock band in a garage. Now that I know more of the history, I'm actually a little relieved. I can picture them doing it as a goof and it somehow ending up on a re-release as opposed to them planning it as some kind of artistic statement.

Nashville had a trend years ago where they pulled in artists to do tribute records (Eagles and KISS come immediately to mind). They always sounded like note-perfect copies of the originals with some new artist singing over the top. They copped EVERYTHING just like the originals----solos, tones, sounds, melodies, vocal licks....all of it. I just don't see the point. If you wanna do Life In The Fast Lane, play it in 6 or something and totally change the vibe. Try it as a ballad. Do it so different that it stands on it's own and won't be compared. Don't just hammer it out like the record with different instruments and call it art, ya know?

I used to play in a local band in town that gained a pretty big following by taking old classic country tunes and funking them up or throwing alot of grease on them and changing the feels altogether. We always were really adamant about doing them differently. Funny thing is, to this day I hear bands of new guys in town doing OUR arrangements in downtown honky tonks as if they assume that that's how they were done originally. It's kinda surreal. But cool and flattering at the same time.

At any rate, apologies again to anyone who may have read my post and thought I was badmouthing the Foos. I can't do that. But I can expect only the best from them. They've never failed to deliver before and that tune scared me!