When The Color and the Shape was release in the Spring of 1997, Dave Grohl's post-Nirvana vehicle had already received moderate success with their self-titled debut. But on the first record, Grohl played virtually every part. So The Colour and the Shape would be the first Foo Fighters record to be recorded with what was previously only the touring band - Germs/Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear, and Sunny Day Real Estate refugees Nate Mendel and William Goldsmith. Goldsmith would be gone before the record would even see the light of day, with Grohl re-recording the album replacing himself over Goldsmith's parts. And the album itself would document Grohl's divorce from Nirvana photographer, Jennifer Youngblood.
It's important to note that the Spring of '97 was the first time that America seemed somewhat recovered from the hangover of Grunge. People had died. Bands had broke up. Teenagers were no longer teens. Still, nothing really changed, other than it felt really good to be free of all of it. So when "Monkey Wrench" hit the airwaves as the first single from the record, with it's catchy hook and blow-out finale, everything Grohl had experienced, everything he held dear which had not gone for the best, from the day they found Kurt Cobain dead to the day he signed divorce papers, was put to bed for the last time.
Nirvana's loud-soft-loud dynamic was rock and roll at its most recognizable, it just came with a lot of feedback, from a place that America somewhat forgot existed, and Grohl was as much a part of that whole equation as Cobain was. So, as on songs like "My Poor Brain" and "New Way Home," there's a turn of tides that The Color and the Shape undergoes that reflects the change in attitude. It felt better, perhaps, to think more about "My Hero" instead of my "Heart-Shaped Box," even if it was at the expense of Grohl's own heartbreak.
The acoustic Howard Stern Show performance of "Everlong" would eventually become a staple on the radio, but the original album version is a track for the ages. And again, there's Grohl, wondering the same things anyone would wonder being in his position: could everything be this real forever? Will anything be this good again? The questions hit so goddamn deep, it's hard to even imagine the answers.
This tenth-anniversary edition, featuring the original release along with newly-written liner notes by Nate Mendel, comes with six bonus tracks, including the covers of "Baker Street" and Gary Numan's "Down in the Park." While 1997 saw some stiff competition as far as Album of the Year was concerned, The Color and The Shape was the first out of the gate, and it remains in front of the pack ten years later.
Rating - A+
Click here for more Foo Fighters!
It's important to note that the Spring of '97 was the first time that America seemed somewhat recovered from the hangover of Grunge. People had died. Bands had broke up. Teenagers were no longer teens. Still, nothing really changed, other than it felt really good to be free of all of it. So when "Monkey Wrench" hit the airwaves as the first single from the record, with it's catchy hook and blow-out finale, everything Grohl had experienced, everything he held dear which had not gone for the best, from the day they found Kurt Cobain dead to the day he signed divorce papers, was put to bed for the last time.
Nirvana's loud-soft-loud dynamic was rock and roll at its most recognizable, it just came with a lot of feedback, from a place that America somewhat forgot existed, and Grohl was as much a part of that whole equation as Cobain was. So, as on songs like "My Poor Brain" and "New Way Home," there's a turn of tides that The Color and the Shape undergoes that reflects the change in attitude. It felt better, perhaps, to think more about "My Hero" instead of my "Heart-Shaped Box," even if it was at the expense of Grohl's own heartbreak.
The acoustic Howard Stern Show performance of "Everlong" would eventually become a staple on the radio, but the original album version is a track for the ages. And again, there's Grohl, wondering the same things anyone would wonder being in his position: could everything be this real forever? Will anything be this good again? The questions hit so goddamn deep, it's hard to even imagine the answers.
This tenth-anniversary edition, featuring the original release along with newly-written liner notes by Nate Mendel, comes with six bonus tracks, including the covers of "Baker Street" and Gary Numan's "Down in the Park." While 1997 saw some stiff competition as far as Album of the Year was concerned, The Color and The Shape was the first out of the gate, and it remains in front of the pack ten years later.
Rating - A+
Click here for more Foo Fighters!
