- Code:
Musical Over Dose
is proud to present
Since January 2002
another new release, have fun
.: about release :.
Name .:. Foo Fighters - But Here We Are
Genre : Rock
Source : CDDA
Type .:. Album
Artist : Foo Fighters
Label : Rca International (Sony Music)
Titel : But Here We Are
Tracks : 10
Playtime : 48:15
Size : 85,71 MB
Encoder : VBRNEW - LAME3.100 - V0
Quality : VBR kbps / 44.1kHz / Joint-Stereo
Bitrate : avg. 246kbps
[ Tracklist ]
01.Rescued 04:19
02.Under You 03:39
03.Hearing Voices 03:49
04.But Here We Are 04:44
05.The Glass 03:50
06.Nothing At All 03:28
07.Show Me How 04:54
08.Beyond Me 03:54
09.The Teacher 10:04
10.Rest 05:34
Total 48:15 Min
Printed simply on the back cover of the new Foo
Fighters album But Here We Are are four words that
pretty much say all one needs to know about its
reason for existence: ôFor Virginia and Taylor.ö
Taylor, of course, is drummer Taylor Hawkins, whose
sudden death in Colombia in March 2022 rocked the
band to its foundation. Virginia is Dave GrohlÆs
ever-supportive, rockÆnÆroll-loving mom, who is
believed to have also died last summer at the age of
84. Although thereÆs been no official word from
Grohl or his representatives about it, her inclusion
in this fashion would seem to confirm it as true.
The notion that the Foos would find themselves
paying simultaneous tribute to not one but two
pillars of their very essence is eerily evocative of
the circumstances that created the band in the first
place nearly 29 years ago. At the time, Grohl was
still just the lanky, long-haired former drummer of
Nirvana with a solitary b-side songwriting credit to
his name. Most fans had no idea he knew how to play
guitar, let alone sing in a way that would later
fill stadiums and dominate rock radio airwaves.
Hunkering down alone in a Seattle studio following
Kurt CobainÆs April 1994 suicide, he summoned equal
parts rage and beauty on a no-nonsense album he
planned to release anonymously as Foo Fighters
through a tiny run of vinyl and cassettes. The music
industry had other ideas, and ever since that self-
titled projectÆs 1995 arrival, the Foos have been
one of the most reliable, commercially successful
live rock bands in the world, even if their recorded
output has been uneven over the past decade.
In that respect, itÆs somewhat pointless to compare
the Greg Kurstin-produced But Here We Are to any
other Foos album besides the debut, since both were
written in the shadows of profound, unthinkable
loss. And while filtering every turn of phrase here
through that prism may render the album an
impossibly heavy listen (especially for hardcore
fans), Grohl (back on drums for the first time on a
Foos record since 2005Æs In Your Honor), bassist
Nate Mendel, guitarists Chris Shiflett and Pat
Smear, and keyboardist Rami Jaffee have imbued But
Here We Are with new levels of depth, maturity,
songcraft, and storytelling, ensuring it is far more
than just an album about grief.
That said, if you donÆt have a big, fat lump in your
throat or head-to-toe goosebumps all over your body
while listening to But Here We Are, you may not have
a pulse. But donÆt get distracted by wondering
whether each lyric is meant to be taken literally.
Instead, give in and follow the 10 songs as they
trace the peaks and valleys of life and love in
these modern times until you reach their beating
heart, the 10-minute epic ôThe Teacher.ö
Initially balancing one of the FoosÆ most wicked,
detuned guitar lines against a poppier, uplifting
chorus, the song builds mightily in intensity as it
progresses, as if Grohl is mentally psyching himself
up to finally be able to scream ôgoodbyeeeeeeeeeeeö
atop an absolutely massive, cathartic riff which
explodes into a vortex of bit-crushed digital noise.
ôI can feel what others do / canÆt stop this if I
wanted to,ö he sings, inviting multiple
interpretations as to the identity of the trackÆs
narrator(s). Could it be Grohl himself,
acknowledging his own inability to save his bandmate
and mother? Could it be an otherworldly spirit
simply charged with transporting souls to the
afterlife? Or could it be Hawkins and Virginia (who
was a high school English teacher for 35 years),
looking down from above to playfully ask those
theyÆve left behind, ôHey, kid / whatÆs the plan for
tomorrow? / where will I wake up?ö
And although most songs here donÆt stray appreciably
far from the FoosÆ hearty, meat-and-potatoes rock
offerings, a couple of experiments are revelatory.
One is ôShow Me How,ö which reimagines Grohl and
company as a reverb-drenched dream pop band beamed
into their L.A. studio from 1986. As with ôThe
Teacher,ö the lyrics at first read like specific
farewells, but as Grohl harmonizes low and high with
his teenage daughter Violet, a resigned but hopeful
path forward from despair emerges: ôYou need not say
anything to me / I hear you loud and clear / IÆll
take care of everything, from now on.ö
Elsewhere, ôUnder Youö has the goofy, gum-chewing
charm and phased-out guitar tone of vintage tracks
such as ôGeneratorö and ôBreakout,ö while the
distortion-heavy title track finds Grohl elongating
his syllables to a throat-shredding degree before a
fusillade of pure rock thunder drowns him out. ôHear
Voicesö is another beneficiary of the newfound
variety in song arrangement, from a sturdy acoustic
guitar melody and MendelÆs funky, vaguely mysterious
bass line to GrohlÆs uncharacteristically new wave-
ish enunciations during the chorus: ôNo one cries
like you / no one lies like you.ö
The lighter- and roof-raising rockers are here too,
such as opener and future live staple ôRescued,ö the
ôIÆll Stick Aroundö-adjacent ôNothing At All,ö and
ôBeyond Me,ö a righteous, ôCanÆt Fight This Feeling
Anymoreö-style power ballad which may make you reach
for your nearest loved one and never let go. ItÆs
the kind of irony-free touch Hawkins would have
positively loved, and just about the best way
possible to honor the omnivorous taste in music he
frequently indulged in side projects and impromptu
cover bands. After all, this is a guy who wouldnÆt
even take a night off from drumming while attending
one of his own bandmatesÆ weddings, and instead
jumped onstage with the eveningÆs entertainment.
Following nine songs woven through with references
to ripping cigs and blaring songs, passing storms
(real or imagined), and reluctantly releasing what
we hold dear, But Here We Are ultimately ends where
it had begun 45 minutes earlier: reckoning with the
conundrums of human existence through the sheer
power of music. Grohl strums an acoustic guitar as
the subject of album closer ôRestö is about to be
buried in his or her specially chosen ôfavorite
clothes,ö until the full band emerges with a wall of
sound mighty enough to pierce the most jaded heart.
If you possess a strong constitution, close your
eyes and you can clearly picture Hawkins on the
stage of a sold-out arena ù his dirty blonde hair
flying, his arms pounding the cover off of his snare
drum, his original Synchronicity tour tank top stuck
to his sweat-drenched chest ù only stopping to let
Grohl have the last word, at least for now: ôwaking
up / I had another dream of us / in the warm
Virginia sun / there I will meet you.ö
In this way, But Here We Are is less of a send-off
than a see-you-next-time ù 10 songs brought to life
by the promise of something greater, beyond this
proverbial mortal coil. Whatever or wherever that
is, we may never learn. Until then, it warms the
soul to know that Foo Fighters are still à here.
https://foofighters.com
