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80. ‘The Colour And The Shape’ - Foo Fighters (1997)
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Following the success of the eponymous, grunge inspired debut album, Dave Grohl recruited Pat Smear and Nate Mendel to join the Foo Fighters and help him write the next record. Also enlisting producer Gil Norton to infuse some pop sensibilities into the album, 1997’s ‘The Colour And The Shape’ would go on to be one of the definitive post-grunge albums - bridging that gap between the distorted, heavy, dark characteristics of grunge and the anthemic, accessible, softer side of Rock..
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Episode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5akb1dgHssAaM5Lw2HLqAx?si=d6bd9b7d13e04d6e
LONG LIVE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
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Transcript
Introduction and Welcome
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello there and welcome back to the Long Live Rock and Roll Podcast.
Formation and Early Days of Foo Fighters
00:00:04
Speaker
Following the success of the eponymous, grunge-inspired debut album, Dave Grohl recruited Pat Smir and Nate Mendel to join the Foo Fighters and help him write the next record.
The Colour and the Shape: Creation and Impact
00:00:15
Speaker
Also enlisting producer Gil Norton to infuse some pop sensibilities into the album, 1997's The Colour and the Shape would go on to be one of the definitive post-grunge albums, bridging that gap between the distorted, heavy, dark characteristics of grunge and the anthemic, accessible, softer side of rock.
00:00:34
Speaker
Joining me to discuss this album is my co-host, Mr. Felipe Ammaritan. How are you doing, man? Doing great, man, and you? Yeah, very well. Thank you very well, as usual. Thank God, since last time, the weather's calmed down. It's much cooler here, and it's raining, thank God. so But yeah, which I always... i i'm Good for you, isn't it? luckish Like an Aztec shaman, and like, give it to me, give it to me, give me the rain.
00:00:54
Speaker
um But yeah, anyway, this album, let's crack on. So as usual, I'll do you a bit of quick little info. So the album was released on May 20th, 1997, recorded between November 1996 and February 1997 at Bear Creek and WGNS Studios in Washington and Grandmaster Studios in Hollywood. The genre of this album, I think it's fair to call it post grunge and it clocks in at just under 47 minutes of length. The label was Roswell and Capital and the producer was Gil Norton.
Band Dynamics and Lineup Changes
00:01:24
Speaker
So I think the important thing to identify first off, and you're going to go a bit more into this, is yeah that this is the first Foo Fighters album, second overall, but the first one to be recorded by a full band because Dave Grohl enlisted the help of other musicians, didn't he? He went from a solo project... Almost a full band. Almost, okay, all right. So we had the first album, which was Dave Grohl recording everything on his own. And then we've got this album where he actually got Nate Mendel and Pat Smith to come in and help the songwriting and the performance.
00:01:53
Speaker
Yeah, but they also have a drummer who's not featured in the album. William Maduro, his name, sorry. Goldsmith. Yes, that's it. William Goldsmith. Yeah, so he he and and Nate Mandel played together, I think, in ah in ah in a punk band. The thing is, what I believe is important about this album is Dave Grohl,
00:02:13
Speaker
proved that he could be a successful artist um after Nirvana. So post Nirvana, post the death of Kurt Cobain, when he decided to not only be a drummer, but to be a singer, songwriter, guitar player.
00:02:27
Speaker
um that was a big step for him and he proved he could do it really well with the first album. But the first album came out of a series of demos he did in in his garage or in his house and ah so that's a solo album. It's called The Foo Fighters because he I think he always had the project to to turn into a band But it's a solo album. Now, he's trying with the color and the shape. He's trying to actually turn that into a touring band. Actually, they were a touring band. They put the band together with the drummer and the bassist and Pat Smir who played with him in the run as well.
00:03:01
Speaker
ah So they were touring for ah ah apparently seven or eight months and and and then they started writing and recording the songs for The Call and the Shape. So that's now a band, it's not one guy, ah you know, with his songs and playing all the instruments, but he's still in charge and he knows exactly what he
Challenges in Recording and Production
00:03:20
Speaker
wants. So that is the one thing about this album when you say it's a full band, kind of, there were touring as a full band But then ah they've they got a producer that the the the I think the ah there's a lot of great albums that come out of ah ah a big conflict. And the first conflict in the album is you're not on the producer, basically ah telling them that the rhythm section is not good enough.
00:03:43
Speaker
and you guys yeah and there's there's a point where he tells them you know what I think that should be a C and also you should play on time. So so he was that's that's ah the basis telling that you know if you watch their documentary back and forth.
00:03:59
Speaker
um is um they talking about this how hard it was for them as let's say non-professional musicians they're not studio musicians they're not like hired guns as lots of musicians in the business they are ah punk musicians or grunge musicians uh you know playing in a band and i think that's what dave bro was looking for i wanted it to sound great but i wanted to sound like a band like ah a bunch of neighbors and friends will play together and it's not it's not an easy formula because a good producer would tell well yeah cool that you guys have a good vibe etc but you gotta play well and if it's not well played i'm gonna ask you to do again and again and again so there was a painful process for that for for them to record and the drummer couldn't quite make it
00:04:41
Speaker
Well, there's a number a number of drummers used in the album, isn't there? I mean, I know in some of the bonus songs, Taylor Hawkins is playing drums. But that's after. He he wasn't he wasn't with them in the album. Any edition of the album you find with extra songs, they're going to add some kind of live numbers or other things. Taylor Hawkins wasn't even in touch with with Dave Crow by the time he was recording his album. I think they didn't know each other.
00:05:06
Speaker
yeah Yeah. So William Goldsmith did a bit of drumming. Yeah. Dave did the rest. Yes. No, basically he did all of it. Is there a story behind this? that's The story is they recorded the whole album and then Dave Groh was like,
00:05:21
Speaker
not happy with the drums and it's like I really want the drums to sound exactly ah like I have them in my head and he says it's a difficult thing if you're a songwriter who happens to be a drummer you're going to be quite demanding with your drummer yeah and he was happy with his live performances but not with the studio recording so he went there and re-recorded one song So that's why it's being done in two different studios. So they calls the band to the other studio without telling the drummer and says, ah can you just redo some of the guitars here? Why? Oh, because i I started the track again. I recorded the drums from scratch myself because I wasn't happy. They say, OK, cool. So Pat Meir says he got a lot of phone calls from Dave Groll. So coming back to the studio to rerecord stuff, said, why are we doing this? Oh, you know, I started to rerecord the drums. this now So in the end he he
00:06:09
Speaker
he recorded all the drum tracks because he wasn't happy and obviously the drummer wasn't really pleased with that and I think he quit the band immediately after that. Because in the videos, Taylor Hawkins is in that video, isn't he? ever long So they must have got Taylor after the drummer quit, right? Exactly. He is in the video. He joined the band, I think, probably just before they released the album. But when the album was being recorded, I don't think they were in touch. I am might be wrong about this, but i don't say enough yeah I don't think he didn't. He didn't participate on the album itself, but he joined the the band for the tour. yeah ah immediate leftists and the videos. So of that drummer is not, I think he's not even listed in the album and or he did just the demos or whatever. So they've so that's that's the second bit of conflict. One, you have a producer who is used to ah
00:06:57
Speaker
ah do like high
Key Hits and Their Influence
00:06:59
Speaker
quality recordings with professional musicians, yeah ah recording a punk band. And the other ah bit of conflict you have is the songwriter saying, I don't like the drums, I'm going to do them myself. And he is one of the most iconic drummers in the history of rock and roll. So kind of a tough job to be a drummer in his band. Yeah, for sure. But I mean, I suppose we just say, you know, sometimes, especially with artistic integrity that Dave Grohl has, he won't put out a product that he's not happy with.
00:07:25
Speaker
And I suppose the the result of this is actually a positive thing because the drumming on the album and the production sounds exceptional. Just a quick note that Gil no has gil Norton has actually worked, you know when you said a bunch of other bands, you know most notably at that time, he worked with the Pixies before. And for anyone who is new to the show, down in the show notes, we have a dedicated playlist where we've got every song of the album plus anything else we mention or that we'll mention in the in the rest of the episode.
00:07:53
Speaker
um But yeah, I mean, I want to start off by talking. I mean, obviously we started off in terms of the getting into the album and mainly because I'm distracted by that thing, by the background of your, of your screen. um that bit of This is yeah the video forever long. And this, those, these three songs, they're three biggest hits from this album, Everlong, Monkey Wrench and My Hero.
00:08:17
Speaker
These are the first songs that ever got me into Foo Fighters. And I'd say I'd say I'm a good fan of them. I'm not um I'm not their best fan. I don't think they're the best band in the world. But what I've heard I really enjoy. so much so that we actually went to go see them at the London Stadium earlier this year and it was fantastic. Like the best, one of the best live bands I've ever seen, honestly incredible. But these three songs were iconic because every time it used to come on the TV, even if you didn't like a song, you'd watch for the video because there's that great transition where Taylor Hawkins, I think he's in like a, he's in, he's dressed up as like the, what was the,
00:08:50
Speaker
uh the gold goldilocks and three bears that's the um the old story uh the folktale he there's one part where he's dressed up as goldilocks and doesn't he throw off the costume and he's at the drums there's just that one moment and i loved that transition of how they did it so these three songs are actually my introduction to Foo Fighters and whilst i have a lot of nice things to say about this album they are the standouts aren't they the three singles the three songs that really prove what this album is about And this is an album now that's being recorded, I don't know, 20 years ago, 20 something years ago. And they still play My Hero, they still play Everlong, still one of the songs that everyone expects them to play. It's a stunning song, isn't it? Yeah, it's one of my favorites, I think.
Post-Grunge Evolution and Foo Fighters' Role
00:09:35
Speaker
For a generic rock song, it is just amazing.
00:09:38
Speaker
Yeah, everything just hooks you generic Foo Fighters fans are going to love this. But you know, I'm a Foo Fighters fan, so you can't ever go at me. I mean that it's a simple guitar riff, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, outro, you know, generic mainstream rock.
00:09:55
Speaker
Would you agree with me if I say that when you say the generic stuff makes sense because Dave Groat uses a lot of pop songwriting formulas. what What do you think about that? would you and buy yeah if you feel If it's stripped down to to ah guitar and vocals, or acoustic guitar and vocals, they could be great pop songs.
00:10:14
Speaker
I'd argue they are pop songs yeah with with rock instruments yeah yeah exactly instrumentation. They wouldn't work as as a soft pop for radio the same way they work as a kind of hard rock or grunge. Yeah, isn' absolutely. And I think that's what's so special about this album. And um to to try and emphasize that, I want to talk a bit about grunge because this is a really important album. And for some of the viewers and listeners, you may not know why. So I'm just going to spend a few minutes talking through the process of grunge.
00:10:43
Speaker
Because as we know, Dave Grohl was a massive part of the Grands movement being, oh, do you know what that guy behind you looks like? Felipe looks like the guy who drummed for Nirvana, doesn't it? Anyway, right. So early 1990s, 1991, Nirvana released Nevermind. And that basically changes the scope of the scope of rock music. It kills off glam metal because glam metal was so over the top with the makeup and the hair and the spandex and the crazy wild solos.
00:11:13
Speaker
It killed it flat. People were bored of glam metal. And when they started seeing bands like Kurt Cobain and Soundgarden and Nirvana taking things a little more seriously, the world and mainly America was just kind of like, actually, we don't want this glam stuff anymore. We're going to take ourselves seriously. And that's where grunge came in. Now, the sad thing about grunge is they only lasted a few years.
00:11:35
Speaker
In the mid, sort of the early 1990s, I think you could say 1994 was its peak, um but then the same year Kurt Cobain kills himself and essentially he kills Grunge with it. The Grunge bands we know carry on for a few more years, certainly Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, but the hype around it dies and it begins to wane. Now, late 1990s, you have a bunch of post-Grunge bands retaining the emotion the emotional themes and lyrics that we saw in grunge, but they adopt a more radio-friendly, polished, more produced style of music. And this is where bands like Foo Fighters come in. Cleaner guitar tones, way more structured songwriting, emphasis on melodies and anthemic choruses, as opposed to the dark, depressing vibes that grunge generally gave us.
00:12:32
Speaker
so alongside this you know some other bands that followed in this in the as as grunge was dying out we had this more mainstream kind of post grunge as they call it come through and obviously you've got bands like Foo Fighters, Bush, Live, Creed, Collective Soul all taking the remnants of the dying genre that is grunge making it a bit more mainstream, well produced, a bit easier, a bit more accessible, leading us into the early 2000s, which we've done, stereophonics, chilli peppers, that's that bridging gap between grunge and mainstream rock, let's call it.
00:13:08
Speaker
So there you go, just a quick little history on them on why this album is so important. And just just a little more detail. Free history lesson, man. Yeah, there you go. I love this. The first Foo Fighters album is great and it's pretty heavy and grungy in places. yeah But I feel like you could hear that was a guy who just left a grunge band trying to do his own thing. Whereas this, he brings in Nate Mendel and Pat Smir.
00:13:31
Speaker
and together, this writing trio they had, it works so well because it ticks all the boxes. The the shape and the... That is it, isn't it? The colour and the shape. what's The shape and the colour, the shape and the fighter, the foo and the colour, whatever. The colour and the shape has such a fantastic balance of heaviness, like at the end of Monkey Wrench, the end of oh the first 15 seconds of My Poor Brain, the outro of Enough Space,
00:13:59
Speaker
so heavy and so grungy so it goes as far as calling it metal it's heavy well i think the song color and the shape is metal for me if you listen to it is for me is as almost as heavy as pantera there you go it's a really heavy one on the other side it's met with songs like february stars walking after you where you have those agreeable chord progressions the softer sound vocal harmonies where this just wasn't prevalent in Grunge. Grunge was just more stripped down as you needed. It's track number eight. It's Seague. It's a shuffle beat, an acoustic number, you know, and a short song as well. It's two and a half minutes, or something like that. It's like a little concert gig, isn't it? Yeah, exactly. And it it's it brings some balance to the album, which I think the first album is more, maybe even more punk than this one. so That's a fair comment, yeah.
00:14:51
Speaker
Yeah, and the the song my My Poor Brain is a proper punk in terms of lyrics and and the way it's played. So they have that like a garage band musicians, you know, like, and ah but but trying to do something maybe is likely more clever if i if I can use that word maybe. yeah And I think they succeeded in that, you know. Actually, thanks to the production as well, so if you want to, if you want to, you know, ah have a more polished sound, you want, you want the production to reflect that and and with a ah producer this as demanding
00:15:27
Speaker
as Gil Norton is. um that you know I think that the was though that was Dave Groh's idea. So we still like a punk grunge band, but I want to take the next step. And I believe this album is probably the most important of their careers as as a band because um yeah it could have been the end of the Foo Fighters right there. If the album wasn't successful, I think it was so. Everyone would say, you know that guy who played drums with Nirvana and did one solo album? Yeah, we've heard of him. What's he doing now? Where's he going? Exactly. Yeah. Obviously, he will still be a big name in the music industry as the drummer for one of the greatest bands of all time. But ah he managed to be the singer in one of the greatest bands of all time. as well brilliant stuff but yeah i mean talking it so we spoke a little bit about the music um i think it's i think it's nice to hear such it really does feel original so if you compare
00:16:29
Speaker
If you compare it with the plethora of mainstream rock music we have now, you might say, actually, it's it's not that really it's not that special. It doesn't really stand out. But back then, it must have done a great job of being like, well, hold
Foo Fighters' Stadium Success and Appeal
00:16:40
Speaker
on. This is pretty heavy here. and I mean, look, the songs see you.
00:16:45
Speaker
You mentioned already, as we we kind of joked about it being a little country song in the shuffle. There are guitars, thoughs that little melodic guitar behind it that sounds so psychedelic. And it makes me think of Come As You Are by Nirvana, because that song, although it's grungy and heavy, it is psychedelic in the way it's produced. Yeah.
00:17:03
Speaker
And I think that even, you know, as I already mentioned, my poor brain, the first 15 seconds, um see you the psychedelic guitars, the outro of enough space, it's, it's, it's kind of, I'm gonna repeat what you said, it's grunge sound, but with pop songwriting. Yeah. And I think it's just fantastic that they've struck this very mainstream sound that appeals to so many people. Even if you're not into rock music, you listen to a Foo Fighters song on the radio, you you you're probably going to like in it. So um so it's yeah so they they have that sort of ah reach, isn't it? They go way beyond ah rock music. so that's um
00:17:42
Speaker
Yeah, and that that's that's how you you create a stadium band, isn't it? that That's because they they can fill up stadiums and get everyone jumping, bouncing, you know, singing along. So that is, you know, um in in a certain way, they are as big as any any pop, ah you know, pop 10 on the charts kind of singer. Well, um little story. yeah When I went to see them a few months back,
00:18:11
Speaker
He did this thing that actually got him into trouble with ah Taylor Swift fans. So actually, do you know why not? I'll tell the story. um The Taylor Swift tour, it's called the eras tour, isn't it? And the idea is that she plays two songs from each album going through her era or her eras.
00:18:27
Speaker
And Dave Roll was there and he came to the microphone. He said, yeah, we should have called ours the era store. You know, I don't know why we didn't think of that, but ours would be errors instead of errors. And he goes, but hey, listen, we only make errors because we play live. And the audience read all of that. And then on Twitter the day after, all of the Taylor Swift fans were like, oh, why are you doing this? Why are you talking about Taylor like that? Why are you doing this?
00:18:53
Speaker
it was a light-hearted joke for going into a bit of trouble but I think generally I think that's good publicity for for both for both of them and Taylor so they're good friends you know so well that's the thing and I think yeah but how great is it yeah that with I'm talking about a gig a sold out London Stadium sold out like I couldn't even think say so it's like London Stadium capacity And the one part of it was blocked off. So 62,000 people, let's say there was 5,000 removed because they were going to be behind the stage. 55,000 people, man. Selling out a stadium for a band that's almost 30 years old. Yeah. That's nuts. And I don't mean like, you know. And for a band that doesn't really care that much about.
Musical Style and Grunge Influence
00:19:44
Speaker
And I'm not saying like, you know, ELO or a Led Zeppelin reunion.
00:19:49
Speaker
This is a band who have made their bread and butter through only making good rock music. yeah I don't feel like they've ever conformed to the to the ideals of pop music and sold out, so to speak. yeah Every album is has heavy moments. Every album has heavy metal moments. Every album they've got shouting into the mic.
00:20:09
Speaker
Yeah, even with the yeah the the um ah pop songwriting formulas, as we said, ah all the arrangements, they tend to heavy rock, and he shouts a lot if yeah he's got that really ah nice scream. I really like the way he sings. The interesting thing about this album though, you have a lot a lot more of, ah they've grown soft voice in it.
00:20:32
Speaker
Yeah. Because you've got C.U. You've got a few contrasting moments in in a couple of songs. February Stars, I thought was lovely. And what was Walking After You as well? That was a lovely one. Walking After You. I love that song. It was part of the soundtrack for the X-Files movie, the movie. 1998, if I'm not mistaken. ah So yeah, you're two young for X-Files last year. You were born in 1998, weren't you? Do you know that I watched it whilst we were on tour in Brazil? Not the movie.
00:21:00
Speaker
no i wouldn't i watch it all i see ah no no i've seen it i've seen it yeah eventually i did them all so i have done it yeah but it it is a bit before my time yeah it's quite outdated but yeah so we have a connection between uh uh molders curly and dave grove there we go there we go which is the song walking after you yeah there you go um lyrically i mean again you know like i so i said and i went into The reason why people loved grunge is because it provided a real honest outlook on life compared to what I said before. and Listen, I know that there was music around and before glam metal, but for new listeners, I'm a metal head. I've extensively studied the history of metal so I can see how other genres went around metal, which is why I'm focusing on glam metal.
00:21:48
Speaker
Glam Metal didn't take itself seriously at all. The way they dressed, the way they looked, the hairstyles, the outfits. But even the lyric, you know, you're talking about getting off with your teacher and driving cars all night long and just partying all day, every day. Grunge took a step back and said, they've had 10 years of just talking about random stuff. We're going to talk about life and the meaning of life and emotions and feelings. And Dave and the other bands that I mentioned, they've carried this on.
00:22:17
Speaker
they're making pop music, which I'd argue that pop music now, often the lyrics are very generic and often still, just like it was in the Beatles day, is kind of revolving around romance and relationships and love and stuff. I'm generalizing a lot, but I think that's a general consensus. But he has carried on the the the the introspective emotional lyrics that he would have done with grunge. And I think that's quite a nice contrast, the accessible,
00:22:46
Speaker
pop structures of his songs with some accessible musical moments mixed with emotional lyrics. And on the other hand, they don't take themselves very seriously when you look at the videos, right? So it's like the songs can
Legacy and Connection to Nirvana
00:22:58
Speaker
be quite deep. i may how fun themselves on the videos I don't know what they wanted the audience to think because you're listening, you know, like, I think the My Hero video is quite funny as well. It's not as funny as ever long, but they're all funny. But yeah, and actually, I didn't look into the lyrics of this. So you'll have to tell me if you know, is My Hero about Kurt Cobain?
00:23:16
Speaker
Oh, good question. I don't know. that's all I don't know. We're going to have to ask some super fan or Google knows at all. So it's good. we're We're not sponsored by Google, but it does help us sometimes. He said it's loosely based on Kurt Cobain, but I mean, even so that that constitutes a party. Yes, I think Dave Grove didn't want to talk too much about Kurt Cobain because he made it a huge effort to stay away from ah being the ah the former drummer from the event. So everyone was talking about that.
00:23:46
Speaker
the guy from Nirvana has formed the new band blah blah blah so I think with with with every time he would ah speak about Kurt would be um not like directly it would yeah so my hero could be about him yeah why not let me ask you a question when I think of all the recent episodes we've done and I think of the likes of ah Phil Collins and I'm trying to think of other solo musicians you know Ozzy Osbourne I think when you immediately think of those names, you think Phil Collins, Face Value, Genesis, Ozzy Osbourne, Blizzard of Oz, Black Sabbath, you instantaneously link them to their previous band. Do you feel that Dave Grohl has really professionally and really well done
00:24:35
Speaker
distanced himself from the Nirvana label. Because nowadays I don't feel like you go Dave Grohn Nirvana. You go Dave Grohn. He's probably more comfortable with that now. But do you think he's done because he's taken time to do that in terms way promoted out sorry in terms of the way promoted albums, the way he's distanced himself from grunge. and I'm not saying he's doing he's distanced himself because he's embarrassed or anything, yeah but as a way to say I need to make a name for myself.
00:25:00
Speaker
or as an artist you want to keep going and do your own stuff and be recognized by your own art. I think that's that's that that was his idea. And yeah, no, I think he did a great job in doing so. And I think, yeah, I believe if there wasn't a a clear plan about it, that was is his idea. yeah To not be the guy who once played drums in a famous band. To the point that I've watched them live in Brazil, I don't remember when, probably 2000. When you saw them, when you watched the video,
00:25:30
Speaker
No, i was I went to one of their gigs. It was before they took a break for a few years. and I don't remember, but but yeah, long ago, so Taylor Hawkins was on on drums at the time. Are you talking about Foo Fighters? Yeah. yeah fu tomava No, no. I'm sorry. They played this awesome like like three hour gig in ah in a festival and there were like a group of teenagers by my side talking about stuff and someone mentioned Nirvana and these two teenage girls were like, ah but so so what's that? what You know, Nirvana. What the hell is Nirvana? And they they said, well, that they've both played in Nirvana. They said, no, they it didn't.
00:26:12
Speaker
I said, no, it was Nirvana's drummer. They were like, no, no, he's not a drummer, he's a singer. So yes, some I wouldn't say that those people are super fans because they would they would know. If you're a Foo Fighters fan, you will know ah the connection between them and Nirvana. But if you're just someone who appreciates music, you might know Dave Groh is a songwriter and not even make the connection.
00:26:32
Speaker
I think that's a testament to him and how he's held his career. Like I said, yeah there's no need for him to break away from the Nirvana label, but because it was such big news, Kurt's death, because Nirvana were such a big band, I think it was important for him to distance himself and get an identity for himself. Maybe they they he needed that by the point he was writing the first and the second album, for sure. So I think, as as as I said before, is this is the point with Colin the Shape, is the point where um ah Dave Groh is kind of um trying to create something that's going to last. The first album was more like, you know what, I've got these songs that I wrote and as any drummer in a band, if you know, Dave Groh says that himself, he became a meme. What's the last thing a drummer says in a band? Oh, can we try one of my songs? So so he probably tried. It doesn't work. and And then he had those songs and he had the tapes and that's the first album. Color in the Shape is like, wait a minute, I want to create something that's going to last maybe for a few more years, maybe for decades, um and that and I need a band for that. And it's kind of a transition because, as as we said, he didn't find the drummer he wanted.
00:27:44
Speaker
he had to be the drummer again, yeah maybe even against his will, because he wanted the drums to sound the set away. He couldn't find the right person. Eventually he found Taylor Hawkins who was with the Foo Fights until until he passed away. But that was, ah until he found Taylor Hawkins, he had to do that job. So it's kind of a transition between it's person doing everything yeah and actually starting a proper
The Colour and the Shape's Legacy and Success
00:28:09
Speaker
band. But it seems that in a really good way,
00:28:12
Speaker
Yeah. he He nailed half of it in terms of getting the right, the two of the right band members. Oh, yeah. Sounds great. And the songs are great. And they still with him. Yeah, exactly. yeah and And I think, you know, you you said he he wrote an album to stand the test of time. And I think it has to the test of time. The success this album reached is very you know inspirational, to be honest, you know,
00:28:32
Speaker
reached number 10 in the US billboards, number 10 all across Australia, Canada, Greece, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, UK. It went platinum in the US, Australia, Canada and the UK. And it's been such a massive inspiration and influence for some of those rock bands that followed like Nickelback, pi a Puddle of Mud, that Stained, Creed, those kinds of bands that came just a little bit after um Foo Fighters as well.
00:28:57
Speaker
I mean, I think a big part of this, that' something else we should mention quickly is MTV's part to play because MTV was still a relatively young brand at this point. yeah And they were showing all the music, um all the mainstream music that that people wanted to listen to. And those three tracks, Everlong, My Hero, and what was the other one? Monkey Wrench. ah They were played so often on radio and on MTV that it did them a world of good reaching such a widespread audience.
00:29:24
Speaker
And the videos are great. Yeah, as well. Especially every long. Yeah, very good. Excellent. Cool. Is there anything else you want to say? I want to hear a monologue. Okay, cool. Yeah, I think we've gone for everything, haven't we? Right. For new listeners and viewers, when we do an album, I do a little monologue at the end, just summing up my thoughts. That's the only reason why I do this. Yeah, Felipe's not in there for anything else except my monologue. Right, here we go.
00:29:48
Speaker
The colour and the shape occupies a very important place in the history and evolution of grunge before it developed into post-grunge and then into mainstream rock. Many places in the album give us the heavy music, unsettling passages and raw energy that Grohl and Co were used to executing in the early 90s, but we are then also treated to a myriad of well-produced rock riffs, anthemic choruses and vocal harmonies working beautifully with agreeable chord progressions.
00:30:14
Speaker
While sounding similar to the debut album, the inclusion of new band members and songwriting is noticeable and adds an extra dynamic to the band and the album. The new ideas are prevalent and work really nicely. I think this album would be a great rock album as it is. Each song differs in tone, feel and energy, but it's still cohesive and consistent. However, far be it from me to let individual songs govern the overall experience of an album,
00:30:39
Speaker
I can't help but have to give extra credit for the three hits, Everlong, which may be one of my favourite songs of all time, My Hero and Monkey Wrench. These songs have not only stood the test of time but shaped the direction in which rock music was heading after the downfall of grunge. These songs and this album characterised a whole movement of music in the late 90s and to this day remain some of mainstream rock's greatest songs.
Conclusion and Sign Off
00:31:04
Speaker
Well done. Thanks. Yeah. agreed. I really enjoyed it, man. Like, I don't I don't think any other song matches ever long and my hero. But it doesn't need to the whole album sounds like one album. And I just, yeah, I really enjoyed it. Anyway, well, thank you for joining us for another episode of the long live rock and roll podcast. If you're watching us on YouTube, please hit like and subscribe on the video so you can stay up to date with our new content. And if you're listening on Apple, Spotify or Amazon podcasts,
00:31:34
Speaker
Please take 20 seconds of your time. If you like the episode, scroll down, give us a review, and it means we're gonna be shot up the charts, and more people, more rock and roll fans like yourselves are gonna see us and watch our stuff, which makes the world a difference to us. So thank you very much for joining us, and we'll see you next time.
00:31:50
Speaker
Thanks for being with us again. Give us the likes and all that stuff. Keep on rocking everywhere. and i'mciding I plead. I'm like, please help us. The people are like, yeah, like the video. come on for Anyway, and I'll sign off with the usual long live rock and roll.