Apparently the Foo Fighters debut album, Foo Fighters, turned 20 recently. More than anything else that’s happened in my life lately (two kids, a mortgage…basically stereotypical growing up stuff), this milestone makes me feel old. Where did the last 20 years go? Have the Foo seriously been around that long?
I remember this album’s debut very clearly. I was 11 years old and not really into music in a big way yet. I listened to Nirvana (I had the requisite RIP Kurt poster on my bedroom wall, as well as the Nirvana Unplugged), but I had no idea who Dave Grohl was. If truth be told, I didn’t really get the fuss over Nirvana. I was more of a Pearl Jam guy (still am today).
I was staying at my buddy’s house for the weekend. He had recently moved further away, so we didn’t chill as often. What used to be regular evening hangouts, turned into the occasional weekend affair, before they ceased entirely. On this particular occasion, we were in the family room watching a bizarre claymation dinosaur movie we were really into at the time. His dad suddenly burst into the room, turned off the TV, and threw a CD into the stereo. We were, understandably, pissed off. After all, it was only the 100th time we’d watched this movie, and it was getting to the scene where a T-Rex goes all T-Rex on some unsuspecting herbivores.
As soon as the first track, “This is Call”, started playing, we weren’t too upset anymore. First of all, and much to our delight, my buddy’s dad started hopping around the room, spastically playing air guitar. Once our laughter subsided, I was genuinely transfixed by this track, with its jangly guitar and sunny vocal intro, before everything veered off into distortion. It sounded dark and rough, while also coming across as lighthearted and fun. On top of that, the album had the coolest artwork I had ever seen – a friggin’ ray gun. My child-brain was reeling…who are these Foo Fighters? What are they fighting? What the hell is Foo? How do I get a hold of one of those awesome ray guns? Needless to say, I’ve been a fan ever since. And I still want one of those ray guns.
State of Absorption 