Artist Profile: Foo Fighters

Today's Artist Profile is on none other than the Foo Fighters! The Foo Fighters were formed in 1994 out of the ashes of Nirvana shortly after Kurt Cobain's death. Dave Grohl had written Foo Fighters songs when he was still a member of Nirvana, but he felt that the songs didn't exactly fit the style of music that Nirvana were accustomed to playing, so he kept the project a secret from Kurt and the rest of the band. Dave  recruited a handful of musicians to round out the band including Pat Smear on lead guitar and rhythm guitar, Nate Mendel on bass, William Goldsmith on drums, and Franz Stahl on lead guitar and backing vocals. The band released their self titled debut album in 1995, giving way to some classic Foo tracks including "This Is A Call", "I'll Stick Around", and "Big Me". The band toured shortly after that, then entered the studio to begin work on their follow up album, The Colour and The Shape. It was around this time that Goldsmith left the band and Dave recruited a brand new drummer Taylor Hawkins, who is still with the band today. The Colour and The Shape went on to become the Foo Fighters most well known and successful album, going platinum on the strength of songs such as "Monkey Wrench", "My Hero" my personal favorite "Everlong", and "Walking After You".

In 1998, there was another lineup change as Franz Stahl was fired from the band, making way for guitarist Chris Shiflett, who is still a part of the group today. The band released their new effort There Is Nothing Left To Lose a year later, giving way to such memorable tracks like "Breakout", "Learn to Fly" and "Next Year".  The album was also the first of three Foo Fighters discs to receive a Grammy award for Best Rock Album. The band then embarked on a lengthy touring schedule after that and took some time off before releasing their next effort, One By One in 2002. The album contained tracks to the tune of "All My Life", "Times Like These" and "Low". The band took some time off before settling down on their next effort In Your Honor in 2005. The album contained gargantuan tracks like "Best of You", "DOA", and "No Way Back". The band wasted no time releasing their next effort Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace in 2007. The album contains the track that spent a whopping 16 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot Alternative Songs chart, "The Pretender", "Let It Die", and "Long Road To Ruin". The band is expected to release their latest album, Wasting Light tomorrow and the first single from that album, "Rope" is already at #1 on the Hot Alternative Songs chart after just three weeks of radio airplay. Foo Fighters have always been that band that I've enjoyed each and every time and one that has always put out a consistent record time and time again, and a group who also put no filler on their records whatsoever. They always make sure that each track is loud, rocking, fresh, and one that you'll never get tired of.