Foo Fighters – One By One
(RCA)

So sue me, I like the Foos. Dave Grohl is one of the few genuine, honest guys in the music industry, and he’s also a great songwriter in spite of that (or maybe because of that). Sure his songs are poppy, radio-friendly and accessible as hell, but many of them also rock harder than anything else being played on commercial radio nowadays. Just look at some of the past Foo Fighters singles: Everlong, Monkeywrench, Breakdown, I’ll Stick Around… I don’t care if 14 year old girls hum these tunes on their way to the Muchmusic dance party, they’re simply great songs.

That said, their last album, There Is Nothing Left To Lose, didn’t rock quite so hard and was a bit of a disappointment. Grohl himself admitted that “Learn To Fly” was one of the most commercial songs he had ever written in his life, and he proclaimed an eagerness to get back to his punk rock roots on his next trip to the recording studio.

The band line-up for One By One was certainly perfectly suited for such a return to form; Taylor Hawkins is one of the only powerhouse drummers who can even come close to filling Grohl’s own shoes behind the kit, and the addition of Chris Shiflett (ex-No Use For A Name) on guitar has provided even more sonic depth along with more complimentary hints of heavy metal riffage. Then there’s the other founding member Nate Mendell still calmly laying the solid groundwork on bass, and Grohl himself who had his rock appetite whetted by playing with Queens Of The Stone Age earlier in the year.

The album starts off strong with the new single “All My Life”, a mean, chugging lead-off locomotive, and “Low” and “Have It All”, both of which find Shiflett showing off some cool guitar harmonic tricks with Grohl’s vocal melodies woven in between. Even the song “Disenchanted Lullaby”, which begins somewhat mellow and dreary, digs in and offers up a headbanging chorus in fine Foo fashion.

After this however, the record downshifts gears and moves into no man’s land. The next few songs prove to be little more than “Foo Filler”, each with a general lack in direction and intensity. The song “Tired Of You” is a turning point for the album, as it drags along for 5 minutes without ever really progressing or evolving into something worth remembering.

Many of the songs that follow have the odd catchy riff or vocal melody, but not enough to make them stand out one way or another. Individually these tracks are not bad, but combine them all with a glossy production job and it quickly becomes an album where the last half blurs together insignificantly. It also doesn’t help when every single song is longer than 4 minutes, which prolongs the dull moments, and kills the cool parts by repeating them in excess. Case in point, the 7-minute finale “Come Back” which is actually one of the best songs on the album, but it simply carries on too long.

Dave Grohl claims to be more proud of this album lyrically than any other he has written. I find this strange, particularly when you take into account the fact that the lyrics are not printed in the liner notes, and also one of the quotes inside that reads, “I do wrong to put my heart into what I write, that is no longer done.” I can only hope that is sarcastic, but the album and song titles have gotten very bland and neutral as of late, which would seem to indicate that Grohl has taken to writing to writing songs in a vague and generalized way.

Some versions of the cd come with a bonus DVD that includes videos for All My Life and Walking A Line, an abrasive bonus song that really should have been on the album. The cd also has a link to a website where you can access some cover songs recorded by the Foo Fighters. Unfortunately I couldn’t get these to work. It would have been nice if you could just download MP3s instead of using some Windows Media streaming technology.

One By One is definitely a hit and miss record, but I think that Foo Fighters fans will find it much more enjoyable than There Is Nothing Left To Lose. It’s a step back in the right direction, although it’s not as raw and aggressive as some may have you believe. As long as you’re not afraid to listen to something overtly radio-friendly, then by all means, give it a spin. — Sean