Shades of Nirvana

Originally published: The Record (New Jersey)
SHADES OF NIRVANA
December 19, 1995 Section: STUDENT LIFE Edition: All Editions Page: e02 The RecordBy DARA AVENIUS, Paramus High School Column: CRITICS' CHOICE

FOO FIGHTERS, self-titled; Roswell Records/Capital Records

I bought this album the first day it came out, so you can guess that I was excited to listen to it. Not only does the band combine the talents of Dave Grohl, drummer for the late Nirvana, but it also has as members William Goldsmith and Nate Mendel, who made up the rhythm section of the now defunct Sunny Day Real Estate.

Only after buying the self-titled debut did I find out that the album was not the work of a band but that of Grohl. And what a fine piece of work it is.
Although for obvious reasons, Foo Fighters is going to be compared to Nirvana and there is definitely some of Nirvana in this album. I don't think it sounds like Nirvana with Grohl as the new Kurt Cobain. The songs are more in the pop-ballad vein than pop-punk.

When I first heard the album, I thought it had a Nirvana drum and a Sunny Day Real Estate guitar line. (For those who would like to hear what Sunny Day Real Estate sounds like, check out the "Batman Forever" soundtrack or their "Diary" album.)

But to compare the album to one of Nirvana's would be wrong. Lines like "Fingernails are pretty/fingernails are good/seems that all they wanted was a market," from Foo Fighters' "This is a Call," are hardly like "I'm so happy 'cause today I found my friends/they're in my head," from Nirvana's "Lithium."
Grohl proves to be a good songwriter, as oblique as his former Nirvana band mate, and a talented musician. He has avoided the cover-band sound that could have easily happened to the Foo Fighters. All in all, a great album.