Greatest Hits - Foo Fighters Album Review

Foo Fighters

Album Review

Foo Fighter songs are unstoppable express trains tearing through a crowded station. Rails hum with the distant rumble of the intro and, without ceremony, Dave Grohl and his band explode into view with such irresistible force that listeners are plucked from the platform and - euphoric, dizzy and winded - swept along in a whirr and blur of colour and excitement.

So next time you are watching from the comfort of your favourite chair as kids, stripped to bras and waists, throw themselves about with reckless abandon in the mud at some televised festival or another, know this - they have no choice, these foolish young things; they are on the train and there's no stopping them. If this isn't your thing, you may want to stand well back.

When the Foo Fighters emerged from the ashes of grunge-rock trailblazers Nirvana, no one could have foreseen that Dave Grohl's solo project would become one of the world's great rock bands. With Kurt Cobain's troubled hyperbole to one side, he - the band's drummer - and third member Krist Novoselic both surfaced blinking into a post-Nirvana nuclear dawn.

And Grohl emerged with a collection of self-penned songs he'd quietly written whilst the band were recording and touring their own material. With profound simplicity, Dave Grohl then went and made himself a band. He even played all the instruments.

A decade-and-a-half later, and with an established line-up, Grohl is looking back on a Foo Fighters career that arguably puts Nirvana's achievements into some sort of perspective. True, the Foo Fighters lack the raw, frayed edge of Nirvana but their coherence, commercial success and enduring quality are almost without parallel. Thankfully, timing renders any meaningful comparison pointless. One simply couldn't exist with the other.

Yet flawed genius is ever so much sexier than plain old genius, it seems. Kurt Cobain's shadow is a long one and Dave Grohl has had to work hard to shake it off. But shake it off, he has.

And here's the proof. Of course, greatest hits compilations like this one are rarely welcomed by 'real' fans. Undoubtedly a few more of the Foos' fabled live performances and a handful of less commercial tunes would elevate this album in their eyes. But that's not to suggest this isn't a valuable anthology.

The 16 tracks include two previously unreleased singles (which will appease the die-hards), Wheels and Word Forward, along with two versions of Everlong - the single and also an acoustic retelling. Elsewhere are all the highlights of a career that is, for so many, the soundtrack to the last decade.

The Pretender, Best of You, Times Like These and Learn To Fly showcase the Foo Fighters at their anthemic best. Big Me is a slice of more gentle Americana but no less remarkable for it.

Cranking up the energy levels still further, Monkey Wrench, This Is A Call and My Hero are the calls to arms for those young and restless moshers and all sit effortlessly alongside the new material. Of the two new offerings, Wheels is particularly good.

With this collection of rock songs of real depth and grace, Dave Grohl's exceptional Foo Fighters will no doubt win themselves another army of dedicated followers. All aboard.

Stewart Darkin