On a monthly basis, the Houston Press will deep-dive an
album that dropped on that particular month in the ’90s. Some were
well-received. Others not. Some have held up. Others, far from it. Some marked
an artist’s critical or commercial peak. Others simply set the table for more
greatness to come. Regardless, they all helped constitute a decade that ranks
among the most influential in music history.
This is “The Way it Was.”
The artist: Foo Fighters
The album: The Colour and the Shape
The release date: May 20, 1997
The backstory: So, you’re Dave Grohl. You’re the drummer for arguably
the biggest and most influential bands of the 90s (Nirvana). You’re pretty much
minted off the fact that you helped create some of the most impactful and
long-lasting music in rock history. You can coast, lend your name to some cameo/supporting
material, be the ever-charming Dave Grohl and basically ride your early work to
a career of credibility and riches.
Or, you can do your previous band one better.
Not long after Kurt Cobain’s April 1994 suicide officially ended Nirvana, Grohl
(a la Trent Reznor in Nine Inch Nails) basically put out a self-titled solo
album under a band pseudonym. Grohl played every instrument, wrote every song
and recorded every vocal of Foo Fighters’ 1995 self-titled debut, which, thanks
to hit singles like “I’ll Stick Around” and “This is a Call,” went Platinum.
The secret was out. Foo Fighters (Grohl later assembled an official band to
help tour and record new material) were legit and Dave Grohl was a master of
his trade, far more than a supporting player for Cobain, far more than “that
other guy from Nirvana.”
Foo Fighters was a great debut. Its follow-up upped the ante – and then
some.
The impact: Expectations seemingly never bothered Dave Grohl all that
much. A year after Cobain’s tragic suicide officially ended Nirvana, Grohl
dropped a glorified solo album with hits for days and musical undertones of his
prior outfit. It was a well-received, certifiable hit.
Then came The Colour and the Shape.
Mainstream, arena-style rock music (pour one out) was pretty huge in the 90s, and Grohl
realized as much when he recorded Foo Fighters’ sophomore album (by then, he
had recruited some fellow musicians to join in the studio). Fresh off a divorce
and grappling with his post-Nirvana fame, The Colour and the Shape is an
introspective listen, one that runs the gamut between angst (“Monkey Wrench,” “My Poor Brain”)
and melancholy (“February Stars,” “Walking After You”).
Simply put, The Colour and the Shape is damn near a perfect rock album.
It’s lean (13 tracks at under 50 minutes in runtime). It’s well-produced (Gil
Norton, who had previously worked with Pixies and Counting Crows, was a maestro
at blending rock and pop sensibilities). Oh yeah, the album also produced, not
one, but two songs that will live on forever.
“My Hero” and “Everlong” are not only the best tracks on The Colour and the Shape;
they are the most memorable. Nearly 30 years after the album’s release, both
tracks still receive ample play on terrestrial rock radio. They are karaoke
staples, fan favorites, about as perfect as pop-rock gets. Also, if you wanna
know what Grohl is whispering on “Everlong,” look no further.
The legacy: The Colour and the Shape isn’t even Foo Fighters’
best album; that would probably be reserved for the 2005 rock/acoustic double album,
In Your Honor.
But “best” and “most significant” are not mutually exclusive, and The Colour
and the Shape – some 27 years after its release – is unquestionably Foo
Fighters’ most significant album, one of the best rock albums of the 90s and a
signifier of what the genre can be.
Will rock ever again reach such creative and commercial heights as The
Colour and the Shape? Hard to say, and I’m not sure it matters in this instance. Being
present and facing down the future are noble traits, but sometimes, it’s better
to just look back and remember how f**king awesome something was.
Biggest track: “My Hero,” due to its message of ordinary people as
heroes, its placement in movies and assorted pop culture and, most notably, the
fact that it’s an absolute banger of an arena rock album, is probably the most
memorable track on The Colour and the Shape. But it’s not the best …
Best track: Sometimes, the most obvious choice is the right one. “Everlong”
is one of the greatest rock songs ever released, and I will die on that hill. Could
everything ever be this real forever? We can only hope.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
