I've come around on "Making a Fire" and "Chasing Birds" but unfortunately I'm pretty sure this is my least favorite Foos record. Feels a bit like a rehash of Concrete & Gold, which I actually think is relatively solid, but I seem to be in the minority there
I hated everything about that Hyden piece. Jesus it sounds he never even liked the band, why did he choose to write this list?
It was EXACTLY the same as when he did that piece with Chino back when Ohms came out. Don't cover bands you don't like. Simple as that. His "journalism" is laughable.
It's irritating because I enjoyed his first book. But then I noticed he has exactly one lane, and he rides that same exact lane for ALL of his writing. It's snarky and yet also somehow seems underinformed. Clearly written by someone who doesn't have an ounce of actual musical talent in his body.
He also makes it clear he likes the first album, LOVES Nirvana, and hates all Foo songs that aren't hits. He is welcome to that opinion but it's not one Foo fans are going to agree with. They have a ton of great songs that weren't hits. The only thing he says in the whole article that I agree with is that Sonic Highways and Concrete and Gold are not as good as the previous (I have yet to hear the new one). Even Sonic Highways has several excellent songs, however. I did relisten to Concrete and Gold last week and I still think it's mostly bad and clearly their worst album.
"I have deduced that there are exactly 30 good Foo Fighters songs." Yeah the band has like 10 albums and more and is one of the biggest rock bands in the world right now, but they only have 30 "good" songs.
"I will choose 1 B-Side only, and it will be the one song that was really actually a Nirvana song. Now let me talk about Cobain some more........."
I dunno why there are writers who think the Foo Fighters are like the worst rock band of all time haha
"Making a Fire" might be my least favorite on here, but even still it's solid. "Chasing Birds" is probably my fave and at least a contender for one of my favorite Foo songs.
I think they're a pretty easy target because they make pretty earnest, straightforward arena rock music. And I think the constant praise for Dave Grohl gets under some people's skin. I dunno, Hyden's a weirdo when it comes to who he chooses to pick on. You can always count on him to hate Foo Fighters and Beck and love anything Wilco does.
hyden has a handful of very popular (and good) books and is one of the most notable music writers around. of course people pay attention to him lol. “rent free” also implies that it’s a negative thing. his writing is usually pretty decent lol, he’s just been way off recently.
My mom likes this album so much that she ventured to the store to buy it for herself haha. Her first Foo Fighters album
He’s gotten so snarky and cynical lately. It’s like he doesn’t want you to know that he actually likes things. His U2 ranking was super tough to read as well. Haven’t read this one yet. Lol, I mean, he wrote an article about the band this thread is about and it came up in conversation. I don’t think that is “living in our heads rent free.”
Update: the Hyden piece was exactly what I expected. Still less agonizing than the U2 ranking. But it really did feel like he wanted to mock them at least once in every individual song blurb.