Watch: Foo Fighters spin some “Wheels”
Let’s be real here, the Foo Fighters are getting old. Don’t get me wrong, they still know how to burn the house down, but in the songwriting department, they’re starting to show their age some. For every neck-squeezing hit like “The Pretender” there’s about a half a dozen “Baker Street”s waiting patiently nearby. There’s nothing wrong with that — some acts really hit some new highs with age (Springsteen, anyone?) — but it’s just something to note. With an act that sports someone as aggressive and visceral as Dave “I was the fucking drummer for Nirvana” Grohl, it’s just an odd note to scribble, write, or read.
Case in point, new single “Wheels”. By now, most fans have heard the cut, thanks to all the presidential hoopla earlier this year, but for those out of the loop, it’s officially here. Don’t get too excited, though. The track, which will appear in the band’s forthcoming Greatest Hits collection, trots with this sluggish Tom Petty-like swagger (think: “Learning to Fly”) that sounds less for the arena and more for the garage — ahem, your father’s garage that is. But, maybe that’s what Grohl intended; after all, the video captures the band in a very laid back, vintage-decorated practice space. When Grohl and drummer Taylor Hawkins harmonize, clouds pop up in place of their reflections, adding to this quasi-introspective-like atmosphere. It’s all sort of… geriatric, but in a pleasant way. It’s staple modern rock, but it’s sung by Grohl. And c’mon, you can’t really lose with a Foo tune, and while it’s hardly memorable, you have to remember that it is for a bullshit greatest hits package.
Food for thought: In the age of digital music, what the hell’s the point of a greatest hits collection anyhow?
i dont think it has anything to do with age. its just who they are. yes, they do have some great songs (like the pretender, low, one by one, and the overplayed everlong). but along with those they also have many dreadful songs that sound like filler tracks. wheels sounds like a definite filler track. lets just hope they write a good song soon.
4 great friends making music for that very reason, after TCV and all the other side projects and expansions they will come back together and make something else to push the limits and the faces of this band…still the best and most diverse band around in my opinion. The foo’s always have an itching to be turned up! Grohl is a legend of our generation. I love QOTSA but TCV is much more appealing- drum for that instead but foos will never go away :).
Drumming for Queens again would be sweet…. but i would much rather hear him playing the drums in the Foo Fighters again.
ugh. this is odious. Foo Fighters have been irrelevant for so long, I just wish he’d go back to drumming for QOTSA.
I like all their stuff, he’s a great song writer and live they rock, that MSG show a couple back was one of the best I have ever been to.
I thought the same thing… very Tom Petty-ish. When I first heard this song I thought he was doing some kind of tribute.
And damn good point with greatest hits in the digital age- I’ve heard this song (and really have no desire to hear it a hundred more times), I own every other Foo album; why buy the G.H.??