Oh, Dave Grohl. You've been all over my feed again this week, featuring drum battles with 10-year-old Nandi Bushell. You've proven, once again, that you're a pretty awesome human being.
So, this seemed like a perfect time to list my Top 10 Foo Fighters videos. I'm going to do my best to get these in chronological order.
Let's do this!
Big Me, the third release from the Foo Fighters' self-titled debut album. This song is stuck in the collective's head and appears as the elevator music in Monkey Wrench. The video features a fun, goofy story to keep our attention. Have you had your Footos today? Uploaded to YouTube on October 2, 2009, the Big Me video currently has 19,242,273 views.
Big Me
My best score ever on Guitar Hero came thanks to this song. Monkey Wrench is the lead single from the second Foo Fighters album, The Colour and the Shape. This is the point in time where Alanis Morissette's touring drummer Taylor Hawkins joined the band. The video has the trickiest slow lead-in, and then boom! Released on April 28, 1997, and uploaded to YouTube on October 2, 2009, Monkey Wrench is sitting at 434,193,642 views.
Monkey Wrench
Released in August 1997, Everlong was the second single from their second studio album, The Colour and the Shape. With 180,549,386 YouTube views, this Foo Fighters video was uploaded on October 3, 2009. I love a good narrative video from this band. Everlong was released on August 18, 1997.
Not to be missed, the acoustic version of this song.
Everlong
The Pretender is off the Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace album. The album was released on September 25, 2007, with The Pretender as its lead single. It's tough to pick a favourite, but this might be mine. Simple, straightforward, rocking. Foo Fighters social distancing, and addressing the police's use of force before we were all on board. Uploaded on October 3, 2009, The Pretender has 434,192,324 YouTube views.
The Pretender
Learn to Fly was released on September 18, 1999, as the lead single on the third studio album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose. A fun parody of the 1977 movie Airplane, the Foos pulled out all the stops. With the entire band dressed as multiple characters, it's a video that fans have been talking about for years. Try not to smile when you watch it. Released on October 3, 2009, Learn to Fly currently sits at 130,929,235 views on YouTube.
Learn To Fly
Released in 2002 as the first single from their fourth album, One by One, All My Life won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance, and spent ten weeks at number 1 on the Alternative chart, peaking at number 3 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song also hit the top 5 on the UK Singles Chart.
Originally thought to be a great instrumental piece, the band was convinced it needed to have lyrics. I'm glad they were convinced. It features great lighting, fast cuts, and the staged performance video does a great job of capturing the energy.
All My Life
Times Like These is the second single released from the 2002 One by One album. This single debuted on January 14, 2003. Sitting at 53,982,099 views it's a fan favourite.
Times Like These
Another lead single, Best of You, was the first taste of the Foo Fighters fifth studio album, In Your Honor album. Released on May 30, 2005, this song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Song. "Most people think it's a love song, but it's meant to be more universal, which I think is one of the reasons so many people sing along when we play it." - Dave Grohl
Best of You was published to YouTube on October 3, 2009, and it has 186,398,532 views.
Best Of You
The third single off The Colour and Shape produced this badass hit. It peaked at number 6 of the US Billboard rock charts and hit number 3 in the UK. My Hero was the third and final single from the album, released on January 19, 1998.
Directed by Dave Grohl, My Hero's video features a man running into a burning building to rescue a woman's baby, another woman's dog, and a picture frame of the first woman. Blocking out the eyes of both the baby and the dog is meant to represent everyone in need, everywhere. The video is done in a continuous long take format, but transitions are camouflaged by smoke. Interior shots show the band playing, oblivious or apathetic about the chaos around them. Note: It's the only Foo Fighters video to feature guitarist Franz Stahl, who replaced Pat Smear.
My Hero
As the first single, released on March 1, 2011, Rope, set the stage for four other songs to be released as singles from the seventh studio album, Wasting Light. Walk, Arlandria, These Days, and Bridge Burning followed.
When asked about the song by By Alan Di Perna of Guitar World, the band replied with;
"Yes, it is like something off Presence. Led Zeppelin are one of my favorite bands, and that may be my favorite album of theirs." - Grohl
"The verse chords in Rope are really interesting to me. What my guitar is doing over the bass makes no sense in a way. It does, but you don't know how. A flat seventh, a fourth and a minor third; those seem like weird notes to put together in a chord and put in those places. I remember when we were learning that I was like, "What the fuck? This is nuts." I don't know if people will interpret it as "out there" compared with what the band normally does. But it's a crazy kind of sophisticated thing that's happening." - Shiflett
Rope
These Days is the fourth single, from the Foo Fighters' seventh studio album Wasting Light. It was released on November 1, 2011. The song was written by Dave Grohl and co-produced by Butch Vig. Rumour has it that it's Dave's favourite song that he's ever written. It's a really great song. The lyrics should stop you in your tracks.
I love the behind the scenes stuff, but it's the live clips that call to me. This video makes me long for a packed live show.
These Days
Were you counting? Did I miss your favourite? Let me know.
