History Trivia / FooFighters

* IKnewIt: Without a permanent drummer announced, fans suspected that Dave Grohl had recorded drum tracks on ''But Here We Are'' in Taylor Hawkins' absence, something proven correct during a conversation with Grohl and new drummer Josh Freese during a Veeps livestream.
-->'''Freese''': When you explained the beat on the record and you're like, "I think I played it with one hand," and I'm kinda doing the same thing. It feels good and sounds cool, you know?\\
'''Grohl''': It was unintentional; I did it when I demoed it at my house, and I'd just woken up and I was tired. But on the shitty drum set at my house, it just kinda sounded better. You're not hitting the hi-hat and the snare at the same time, so it sort of has more space.

** And of course, "Everlong", their most popular song, closer to emo than their usual hard rock style and so out of place when they perform it that is usually the show closer.

* MagnumOpusDissonance: Being their most well-known one, ''Music/TheColourAndTheShape'', is usually considered to be the band's best work. However, the band members are critical of it, feeling they've got a lot better since then, but critics take no notice of that. This is illustrated in Nate Mendel's comments in the liner notes of the album's 10th Anniversary Edition.

* BlackSheepHit: "Big Me", an [[SurprisinglyGentleSong upbeat pop rock song]], was their first major hit single. A minor case is "Walking After You", a downtempo love ballad. "Learn to Fly", their first on the Billboard Hot 100, was soon reviled by Dave for not being representative of the band's sound and yet played by him every night. And of course, "Everlong", their most popular song, closer to emo than their usual hard rock style and so out of place when they perform it that is usually the show closer.

* MagnumOpusDissonance: ''The Colour and the Shape'' is the band's most widely regarded album, but the band are critical of it, feeling they've got a lot better since then, but that critics take no notice. This is illustrated in Nate Mendel's comments in the liner notes of the 10th Anniversary Edition of the album.

* AbsurdlyShortProductionTime: The original album was recorded in just one week. The liner notes of ''One by One'' note the post-TroubledProduction sessions (see below for more detail) were "recorded May 6-18 (that only seems quick, mind you)".

** Dave's independent cassette release of the first album included "Winnebago" as part of its tracklisting, with three extra tracks consisting of "Wattershed", "Podunk" and "Butterflies". Ultimately the record company preferred "Wattershed" to "Winnebago" so it appeared on the official LP with "Winnebago" becoming a b-side to the first single "This Is A Call" along with "Podunk". The two tracks were reinstated on the Japanese release as well as US and Australian tour editions. "Butterflies" however remains exclusive to the cassette.
** From ''The Colour And The Shape'', we have a fair few: An unreleased original "I'm Alone Again", a rerecorded "Butterflies", "The Colour And The Shape" (in spite of being the TitleTrack!), "Dear Lover" (which was a foreign b-side for "My Hero") and "Make A Bet" (which the band later re-recorded as "Win or Lose" for a soundtrack), as well as a fair few covers. In fact, the group reportedly recorded twice as many songs as appear on the album, though a selection were picked. Some group members preferred tracks that were left off the LP.

** ''The Colour and the Shape''. It was the first album as a full band as the self-titled ''Foo Fighters'' album was recorded almost entirely by Grohl and Dave found it hard to direct the other band members in particular, drummer William Goldsmith could not reproduce the parts Dave wanted and there were also clashes with the album's producer Gil Norton. During a hiatus he recorded the drums himself and forced Goldsmith to quit the band in a manner Grohl later regretted. Pat Smear found it all a bit much and decided to leave too, though he stayed on until Franz Stahl was confirmed as his replacement. Fortunately, Smear would officially return years later after the ''Skin & Bones'' tour.
*** The album sessions featured a number of songs that didn't get finished for the album such as "Alone Again" and an electric version of "Butterflies", two distinctly different 'fast' and 'slow' versions of "Up In Arms".

* BreakthroughHit: The band has been popular from the start in alternative rock circles, but "Learn to Fly" solidified them as a household name in the mainstream by being their first Hot 100 hit.

* ThrowItIn: Greg Dulli of Music/TheAfghanWhigs was sitting in on the ''Foo Fighters'' sessions and watching Dave record everything with producer Barrett Jones (the album was recorded in a week), and when Dave got to "X-Static", he asked Dulli if he wanted to play and handed him a guitar.

* RealLifeRelative: Dave's daughter Violet had performed backing vocals in some concerts before recording them in ''Medicine at Midnight'' and ''But Here We Are'' as well. Also, B-side "How I Miss You" has his sister Lisa on bass. The tribute concert to Taylor had his son Shane taking his place on the drums during "My Hero".

* RealLifeRelative: Dave's daughter Violet had performed backing vocals in some concerts before recording them in ''Medicine at Midnight'' as well. Also, B-side "How I Miss You" has his sister Lisa on bass. The tribute concert to Taylor had his son Shane taking his place on the drums during "My Hero".

* CreatorBreakdown: Music/DaveGrohl recorded the Foo Fighters' debut album by himself as a way of coping with Music/KurtCobain's death. Follow-up ''The Colour and the Shape'' also shows how his divorce and the TroubledProduction were affecting him.

* DoingItForTheArt: ''Wasting Light'', Dave's love letter to analog recording, literally reviving its GarageBand days by recording in Dave's garage. It was also a practice in the self-discipline a performer is required to have when working with limited resources: the band practiced the songs for weeks until they were absolutely perfect before recording a single note.