Album Reviews

[katina]

If anyone has any requests, I'm happy to take them (assuming I own the album in question, of course).

Binnie, Tesseract ´s Polaris perhaps?
Tesseract last US tour opening for Gojira was very succesfull, they certainly won a lot of new fans.

[Etienne]

Tommy Lee - Never a Dull Moment

AllMusic Review by Alex Henderson

When word got around that Tommy Lee's first solo album, Never a Dull Moment, would be coming out in May 2002, fans didn't know what to expect. Would the album pick up where Lee's Methods of Mayhem project of 1999 left off? Or would it, by some chance, recall his years with Mötley Crüe? The latter seemed unlikely because when Lee left Mötley Crüe in the late '90s, he had obviously grown frustrated with that band and was yearning to try something totally different. As it turns out, Never a Dull Moment is neither a carbon copy of Methods of Mayhem nor a return to a Mötley Crüe-like sound. The material on this fairly diverse CD (which Lee produced with Scott Humphrey) generally falls into the alternative metal and alternative rock categories; many of the tunes are hip-hop-influenced, but few of them are straight-up rap-metal in the Limp Bizkit/Korn/(hed) pe/Kid Rock vein. And for the most part, Never a Dull Moment sounds more organic than Methods of Mayhem's 1999 album, which gave the impression that Lee was trying a little too hard to be contemporary (by late-'90s standards) and prove to the world that there was more to him than "Shout at the Devil" and "Girls, Girls, Girls"; even so, Methods of Mayhem's debut was, despite its imperfections, one of the more memorable rap-metal efforts of 1999. But on Never a Dull Moment, a 39-year-old Lee sounds like he has grown more comfortable in his new rap-influenced, techno-influenced alterna-metal/alterna-rock wardrobe -- and that wardrobe ranges from raucous, in-your-face party jams ("Higher," "Face to Face") to songs that are tuneful and surprisingly thoughtful ("Ashamed," "Hold Me Down"). Not every track on Never a Dull Moment is a five-star gem, but more often than not, the CD is an exciting, inspired reminder of Lee's desire to forge ahead.

[Nitro Express]

I remember back in '97, I think it was '97, the Foo Fighters played at City Fest in Charlotte. People actually threw bricks at the stage. I was there but I still have no idea why those idiots threw bricks at them.

Was it bricks of cocaine?

[78/84 guy]

What happened to Binnie ?

[David45]

Thank You Next is the best album in 2019

[twonabomber]

Thank You Next is the best album in 2019

I'm not sure you are at the right site.

[Rikk]

I have a somewhat difficult relationship with the Foo Fighters.

I thought (and still do) the first two Foos albums were really good American hard-edged rock albums, with some tracks and moments on those albums that transcended to rock brilliance. The first album was Grohl top-to-bottom, and the second one was for the most part another Grohl album. I think part of the reason those two albums stood out at the time is due to the fact that by the time the grunge explosion was dying in terms of airplay and visibility, there weren't really many bands out there getting a high degree of exposure that were delivering really good American hard-edged rock music in the manner that the Foos/Grohl were.

I started checking out when the third album, There Is Nothing Left To Lose, was released. Mostly because by then there was a Foo Fighters songwriting template in place in terms of structure, and very little from There Is onward connected with me in the visceral way the first two Foos albums had. It's weird, because I've never been one of those fans who happened to get in on the ground floor of an up and coming band and then reflexively dislike them when they became popular solely because they became popular: as long as the music still connected with me, I could give a shit if masses of people who hadn't heard of them before were now listening to them. Oddly, with Foo Fighters, the bigger they got and the more by way of reverence that was directed toward Grohl, the less I was enjoying what the band were doing. Perhaps not so odd when I really think about it, because by the time the 1990s were coming to a close, I'd had my fill of being screamed at by Grohl in every other Foo chorus. Also, the thing that struck me about Grohl is the same thing I always felt about Eddie Vedder, which is they both give off this vibe of studied/practiced angst in their songwriting: the emotional content they try to put across never strikes me as 100% authentic. There's always this aura of contrivance there. It's nothing tangible I can put into words, rather I gut feeling I get at times when listening to them sing and the lyrics they write...that to varying degrees they are pretentiously faking it. And then there are the repeated instances with both Grohl and Vedder where they are surrounded by various rock icons who were looking to extend their careers or relevance by hooking onto Grohl's and Vedder's relevance with younger record buyers (back when people were still actually buying records), and I'm sitting there thinking that Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam were good bands who had some great moments, yet it seemed mildly embarrassing to see members of groups like Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, The Ramones or The Doors jamming/palling around with those guys. Simply put, neither the Foos or Pearl Jam were ever THAT good in my book. Neither band reached legendary status in my book, either.

I'd agree 100% that Wasting Light was a late career high, and was/is my favorite Foo album after the first 2. I mean, shit, the first listen I had of Rope knocked me back and had me nodding my head in approval. Sonic Highways was certainly a step away from what the Foos did best, and I don't think the Foos or Grohl really have the ability or the talent to take what they did best to another level as they get older. The best they can hope for is more of the same, only not quite as good. I tend to doubt the Foos are going to broaden the music as they age, and in the end will be very much of their time with a few albums that will prove to be lasting. Like, I'm not the hugest U2 fan out there, but that band was still managing to come up with stuff 25 years after their first album was released that reminded you of why they were great in the first place. Outside of Wasting Light, the Foos have been pretty slim pickins for me since 1997. They certainly don't have a consistently excellent body of work that earns them a place among the best rock bands of all time. I think it has more to do with them being one of the last rock bands standing than anything else.

Talk about a late reply but I think this post sums up exactly my opinion about this band and my problem with them.

Pearl Jam is a better band, IMO, with more interesting work...but Eddie Vedder is not Jim Morrison...nor is he Ray Davies or Pete Townshend, as much as he'd like to be.

The best bands from that period are all gone now...
Soundgarden
Stone Temple Pilots (technically, they still exist...but...)
Nirvana

Soundgarden was SO MUCH better than Foo Fighters or Pearl Jam. More consistent songwriting, amazing singer, consistent growth...and their final finished album (KING ANIMAL) was not quite as good as part glories, but it showed growth after being apart for so many years.

Dave Grohl being nice guy rockstar legend guy...it just drives me nuts. He's a great drummer. That's it.

[Funkmonkey]

Dave Grohl being nice guy rockstar legend guy...it just drives me nuts. He's a great drummer. That's it.

I have respect for Grohl being able to reinvent himself from drummer to guitarist/frontman and being massively successful both in personal skills and financial prosperity.