Issue #94: Foo Fighters – The Colour and the Shape

Released:  May 20th, 1997

Recorded:  November – December 1996

Genre:  Post Grunge, Alternative

Record Label:  Roswell / Capitol

Duration:  46:47

Producer:  Gil Norton

Personnel

Track Listing

Singles

Why The Colour and the Shape is One of My Favorites

First of all, I know this would be better placed back in Volume 5: Reprise, but I really hadn’t given serious thought back then.  So here it is in Volume 6, right along with “Everything Else.”

Quite some time ago, I went over the Foo Fighters’ self-titled debut album and even admitted that it wasn’t until The Colour and the Shape that the band would really find their sound and that my fondness for their debut had a lot to do with nostalgia.  At the time, I wasn’t sure if I’d really consider their followup as one of my favorites, but as I gave it a listen over the next couple of weeks, I realized that I knew more of these songs than I thought and that it all flows together as an album remarkably well.

The Colour and the Shape had a lot to do with where rock would go in the new millennium.  I’m not sure if that’s something that makes me particularly happy, but in small doses, this radio-friendly, commercially viable, mild, and inoffensive music really hits the spot.  Both musically and conceptually, the album is stronger than its predecessor, and though it’s fairly middle of the road stuff, it still retains a good degree of edge on many of the tracks.  Grohl also sounds much more emotionally vested in these tracks rather than the admitted “nonsense” found on Foo Fighters.

None of the melodies are particularly mind-blowing here, but the crunchy, steady guitar rhythms are more than enough to drive these songs into memory.  The guys also (smartly) included lead guitar bits to ride over the bassier riffing at times to give the songs a poppier feel and increased complexity.  There’s a little bit of grit and grime left over from the days of grunge, mostly in the loud guitar distortion and Grohl’s occasionally shouted vocal delivery.  However, it is an extremely even record with great production values and tight, competent musicianship behind the songs.

“Doll” treads on filler territory, so I typically considering “Monkey Wrench” as the start of the album proper.  Most people know this piece front and back, but that doesn’t make it a terrible song.  It’s one of the faster cuts from Colour and Shape and I love the descending chord progression.  “Hey, Johnny Park!” features some stop-start riffing and “My Poor Brain” gets a little edgy and punchy outside of it’s mild chorus.  “Wind Up” place guitars in the forefront as well with a short melody to keep it catchy.

“Up in Arms” is like 2 songs crammed into one; first there’s a softer, stripped down passage where Grohl spends his time mumbling, followed by an upbeat section similar to the rest of their music.  “My Hero” might be the album’s most recognizable track.  It’s gotten a lot of airplay, but the lead guitar that repeats throughout the verses is pretty awesome.  Grohl also shows off some of his best singing.  “See You” is short and strange, possibly another track flirting with “filler.”  The instrumentation, including the xylophone and tambourine are interesting, but it never really gets anywhere.

“Enough Space” is another loud and in-your-face torrent of guitars, contrasting with the ballad “February Stars.”  “Everlong” represents the best of the Foo Fighters’ commercial sound and grittier, noisier roots coming together.  The bouncy, playful rhythm and grinding riffs work well with the jangly accents from the lead guitar.  “Walking After You” goes acoustic (or very nearly so) and sounds quite different than anything else from The Colour and the Shape.  I thin it’s a great song, and there was a while there when I was about 13 where  I couldn’t get enough of it.  The gentle, off-beat rhythm with Grohl quietly letting the words slip out creates one of the finest ballads to ever come from a hard/alt rock band.  “My Way Home” finishes off the album with more of the guitar-driven sound we’ve gotten accustomed to.

It’s pretty difficult to describe the differences between all of these songs without going into clunky and verbose detail, but for the most part they do retain an individual character while still adhering to a consistent sound.  It’s loud and the guitars do a lot of the work, but it isn’t necessarily angry or even all that abrasive.  Despite the occasional shouting, there’s a lot of positive energy pumped into The Colour and the Shape and it’s a perfect “any time” record.  It may have been responsible for moving the industry towards a more generic sound, but on its own it does a fine job of combining familiar grunge stylings with a poppy, accessible approach.

In the end, The Colour and the Shape is deliciously listenable.  The sound may not be groundbreaking, but most of the songs are well thought out and well performed for a satisfying result.  This is about as “normal” as the 90’s alt rock scene got, not to mention the best album to come directly directly from the post-grunge era.

Written by The Cubist

Other albums from the Foo Fighters in this series:

• 1995 – Foo Fighters – Issue #49

Back to The Cubist’s 90’s Albums

Written by The Cubist

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I collect as much video gaming paraphernalia as I can get my hands on, especially when it comes to hardware. With over 40 systems including oldies like the ColecoVision and Intellivision, obscurities like the CD-i and 3DO, and the latest and greatest including the Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, and PS Vita, I get easily overwhelmed. Most of the time you can find me firmly nestled sometime between 1985 and 1995 when it comes to my games of choice, but I’m also having a great time seeing what the 8th generation has to offer.

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