Foo Fighters Set To Open At No. 2 Behind Pink Floyd, Dave Grohl Is Fine With It
The Foo Fighters released a new record this week titled Sonic Highways, and the veteran rock band, led by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, will open at number two on the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart in both the U.S. and U.K. charts. In the U.S., the band will be blocked by Taylor Swift’s 1989. But in the U.K., the Foo Fighters have a different opposition. And Dave Grohl is perfectly fine with it. Sonic Highways had the dubious challenge of opening up against the legendary Pink Floyd’s last studio release, The Endless River, and of course the brit band hit number one in the U.K. with over 92,000 copies sold in three days.
Dave Grohl is a drummer, a guitarist, a singer, a writer, a filmmaker, a producer, and above all of that, he’s incredibly steeped in music history. Sonic Highways is a tribute to that, as the Foo Fighters traveled around America for over two years recording tracks in different musical hotbeds like New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Nashville, New Orleans, Austin, Los Angeles, and of course Seattle, where Grohl first found success as a member of Nirvana. The Foo Fighters used the trip around the nation to influence their songs, all the while maintaining that signature Foo Fighters sound. Because of Dave Grohl’s knowledge and respect for the music and musicians that came before him and his band, coming up second to such an iconic band like Pink Floyd is a welcome honor, as Grohl told NME recently.
“Do I regret the last two years of my life? No! I mean if we’re going to take a Number Two to anybody, I’ll take it to Pink Floyd you know what I mean? I imagine that it could be worse. I mean at this point you have to imagine we’re not really that concerned about that sorta thing cause we got what we got and its really great, we get to make records and then we go out and play big shows, then go home and come back and do it all again so I don’t have too many complaints in life. It could be a lot f***ing worse.”
Sonic Highways is the Foo Fighters eighth studio album and the first since 2010’s Wasting Light. The album has eight tracks, and in addition to the influences of the cities visited, Grohl and the Foo Fighters get assistance from equally iconic artists from the stops on the “sonic highway.” Zac Brown lends his voice and guitar for “Congregation” (recorded in Nashville), Rick Neilsen of Cheap Trick fame plays on “Something From Nothing” (recorded in Chicago), and Joe Walsh of the Eagles joins the Foos for “Outside” (Los Angeles), just to name a few. The Foo Fighters have even created a documentary on HBO, directed by Grohl, chronicling the recording process of the new album.
Sonic Highways has received favorable reviews, and the Foo Fighters are planning a tour in support of the new record. That’s one thing that the band has over Pink Floyd, as the british band has no plans to tour, and, as reported by the Inquisitr, have essentially called it quits with this last record. In the U.K., the Foo Fighters may have come in second place this week, they will still be rocking while Pink Floyd quietly sails down that “endless river” into music history. And Dave Grohl is okay with that.
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[Image courtesy of Spin]
