The Colour and the Shape is the second studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on May 20, 1997, by Roswell and Capitol Records. It was the first album by the Foo Fighters to be recorded as a full band, as the previous self-titled album (1995) was both written and recorded entirely by frontman Dave Grohl. The Colour and the Shape is widely considered a defining album of the post-grunge genre, with its three singles becoming staples of rock-oriented radio in the United States. It was among the highest-selling rock albums of 1997 and 1998, and was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards.
After the debut became an international success, Grohl recruited guitarist Pat Smear, bassist Nate Mendel, and drummer William Goldsmith to form the band's full lineup. The group convened in the fall of 1996 for pre-production on a second album, and brought in Gil Norton as producer to establish a pop sensibility for the tracks. The band strived to create a full-fledged rock record, contrary to music press predictions that it would be another grunge offshoot.
Primarily inspired by Grohl's divorce from photographer Jennifer Youngblood in 1996, The Colour and the Shape is more lyrically introspective and musically developed than the Foo Fighters' debut. The album's track listing was designed to resemble a therapy session, splitting the album between uptempo tracks and ballads to reflect conflicting emotions. Early sessions at the Bear Creek Studio in Washington went poorly and the band discarded most of those recordings. The band regrouped without Goldsmith in early 1997 to record at Hollywood's Grandmaster Recordings studio, with Grohl sitting in on drums instead. Goldsmith was offended and disgruntled that most of his material had been re-recorded, and he left the band shortly thereafter.
The singles "Monkey Wrench", "Everlong", and "My Hero" peaked within the Top 10 of US rock radio charts, and the album charted at number ten on the Billboard 200. The album was also a commercial success on an international level, peaking at number three in the United Kingdom. Critics deemed the album a significant American rock release of its era, and it continues to be viewed as a seminal modern rock album in retrospective assessments. The Colour and the Shape remains the Foo Fighters' biggest seller in the U.S., having sold more than two million copies according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album was remastered and reissued in 2007 with several bonus tracks for its tenth anniversary.
The Colour and the Shape was Foo Fighters' last album to be released and marketed by Capitol Records. After the band, along with their label Roswell Records, signed to RCA Records, its distribution, along with their debut album, has switched to RCA.
I was actually incredibly disappointed by this. I know their hit songs so I was assuming this whole album would be great or at least good, but I hated the vocal aspect where it was just yelling. A few good songs in here but overall crazy disappointing.
I've always found Foo Fighters to be mediocre at best and this album is no exception. Boring, monotonal, and tedious. A few decent riffs, that's about the only thing I can appreciate here. 2 stars.
I somehow missed most of the Foo Fighters’ albums when they were new despite being of the type I typically listened to, so I’m glad to be catching up with more of their albums. I know Everlong and My Hero pretty well… and the rest of the album was definitely worth listening to.
How is the album that gave us 'Monkey Wrench', 'My Hero' and 'Everlong' not included in the original list?!
Foo Fighters just nailed it with this album. Love it
Well this takes me right back to 1997, sitting in the Upper Sixth common room. This would have been one of the albums Nick put on. A white guy with dreads, his musical choices were all over the shop, and bless him he introduced me to so much stuff.
A nice reminder of thirty years ago.
I don't listen to this band a lot, though I always liked them when I do. Probably most familiar with this album - its hits were in heavy rotation during one of the brief periods when I was watching a lot of music videos on MTV. It's pretty top level for this era of Grunge.
The Foo Fighters as their best. With several classic songs on this album, it created a new life for rock after the grunge scene. This album showed that you can have a good amount of variety while still staying true to your sound. A perfect encapsulation is how good monkey wrench and everlong are but yet significantly different. This album stands the test of time and is probably one of the better rock albums since 1990. 8.5/10
Solid LP from Grohl and company, knew the big ones but had missed out on rippers like “Monkey Wrench” somehow. Does feel like the back half gives in to radio play pressure with repetitive, sugary-sweet ballads that feel way out of place, but the rest of the LP is exciting and heavy enough to carry a solid listen.
Of significant import: that first "Monkey Wrench" riff is a direct ripoff of the Goo Goo Dolls cover of The Incredible Lance Diamond's cover of Prince's song "Never Take The Place of Your Man." Got that? So there.
A step up in sound and vision from their first album - less a great-sounding demo and more of the power pop they're known for.
It's typically Foo though with the "Foo Fraction" in significant effect, meaning that the singles are a big draw but the rest of it tends to disappoint a bit. Also not a fan of scream-vocals and Grohl starts to stretch that out here - any is too much, no thank you.
They're truly a Greatest Hits band for me - "My Hero" and "Everlong" are definitely the best cuts here.
TL;DR: It's a fun listen in parts but as seems to be the case with all Foo albums, the singles are by far the best songs.
5/10 3 stars
IMO: Belonged in the book? No.
The Foo Fighters have never really done it for me, I'm not super into their hits and the rest of their work is pretty bland. Dave Grohl seems like a rad dude, but this just isn't for me.
On the other hand, this is clearly an important work culturally and in the industry. It certainly should have been on the main list.
From my point of view, poor album, great pick.
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