The Colour And The Shape

This is certainly a mid 90s alt rock album.

Maybe I've never actually sat down and listened to this entire album, but it's not as good as I remember. Definitely rough around the edges - there's some absolute bangers on here, but there's just as much ho-hum as well.

Monkey Wrench // Everlong // 2.5/5

I love "Everlong". No, let me rephrase this in terms that are even clearer: "Everlong" is *easily* one of the ten best rock songs ever recorded during the nineties. It's possibly a top-five song. It's got everything: it's epic, it's propulsive, it's got a verse blessed with striking jolts AND ambiguous and mysterious guitar harmonies, followed by a stellar pre-chorus / chorus combo that reaches cinematic heights in the manner it depicts the romantic / erotic emotions experienced by its protagonist. Dave Grohl never did better than this as a songwriter. Of course, my last sentence implies that when you reach such heights for one song, everything pales in comparison to it. Which is not only the case for the other tracks of this album, but also for everything else in Foo Fighters' discography, really. *The Colour And The Shape* still has two other pivotal assets thanks to the two extra humongous bangers in its tracklist, laden with fantastic rock riffs: there's another epic and cinematic single, "My Hero", whose infectious chorus and evocative lyrics also display iconic alt-rock flavors ; and there's also the fast-paced rocker "Monkey Wrench" -- the latter displaying a superhuman vocal performance that's still impressive to hear three decades later, even if studio tricks obviously played a part in it. To Dave Grohl and producer Gil Norton's credit, such tricks are not exactly "hidden": you can definitely hear that different vocal takes have been spliced together here. But even if you notice this, the magic touch is still intact. Nineties rock at its best here, once again. I have one last absolute favourite in the tracklist: the Sci-Fi-inspired, loud-quiet-loud rollercoaster "Enough Space", where Grohl channels his inner Pixies / Black Francis circa *Trompe Le Monde* (the song surely brought back memories to Gil Norton). Unfortunately, Dave also decides to channel his inner Paul McCartney for three ballads / ditties: "Doll", "Up In Arms" and "See You". "Doll" allows the album to start on an interesting understated note at least, but frankly the stakes feel so frigging low for those three short songs, I think they might as well have been left on the cutting room floor. Kurt Cobain loved John Lennon and kind of despised Paul McCartney, you remember, Dave? Is this why you took a page out of the latter instead -- to definitely leave the long shadow cast by your former bandmate, and say farewell to his ghost? Apart from that, you have a fistful of other rockers on the first side: "Hey Johnny Park", "My Poor Brain" and "Wind Up", whose guitar riffs sound so "familiar" and "recycled" they risk coming off as a little hamfisted, as skilled as the musicianship and production values are. And speaking of low stakes, once again, the tracklist never recovers from "Everlong"'s inclusion: the three songs after this gem sound inconsequential at best, with the "angry" title-track and closer even reaching such self-indulgent depths you might as well call it a stinker. What took to you, Mr. Grohl? You thought you were acting like a punk, closing the proceedings with such terrible music? Honestly, you just look like a smart Alec who doesn't give a rat's ass about the listener. With this final bum note, you're leaving us all in the proverbial lurch. Verdict: *The Colour And The Shape* felt like a mixed bag in 1997, and it still comes off as one in 2027. Its peaks are reaching heavens, but the valleys are dug so deep in it -- and this is what makes the jumps in the tracklist sound so jarring, with an overall result that's everything but cohesive. Obviously, what I have just stated here is the general consensus found in this review section. And yet the global score for the album is so incredibly high! I suspect that the folks who don't leave reviews rate the record higher on average compared to those who do. Maybe it makes sense that users who don't put in a little effort find the album "good", and this for rather superficial reasons. Or maybe what I see as happening here is some sort of projection on my part. One thing's for sure, the "colour" and the "shape" of this particular 3.76 global score don't look very convincing in my eyes. In a sense, I think I can get where the die-hard fans of this album are coming from. Guess this LP is still one of the best LPs found in Foo Fighters' discography anyway, along with the debut. But honestly, that state of affairs doesn't necessarily make it an *automatic* inclusion in the second list for me. Actually, I do believe that compilations or "best ofs" are the way to go to have a bit of Foo Fighters on your shelves (which for me, doesn't undermine the *objective* merits of this famous three-decade-old project). Likewise, "Everlong" being in the tracklist of the American band's sophomore effort could have made me push the four-star button, I admit it. But once again, the global score for the album is too high for me to do this. Good for Dave Grohl that he spent his life recording a dozen of commercially successful albums after the Nirvana tragedy, and that he became that endearing dad-rock figure everyone is familiar with today. But that does not mean that the old Nirvana fan that I am needs to follow each and every twist of his long career. There goes my hero, I guess. 3/5 for the purposes of this list dedicated to essential albums. 8/10 for more general purposes (5 for the musicianship and production values + 3 for the artistry) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 122 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 143 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 316 (including this one) ---- Salut Émile, Tu pourras lire ma dernière réponse sous le *Little Criminals* de Randy Newman. A+.

Kinda catchy but also kinda corny.

Early Foos are the best Foos. Some cracking songs from when the band was stil breaking new ground. Does veer into a bit too much shouting from Dave, but the man was certainly going through some things at the time. The hits are very good, filler not so much.

I've always found Foo Fighters a bit of a singles band, strong songs surrounded by a fair amount of mediocrity, and The Colour and the Shape doesn't really escape that, even though I still think it's their best record. Everlong, My Hero, and Monkey Wrench are the actual singles and remain the clear highlights, the songs that have stayed in setlists for a reason. Hey, Johnny Park! and New Way Home are close behind. Beyond that, it thins out, and judging by other reviews here I'm not the only one who feels this way. Many of these songs do great during their live shows. But as a front-to-back album, it's just solid rather than essential.

This record was so life changing at the time. That first foo record sounded great but was like a demo. When this dropped it was clear to everyone that Dave had it. Sure it wasn't as chaotic and sloppy as Nirvana. But it scratched so many of the same itches they did. I know its all just in the rear view at this point. But this was mega huge for it's time.

Very good

This is a classic album. I do like this one.

Everylong is a top song of all time, and the weirder entries were buoyed by Monkey Wrench and My Hero.

Easily the best Foo Fighters album. Still shocked I never owned this one on CD. Everlong is one of the best songs ever written. 4.5/5

Love Monkey Wrench.

Just a damn good rock album

They've got more than their fair share of great songs, and this is probably their best album. It has some of my all-time favorites, but there's also plenty of filler. Like the Rolling Stones and Queen, I think a greatest hits album would be much better than any of their studio records.

July 14, 2026 HL: "Monkey Wrench", "My Hero", "Everlong", "Up in Arms", "New Way Home", the title track (a bonus track) The debut album, except more: -songs -band members -loud -yelling -quiet However, those singles really eke this album out of the 3* zone I guess post-grunge wasn't ALL bad

I haven't listened to this for at least 25 years now. I always preferred the first Foos album as it was so raw and aggressive, it was like a break-up album. "The Colour and the Shape" sounds better than I remember it; it's a much more polished album than "Foo Fighters," with hi-fi production and poppier songwriting. When it's good ("Everlong," "Monkey Wrench") it's their best, but it's also got a certain midwestern corniness that brings it down a bit.

A perfect pop rock record! Great choice.

Monkey Wrench and My Hero were the standouts — both hit hard and stuck. The rest didn't grab me this time around, and somehow Everlong slipped past me completely (heads-down mode). Deserves another spin to give it a fairer shake.

Huge amount of nostalgia for this album - saw them live at Glastonbury around this time, with sheets of steam lifting from the sodden mud pool of the mosh pit. Great stuff. Fave tracks - as well as the big singles (with "Monkey Wrench" being a legit karaoke banger), "Wind Up", "Enough Space", and "New Way Home"

Maybe swap this one in for the one they put on the main list. I dunno, "My Hero" is a horrible dirge of a song, but I wasn't expecting to like the rest of this thing as much as I did

I think Foo Fighters are a singles band who lack the depth of album quality and The Colour and The Shape is pretty much that. It has some quality singles that have been staples of their set lists for some time, it has a coupla decent tracks besides but clearly since I can't remember the names some hours later they didn't leave that much of an impression, and there's plenty of filler. As a live show they have enough hits to impress, and that's great, but this as an album is 3/5 solid to good.

It's ok but nothing special- I needed to be there I guess. Generic 90s rock

This is great stuff. I have no problem giving them another slot on the list.

This album struck me pretty weird this morning, and it kinda shows me why I was never as into the Foo Fighters as I wanted to be. The good songs on this album are great. Dave Grohl writes great songs with nice harmonies, and the lyrics are usually pretty fun and accessible. Then there's the rest of the album, which just kinda drags as he scream-sings over distortion, and it just feels like there's nothing for me to latch onto on the songs. It makes it really hard to rate, since the album feels really uneven. 4/5 I feel like the highs are high enough and frequent enough that I can't give this album a bad score, but I just know it could be better and I find it very frustrating

Favourite songs: Monkey Wrench, My Hero, My Poor Brain, Everlong, Wind Up, "Hey, Johnny Park!", Enough Space, The Colour and the Shape Least favourite songs: Walking After You 5/5

I forgot how good this album was - Agree this is a better representation for the list

Still not sure whether Foo Fighters make the best boring music ever, or the most boring good music ever. The ultimate 3/5 band.

While a major complaint I have with a good number of albums on this site is a lack of range, there is another, equally frustrating problem but in the opposite direction: being all of the place. There are worse offenders than this album, but there’s a lot going on here with not as much cohesion as their first record. That is my main gripe with this album. The production is better, but not the best. Vocally, I actually think Dave is a really good singer. I believe, regardless of what you think of him as a person, that he is a talented singer with a lot of vocal range. He also showcased some original songwriting talent on this album that was good when this came out, but proved to be maybe his only good trick. That is to say, most Foo Fighters songs sound the same. Instrumentation and lyrics are both pretty solid for the most part. Not a bad album. An enjoyable one for me. 4/5

The self-titled debut was practice; this is the real deal. Not only did The Colour And The Shape draw a clear line in the '90s that separated grunge from post-grunge, but it also went on to define radio rock for the following decade before it was subsequently watered down to a more rounded pop-friendly sound from the likes of Imagine Dragons. Three clear hits and some more great songs to boot. By and large, this album consistently delivers on rock music and sets a high watermark for the rock bands that would follow. Perhaps a little too high? While Grohl and co. took notes from Weezer by incorporating their alternative approach to power pop, most post-grunge bands were content to make their songs sound more like generic hard rock. This would be the genre's detriment, as we were left with frankly bland and uninspired music that was deemed fit for radioplay regardless. In contrast, the songs on The Colour And The Shape were fun and punchy and had a clear ear for melodic riffs. My only complaint about this album is that it should've ended on the masterpiece that is Everlong, which leaves such an incredible impression that the following songs wind up merely existing in Everlong's shadow. Otherwise, wow, what a record. CONTENDER FOR THE LIST: Replace the self-titled debut with this one. This should've been obvious.

This or the next album are hands down peak FF. What I loved about the Foos in the 90s was probably what i came to tire of, you always knew what you were going to get. Few risks, few experiments - a greatest hits act. Which is fine, sometimes I wish i had a band like that. But this takes me back, to jam rooms in high school, painstakingly learning Monkey Wrench only to discover that Hey Johnny Park was far more fun to play.

Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Monkey wrench, My poor brain, Wind up, My hero, February stars, Everlong

This is a good album. Solid set of songs. Something to enjoy here.

A staple for me in the 00s. Phenomenal album.

Rock, puro rock con algunas canciones más melódicas que otras. Guitarrero y con agresividad. Algún tema con menos fuerza. Aun siendo mi género, le he echado en falta algo más para ser un disco más redondo.

A band coming together and finding their sound, slowly moving on from being a one man band to the behemoth they have become. Not their best work, but not far off.

Classic. This extra list has been in the wilderness for a long time.Return to form today

Yeah it's that one Foo Fighters album

I always roll my eyes when I see Foo Fighters come up on here but their music goes harder than I give it credit for and I never have a bad time listening.

Easily 5 star. Classic from start to finish, all-time singles, still their best album.

Foo Fighters definitely deserve having a couple of items on this list as they have wrote hit song after hit song for multiple decades now. This was a pretty safe and obvious album to pick.

I’m not a massive foo fighters fan, I put them in the I don’t mind them category and they are a good band to see live but this is there best album, so I think we can make room for it on the list.

It’s probably a pretty agreed-upon statement that this album is the cream of the crop when it comes to Foo Fighters; some of their biggest hits, some of their biggest sales, and some of their best deep cuts. It really is just a great alt rock album, super throw-on-able, a fantastic crowd pleaser of an album that still backs up its stuff well enough on deeper listens.

The Colour And The Shape is the second album of Foo Fighters. It is more a group thing than their mostly solo debut album by Grohl. The material is also somewhat better. It contains the majestic "Everlong". "My Hero" and "Monkey Wrench" are not that bad either. Overall it's a decent 3.5 stars attempt.

I think Foo Fighters are an example of a perfectly mediocre rock band. Their songs are competently written but perfectly bland. Nothing really memorable about them at all. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

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

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

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.

Does anyone ever think of the foo

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.

I’ve loved some of these hits for years after they charted, but never listened to the full album. It’s a great one!

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.

Nice to have a bit of Foo. I enjoyed but possibly because I like Dave Grohl, not because of the music.

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.

Alternative rock, post-grunge, hard rock, grunge, punk rock. Un 4, venga.

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 like it actually. Better than the Foo Fighters already on the list Whatever 4

Love the singles of course. Everlong is classic. But disappointed in the rest of the album :(

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.

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.

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.

Solid straight ahead rock album. Energy, attitude and great pop sensibilities with Monkey Wrench, My Hero and Everlong. The rest of the album is pretty easy to enjoy, though i'm not sure the title track was absolutely necessary. Still enjoyed listening to this... glad it was suggested.

Grohl had a good one in him, can’t hate on that