..just adding that I’ve criticized it before but after watching the SiriusFM Cloudspotter live clip I like Kurstin’s production less and less. It’s pretty rare that live performances are THIS much better both performance- and soundwise than what’s ended up on the record.
This was always going to happen, creating pop sounding music....but they were never going to attempt to recreate the 'pop' sound live, as the rest of their music in the set is heavy rock sounding.
This was the same with Weezer when they release pop music (like the 'Black' album, those songs played live ROCK...the album doesn't)
....and, obviously, the bulk of their fan base loves them for rocking out live, so they'll prefer it sounding like that rather than the way it does on the album.
Medicine at Midnight the song is also really good. So now i have atleast 2 tracks i enjoy. :) Its a grower this album. I think ill eventually start to like all songs. :p
I love Greg's production of the 2 albums he's done. I think they're both so rich sounding. Everyone seems to have their space to shine. Other albums the band have been quite Muddy production wise in my opinion. I do get what you're saying though but I don't think Greg's production is the problem. Maybe he's more sorted to "pop" but we have to know at this stage Dave is making the decision what sort of sound he's after and the guy producing is secondary to that.
MAM is a fantastic album still after not listening for a bunch of hours and then listening again. Waiting on a War is my least favorite still, but fits the overall vibe of the album. As for Nate doing backing vocals, it seems they filmed this for Japanese TV and it has Nate doing those Fall In Fall Out vocals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUlJmki1ZLo
The production is not logical and it bugs me. If a song is a rocker and the production is light and poppy it leaves an emotional contradiction which very rarely, almost never works.
Also, I like it when production takes a song from point a to point b with the time in between following a logic. Listen to Making a Fire for example, I like the song but the build is just wrong to my ears, the pre-choruses sound like they’re copy-pasted, there’s no real build as the song progresses.
But of course I’m spoiled with thousands of listens to the first 3 albums which are masterpieces in this regard.
@Foo3001 I think the problem is that you're thinking of this as a rock band making a rock album. This clearly isn't what they're going for. It's them making a pop album. Is it flawless? No. Greg has delivered on the spec they were going for and to my ears it sounds good.
Ronson producing QOTSA was a similar thing. I thought that was hit and miss production wise and you could tell something's were his little flourish on that record. However Greg to my ears at least has made it so everyone has their voice on the record.
Nick Raskulinecz didn't offer much to the albums he worked on in my opinion. He's gotten better but I'd still say he's not elevating anything or challenging bands he works with to do something new.
These songs will become more rocky in the lives shows as some layers will be stripped or simplified as is the case with most stuff anyway.
Now I've had a full proper listen, it's not a bad album!
Cloudspotter is definitely decent now I can hear the full song, quite like that one. The singles hold up well, and I enjoyed Making A Fire as an opener, the backing vocals didn't bother me at all.
My only two issues for now is that Love Dies Young just isn't a last track; I thought my iPod had broken when it stopped because it didn't feel like the album should have ended there.
Also, it doesn't quite feel like an album, it's missing a bit of cohesion there as a thing, which I'm not used to with an FF album.
@Foo3001 & @Skezz Think you're both right. Greg Kirstin isn't the guy for that Foo Fighter's sound, but neither is this record as a whole. It's clearly the lighter, poppier sound Dave wanted so it worked. But if they want to go back they need someone else.
@Bexster yeah I thought at first it doesn't feel like an album more a collection of songs. Although I'm noticing that less the more I've listened. I'd have liked to have seen Greg producing the Acoustic record of IYH.
Steve Albini I think would be good for them to do a record with at some point. As I think his technique is very much record live with minimal overdubs.
I've seen people in the past day Rick Rubin but he phones it in these days. Basically leaving the bands to do it all and will come in and say yay or nay to stuff and leave. He basically produces from afar. Greg Fidelman who has worked under Rubin now seems to be the pick for bands who have previously worked with Rubin to actually produce.
Brendan O'Brien would be an interesting pairing as he's worked with lots of great bands probably best known for Pearl Jam.
Chris Goss while he's off the reservation mentally these days would make for an interesting collaboration on producing a Foo record
Happy the wait is over! It's interesting, fun, different but it's still FF. Loving the 70's sound!
My favourite is 'Cloudspotter'! it's stuck in my head
'Holding Poison' that ''spin around around'' Wow. @Beto you described it exactly as i have it in my mind, that the chorus is ok but it gets better with the next part, agree with most of what you posted.
'medicine at midnight' i love that retro sound, 'chasing birds' is a beautiful song, but not in that mood now
'making a fire' i'm really into it, the chorus ''it's time to ignite i'm making a fire'' is one of the most beautiful and strongest moments of the record for me.
'love dies young' i like that it's upbeat, the chorus is weaker and i get too a killers/gaslight anthem vibe, love the outro
I hope there will be another video for one of the more funky songs, a funny one, it's been so long! they're promoting it as a ''dance record'' ff style, bring on the costumes!
I've had a few listens, 4 or 5 by now. Standouts are Cloudspotter and Shame Shame, I love them both. I like No Son of Mine a lot too.
Overall the rest are all decent, no issues at all w/ the "na na na na" etc. I am still a lover of the previous 2 albums, C&G and Sonic are both stronger albums, i feel.
About the production, i liked C&G, that they want to try a different approach and the rich sound. Sometimes it might not work for some, it depends on the songs too. But i understand what @Foo3001 is saying. I posted this before, that's exactly what happened with 'no son of mine'. it was a good song but i couldn't enjoy it. i felt like it was back up vocals, keys with an electro smth sound that i'm not into, then a cool riff then ace of spades.. But live it was one thing, a good ff song. With other songs, like 'Shame Shame' i like both the studio and live performance and that they are different.
i'm curious and excited about the other songs, how they re going to sound live. 'Cloudspotter' sounds so good!
No, I just like it whenever a good performance is caught on tape. A producer is instrumental in the process of getting a song to reach its peak and to get the peak performance recorded so that the performance enhances the song further. Live versions are sometimes a different story, but IMO they rarely exceed the album versions.
IMO the live versions of Cloudspotter and No Son of Mine have been superior to the album. I mean, listen to Everlong or AML or even LTF or any classic FF tune, they sound best live when they do it as close to the album version as they can, the album versions were well produced.
OK, I know we're living in hard times and they're feeling the pinch so they couldn't do the video they probably wanted to do for this song, but this is the most phoned-in clip they've ever done.
I don't think they did that one on Colbert, but they did it as an extra for Kimmel. In any case, I compared the two and the studio footage is different, albeit hard to tell between them because they're wearing the same outfits. Maybe this was an alternate take from the same shoot?
LOVE that they cranked up Nate's bass, it gives it a lot of oomph. That's going to feel so good rattling the ribcage when they play it live.
i meant that they used the live audio recorded at 606, cause i posted i like it better than the studio version and they used this for the official video.
Does this mean no more videos for the album? i miss their funny and weird ones. i think though Dave had said somewhere they had videos for a couple of songs, that was before or when they released 'waiting on a war'
i think it's the jimmy kimmel one, it's on their channel too without the jimmy kimmel live thing at the end
Anyone else getting John Lennon vibes off of “Chasing Birds,” or is it just me. The production sound, the mellow guitar, Dave’s vocals, the lyrics. The all sound like they’re fit right next to a song like “Watching the Wheels,”’ or “Woman,” John Lennon.
Anyone else get that feeling? Or just me? Definitely fits as part of that retro vibe of the album.
I hope so, I am legitimately curious if it has enough of a “modern” sound to be hit outside rock radio (very unlikely, but still curious). though in that case I really do wish the chorus was a little less lazy, because the verses are some of my favourite lyrics.
Comments
..just adding that I’ve criticized it before but after watching the SiriusFM Cloudspotter live clip I like Kurstin’s production less and less. It’s pretty rare that live performances are THIS much better both performance- and soundwise than what’s ended up on the record.
yea 'Cloudspotter' live sounds great!😀
This was always going to happen, creating pop sounding music....but they were never going to attempt to recreate the 'pop' sound live, as the rest of their music in the set is heavy rock sounding.
This was the same with Weezer when they release pop music (like the 'Black' album, those songs played live ROCK...the album doesn't)
....and, obviously, the bulk of their fan base loves them for rocking out live, so they'll prefer it sounding like that rather than the way it does on the album.
Medicine at Midnight the song is also really good. So now i have atleast 2 tracks i enjoy. :) Its a grower this album. I think ill eventually start to like all songs. :p
I love Greg's production of the 2 albums he's done. I think they're both so rich sounding. Everyone seems to have their space to shine. Other albums the band have been quite Muddy production wise in my opinion. I do get what you're saying though but I don't think Greg's production is the problem. Maybe he's more sorted to "pop" but we have to know at this stage Dave is making the decision what sort of sound he's after and the guy producing is secondary to that.
MAM is a fantastic album still after not listening for a bunch of hours and then listening again. Waiting on a War is my least favorite still, but fits the overall vibe of the album. As for Nate doing backing vocals, it seems they filmed this for Japanese TV and it has Nate doing those Fall In Fall Out vocals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUlJmki1ZLo
The production is not logical and it bugs me. If a song is a rocker and the production is light and poppy it leaves an emotional contradiction which very rarely, almost never works.
Also, I like it when production takes a song from point a to point b with the time in between following a logic. Listen to Making a Fire for example, I like the song but the build is just wrong to my ears, the pre-choruses sound like they’re copy-pasted, there’s no real build as the song progresses.
But of course I’m spoiled with thousands of listens to the first 3 albums which are masterpieces in this regard.
@Foo3001 I think the problem is that you're thinking of this as a rock band making a rock album. This clearly isn't what they're going for. It's them making a pop album. Is it flawless? No. Greg has delivered on the spec they were going for and to my ears it sounds good.
Ronson producing QOTSA was a similar thing. I thought that was hit and miss production wise and you could tell something's were his little flourish on that record. However Greg to my ears at least has made it so everyone has their voice on the record.
Nick Raskulinecz didn't offer much to the albums he worked on in my opinion. He's gotten better but I'd still say he's not elevating anything or challenging bands he works with to do something new.
These songs will become more rocky in the lives shows as some layers will be stripped or simplified as is the case with most stuff anyway.
That's obviously just my opinion.
Now I've had a full proper listen, it's not a bad album!
Cloudspotter is definitely decent now I can hear the full song, quite like that one. The singles hold up well, and I enjoyed Making A Fire as an opener, the backing vocals didn't bother me at all.
My only two issues for now is that Love Dies Young just isn't a last track; I thought my iPod had broken when it stopped because it didn't feel like the album should have ended there.
Also, it doesn't quite feel like an album, it's missing a bit of cohesion there as a thing, which I'm not used to with an FF album.
@Foo3001 & @Skezz Think you're both right. Greg Kirstin isn't the guy for that Foo Fighter's sound, but neither is this record as a whole. It's clearly the lighter, poppier sound Dave wanted so it worked. But if they want to go back they need someone else.
@Bexster yeah I thought at first it doesn't feel like an album more a collection of songs. Although I'm noticing that less the more I've listened. I'd have liked to have seen Greg producing the Acoustic record of IYH.
Steve Albini I think would be good for them to do a record with at some point. As I think his technique is very much record live with minimal overdubs.
I've seen people in the past day Rick Rubin but he phones it in these days. Basically leaving the bands to do it all and will come in and say yay or nay to stuff and leave. He basically produces from afar. Greg Fidelman who has worked under Rubin now seems to be the pick for bands who have previously worked with Rubin to actually produce.
Brendan O'Brien would be an interesting pairing as he's worked with lots of great bands probably best known for Pearl Jam.
Chris Goss while he's off the reservation mentally these days would make for an interesting collaboration on producing a Foo record
Pat Smear, Rami Jaffee-cake and Dave Grohl discuss new Foo Fighters song 'Cloudspotter'
Happy the wait is over! It's interesting, fun, different but it's still FF. Loving the 70's sound!
My favourite is 'Cloudspotter'! it's stuck in my head
'Holding Poison' that ''spin around around'' Wow. @Beto you described it exactly as i have it in my mind, that the chorus is ok but it gets better with the next part, agree with most of what you posted.
'medicine at midnight' i love that retro sound, 'chasing birds' is a beautiful song, but not in that mood now
'making a fire' i'm really into it, the chorus ''it's time to ignite i'm making a fire'' is one of the most beautiful and strongest moments of the record for me.
'love dies young' i like that it's upbeat, the chorus is weaker and i get too a killers/gaslight anthem vibe, love the outro
I hope there will be another video for one of the more funky songs, a funny one, it's been so long! they're promoting it as a ''dance record'' ff style, bring on the costumes!
I've had a few listens, 4 or 5 by now. Standouts are Cloudspotter and Shame Shame, I love them both. I like No Son of Mine a lot too.
Overall the rest are all decent, no issues at all w/ the "na na na na" etc. I am still a lover of the previous 2 albums, C&G and Sonic are both stronger albums, i feel.
'Holding Poison' is giving me 'Touch' soundtrack vibes. 🤷♂️
About the production, i liked C&G, that they want to try a different approach and the rich sound. Sometimes it might not work for some, it depends on the songs too. But i understand what @Foo3001 is saying. I posted this before, that's exactly what happened with 'no son of mine'. it was a good song but i couldn't enjoy it. i felt like it was back up vocals, keys with an electro smth sound that i'm not into, then a cool riff then ace of spades.. But live it was one thing, a good ff song. With other songs, like 'Shame Shame' i like both the studio and live performance and that they are different.
i'm curious and excited about the other songs, how they re going to sound live. 'Cloudspotter' sounds so good!
You have a point about the live performance situation. Recording a song and playing one live are always going to be two different environments anyway.
'No Son of Mine' official video out now featuring new live audio recorded at Studio 606.
Did they see my posts?!! so considerate 😄
No, I just like it whenever a good performance is caught on tape. A producer is instrumental in the process of getting a song to reach its peak and to get the peak performance recorded so that the performance enhances the song further. Live versions are sometimes a different story, but IMO they rarely exceed the album versions.
IMO the live versions of Cloudspotter and No Son of Mine have been superior to the album. I mean, listen to Everlong or AML or even LTF or any classic FF tune, they sound best live when they do it as close to the album version as they can, the album versions were well produced.
OK, I know we're living in hard times and they're feeling the pinch so they couldn't do the video they probably wanted to do for this song, but this is the most phoned-in clip they've ever done.
They used up all their music videos budget on Shame Shame ☺️
Yeah I agree. If you told me this was fan made I'd believe you. Isn't the performance from the Colbert show?
I don't think they did that one on Colbert, but they did it as an extra for Kimmel. In any case, I compared the two and the studio footage is different, albeit hard to tell between them because they're wearing the same outfits. Maybe this was an alternate take from the same shoot?
LOVE that they cranked up Nate's bass, it gives it a lot of oomph. That's going to feel so good rattling the ribcage when they play it live.
i meant that they used the live audio recorded at 606, cause i posted i like it better than the studio version and they used this for the official video.
Does this mean no more videos for the album? i miss their funny and weird ones. i think though Dave had said somewhere they had videos for a couple of songs, that was before or when they released 'waiting on a war'
i think it's the jimmy kimmel one, it's on their channel too without the jimmy kimmel live thing at the end
Ah Kimmel then. Yeah it might be from an alternative take then.
Yes! Agree
'Love Dies Young' to be a single?
I like Waiting on a War, Making a Fire, Holding Poison, Cloudspotter
Also Shame Shame is much better in context of the album.
Anyone else getting John Lennon vibes off of “Chasing Birds,” or is it just me. The production sound, the mellow guitar, Dave’s vocals, the lyrics. The all sound like they’re fit right next to a song like “Watching the Wheels,”’ or “Woman,” John Lennon.
Anyone else get that feeling? Or just me? Definitely fits as part of that retro vibe of the album.
Yes to all of this! I love feel and sound of the past two albums.
I hope so, I am legitimately curious if it has enough of a “modern” sound to be hit outside rock radio (very unlikely, but still curious). though in that case I really do wish the chorus was a little less lazy, because the verses are some of my favourite lyrics.
Thank you for this! Where are the other 8 song links? I cannot find them on YouTube.