Foo Fighters: Dave Grohl (vocals, guitar); Chris Shifflet (guitar); Nate Mendel (bass); Taylor Hawkins (drums).
Recorded in Virginia.
ONE BY ONE won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. "Times Like These" was nominated for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. "All My Life" won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. "All My Life" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.
Initial pressings included a bonus DVD.
In between manning drums for the Queens Of The Stone Age album SONGS FOR THE DEAF and the 2003 all-star death metal side-project Probot, Dave Grohl turned out ONE BY ONE, the Foo Fighters' fourth studio outing. With the Foo's line-up remaining intact for the second consecutive album, Grohl's posse set about sanding down the lighter, pop-inflected nuances of the album's predecessor THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE. From the opening cut/lead single "All My Life," the Foo Fighters serve notice that amps are cranked and guitars are far beyond being set on stun. This intense outpouring of energy manifests itself well on the simmering tension of "Low," buzzing melodicism of "Times Like These (One-Way Motorway)," and the drill-press relentlessness of "Have It All."
Taking a page from the book of his former group Nirvana, Grohl has fun playing around with dynamics particularly on the bipolar subtle/screaming "Disenchanted Lullaby" and "Lonely As You," a chugging number that seamlessly goes from a lightly strummed intro to churning riffs. The biggest highlights include "Tired," a strummed ballad featuring multi-layered choruses by Queen guitarist Brian May, and closer "Come Back," a prog-flavored seven-minute-plus epic that meanders between soaring passages and segments soaked in angst-laced brio.
What the critics say…
Rolling Stone (11/14/02, pp.83-4) - 4 stars out of 5 - "…Potent guitar riffs define every song on ONE BY ONE….It's rock that draws power from its determination to struggle onward…"
Spin (1/03, p.71) - Ranked #21 on Spin's list of 2002's "Albums of the Year" - "…This firecracker string of a record…wrestles with the risks and rewards of grown-up love."
Entertainment Weekly (10/25/02, p.75) - "…Unexpected exhilaration. Crunch, power and a certain gruff wit you'd expect from the Foos, but elegance as well as devotion to romance?…" - Rating: A-
Q (11/02, p.110) - 3 stars out of 5 - "…They've grown in craft and attitude…"
Uncut (12/02, p.129) - 4 stars out of 5 - "…It's a sobering though that the Foos have now made more album than Nirvana. Fittingly, ONE BY ONE is their best yet…"
CMJ (10/28/02, p.6) - "…An album that not only easily tops their own previous releases, but can also sit alongside the former Nirvana skinsman's other work as a true rock classic….A near-perfect album…"s
Mojo (Publisher) (11/02, p.90) - "…An album that trumpets its own qualities to the world beyond the faithful…it has many moments of greatness…"
