Reviews
Ranked #6 in Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll., Ranked #20 on Spin's List of the '20 Best Albums of '95.', 3 Stars - Good - "...Foo Fighters are grunge-quite-lite....not with the country or pop leanings of, say, Soul Asylum, but with harder-sounding songs rendered accessible by layers of melody, much of it descended directly from Roger McGuinn if he'd had fewer strings...", Ranked #26 on Melody Maker's List of 1995's 'albums of the Year.', "...full of smart, crafty, kick-ass music....one can hear how much Grohl's musicianship guided Nirvana's sound--the album is packed with simple, forceful melodies, precise harmonies, and inventive arrangements...", Bloody Essential - "...a play-loud summer blast....the band is so blissfully on-the-money it's almost as perfect as The Young Gods, were the Swiss maestros weaned on Husker Du and Anastasia Screamed. We're talking THAT breathtaking, that joyously gone...", Included on Jon Pareles' list of the Top 10 Albums of '95 - "...Grohl's songs stare down misgivings with cryptic lyrics, memorable tunes and a willingness to bash ahead.", 4 Stars - Excellent - "...Like Nirvana's best work, these songs sagely embrace alternative rock's essential contradiction--this is 'popular' music devised by an alienated few....If FOO FIGHTERS has a theme, it's that music remains the ultimate anodyne.", "...Most of these songs are so disarmingly hooky, and yet such a raw blast of energy, that it's as if Lennon and McCartney had grown up in Seattle. Not necessarily an important album, but a surprising one." - Rating: B+, 7 - Flawed Yet Worthy - "...Grohl hides behind his rapacious hooks like he disappears between his words...yet another impenetrable veil. FOO FIGHTERS seesaws efficiently, even rambunctiously, but there's a distance, a sheen to it...", Ranked #12 in Nme's 'top 50 Albums of the Year' for 1995., 9 (out of 10) - "...hurtling, memorable songs, satisfyingly crunchy guitars, and an unambiguously joyful spirit....Grohl sounds blazingly optimistic....a talented man at last gaining the confidence and wherewithal to seize control of his own artistic destiny....a massively important record...", Ranked #2 in the 1996 Critics' Poll.
