SUNDAY DROP - SPIN #93
Welcome to our 93rd Sunday drop from the R'nR with Rylo collection and our last for the year 2023! It has been another jam packed week for us here and we hope that you have managed to have a good week too. Night Kat Kiz and I were able to have some adult date days without the kids and pretend we were back in the dating phase of our life. We managed to fit in some nice lunches out, a float and infrared sauna experience and bowling /Timezone over two days. Sometimes you need that time together and when we had to pick up the kids from daycare, it was time to appreciate being a parent again.
I thought that we would get a few other things ticked off our list, but the time went so quickly over the two days. We both have a habit of setting unachievable lists of chores to get done while we are alone and then feel guilty for not getting everything completed in that time. We still achieved a lot and need to balance rest & relaxation with chores more. Honestly, we were both wrecked by the mid afternoon each day and it was our minds and bodies telling us to slow down.
I didn't realise that 'The Colour and the Shape' by the Foo Fighters would end up being our last review of the year and a first FF album for R'nR. I don't know if our children have heard much FF over their short little lives and I'll show them more and more as they get older. It wouldn't be my favourite album from the band but that is because I got into them one album later. I'll put the first LP on the turntable in our front sun room this week as the children are running around and playing in the hallways and bedrooms. I'll turn up the volume and see how quickly they run out when they hear the music coming from the Marshall Woburn II speaker. My sister recently got her turntable set-up another Marshall speaker and can pair the two now as L and R, rather than all the sound coming from just one.
Let us know what your favourite albums of 2023 have been on our socials or in the comments below. I'll put up a couple of our favourites for the year closer to the New Years celebrations for you to laugh at or maybe you chose similar albums.
Image: Nate Mendel, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins (who would join shortly after) and Pat Smear
It's time to #dropthestylus on 'The Colour and the Shape' by the Foo Fighters. Also, good idea to brush off any dust or swarf on the record, especially if you haven't played it in a while.
I couldn't remember a lot of these songs on this album until I played it again for this Sunday Spin. For some reasons I find this record doesn't stick in my memory like the track listing of 'There is Nothing Left to Lose' or 'One By One'. Looking at the songs I would instantly recognise 4 songs and be able to sing the tune or lyrics in my head. It is widely regarded as the Foo Fighters best record and I guess it depends on when you got into the band. The album begins with a song called 'DOLL'. It is a softer style introduction that feels more like it should belong on a Jack Johnson record than the opening track on a Foo Fighters song. It starts to get into its stride but ends too soon. I know that Grohl tends to play a lot of the instruments on his earlier records, but he went into this one wanting to create a rock album with band mates. Did he share the drumming? I think he recorded over the drumming of Goldsmith when he heard it back in the studio and laid down the drumming parts himself. The bass of Nate Mendel and rhythm guitar of Pat Smear really compliment the band and Taylor Hawkins would join in time of the album release and corresponding tour.
This next song was in some iconic late '90s movies and early '00s ones too and instantly takes my mind back to growing up then. 'MONKEY WRENCH' is a catchy song that increases the rock and roll feeling, more so that the first track. The pressing sounds so clean and is helped by the production of Gil Norton. Have you ever been in a situation where everything was going ok and then someone throws up a problem for everyone? That can be called, 'throwing a monkey wrench' into the mix. This album was important for the evolution of the band and you can hear them testing out a few different styles, still finding their feet.
Third song on the album, 'HEY, JOHNNY PARK!' feels very familiar with that guitar riff and similar to another song. Can't quite put my finger on it at the moment but then it becomes more ballady, similar to the opening song on the album. I read somewhere that this album is meant to be a bit like going to a therapy session and the back and forth between soft and hard sounding tracks. I like the lyrics of, "Come and I'll take you under, This beautiful bruise's colours. Everything fades in time, it's true. Wish that I had another, Stab at the undercover. Was it a change in mind for you?".
The song mixes well into the madness sounding opening of 'MY POOR BRAIN'. I think Night Kat Kiz and I need a relaxing night, seeing as we cleaned a large portion of the house and achieved some tasks that were bugging us. I know earlier I said that we had planned to do it on the days without kids but we ended up doing it all of today instead. It is a big task, especially with the locusts around wanting to mess up the other rooms. We can at least look at the house now and feel a bit better. We all went for a trip to Hammerbarn to get some soil and pots for some inside plants that we had purchased just before Christmas. They look good in a clean bed room and are out of the way of little hands. We showed them how to pot a new plant and get our hands dirty, which they seemed to really enjoy. This song feels like my brain right now because it is tired and ready for bed. I will stay up for the NYE fireworks at midnight but I might have a catnap in between then. Interesting sounds on this song that feel a bit industrial in their approach. Time to flip the LP over for Side B now.
I was changing the record and our daughter came out crying from the loungeroom (loungin). She was asking me for a hug because she had tried climbing up the lounge and fell. Once I had picked her up and given her a hug, she pointed to things on the desk and said, "Me want it". I laughed because it was cut and she was working an angle to get what she wants at a time where she had hurt herself. 'WIND UP' is a little bit rockier than I remembered and we welcomed the energy that this song gives you when listening along. It blends well with the slower sounding next track, 'UP IN ARMS'. It has it's up tempo moment halfway through the track and got our children up and about. Not as much though as the next song 'MY HERO', which is still regarded as a mega hit by the band. You can feel that they spent a lot more time on this song and not sure if this was written for this album or something that has been worked on since Grohl was in Nirvana. I know that he was writing a lot of material even in those days. Great song that has appeared in movies over the years too.
It was nice this week to spend some time at our friends house too. It gave the kids a chance to run around with their little friends while all the adults relaxed within the chaos. We played a new card game that we got for Christmas called Footy Fued. It has an AFL theme and is pretty easy to learn. I'm getting off track here and the next song is called - 'SEE YOU'. Actually, that is why I started talking about that because it was nice to see our friends. Acoustic sounding guitar being played initially and the tambourine. A bit of a throwback song to some of the '70s style rock and doesn't sound bad at all. It ends Side B and that means its time to take LP1 off the platter and put it back in the slipcase. LP2 has now been placed down and its time to drop the stylus (or press play, because this is the automated machine).
Side C starts off with a song called, 'ENOUGH SPACE'. It might have something to do with Grohl's state of mind at the time of writing and directed at his ex-wife. Maybe this album is his self-help therapy album and he didn't know that he needed it at the time. You can hear on his guttural growls as his sings, "Space!!". Once you see the album written from his point of view, it becomes very clear that it was a cathartic process. It just happened to be one of the definitive Foo Fighters albums created in the process. I've selected this one as my favourite track and kept away from the more obvious choices. I just like the openness and simplicity of it all after the draining previous track, 'FEBRUARY STARS'. What is everyone doing tonight for NYE? We will be staying home and watching the fireworks on the television, possibly playing some darts and board games. I know we will set up the air mattress for the loungeroom and play some records. Nothing too crazy with little kids who will be in bed, none the wiser that it'll be the last couple of hours of 2023. When they are older and the weather isn't terrible, I know that we will go to one of the NYE venues and watch the fireworks but for now, we will enjoy home comforts.
The last song on Side C is one that I've heard the most from this album and that is because it was on Guitar Hero. I used to play 'EVERLONG' on guitar and drums so much and is one that our son really loved. He was tapping his fingers along on the desk to the riffing. I miss playing Guitar Hero games and would be something that we would play tonight if I still had it. Probably the biggest song on the album and their career to be honest with you. "If everything could ever feel this real forever, If anything could ever be this good again. The only thing I'll ever ask of you, You gotta promise not to stop when I say when, she sang". The contrast between rock and country is then show on the opening song of Side D (yes, I flipped the LP over to Side D while you were still reading).
I had a nice moment when our Son wanted to sit and listen along to 'WALKING AFTER YOU'. It is probably because he absolutely loves Country music and 'Miss that Girl' by Ernest in particular. He was really getting into this song, more so than any other track on the album. On our social pages I have created a collage of albums I feel have been great in 2023. There are some that I would have loved to add to it but I ran out of space. Lyrically this song is sad and showcases another example of the heartbreak Grohl was feeling. Final track of the spin is called, 'NEW WAY HOME' and picks up the mood slightly. There are traces of classic Foo Fighters sound on this one and can see their progression into songs like 'Generator' and 'Learn to Fly' coming through. Very effective vocals when all the music stops and Grohl says, "I'm not scared". Mendel has a moment to shine with some nice bass work halfway through the song to build the tension. The song comes to a fade out and signifies the end of the song.
The tonearm is hitting the dead wax of the record now and that tells me that it's time to lift the stylus (this turntable is the automated one, no lifting required). I hope that you enjoyed our final spin for 2023 and wake up (without the hangover) tomorrow morning with fresh focus and ideas. Keep a look out on our socials for what will be the first spin of 2024 and the MWSP clues that you all know and love by now. Happy New Year everyone - Be Kind.
"If it's illegal to rock and roll, throw my ass in jail" -
Kurt Cobain
Until our next Spin, be Kind to people promising New Year resolutions for 2024 and be Kind to your Wax!
YEAR RELEASED | 1997 |
PRODUCED BY | GIL NORTON |
LABEL | ROSWELL / CAPITOL |
PRICE RANGE | $40+AUD |
SPEED PLAYED AT | 33 1/3 RPM |
ALBUM BEFORE | MONKEY WRENCH (1995) |
ALBUM AFTER | THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE (1999) |
FURTHER LISTENING | WASTING LIGHT (2011) |
FAVOURITE SONG | FEBRUARY STARS OR HEY, JOHNNY PARK! |
RATING OUT OF 5 | 4 |
WHAT'S INSIDE THE RECORD SLEEVE | 2 X BLACK LP IN POLY/PAPER SLEEVE AND NO LYRICS OR INSERT INCLUDED |
Favourite lyric:
"Even though I pass this time alone, Somewhere so unknown. It heals the soul. You ask for walls, I'll build them higher. We'll lie in shadows of them all. I'd stand but they're much too strong and I fall" ~ February Stars - Side C
TRACK LISTING
LP / SIDE | SONG | TRACK LENGTH |
SIDE A | DOLL | 1:23 |
| MONKEY WRENCH | 3:51 |
HEY, JOHNNY PARK! | 4:08 | |
MY POOR BRAIN | 3:33 | |
SIDE B | WIND UP | 2:30 |
UP IN ARMS | 2:15 | |
MY HERO | 4:20 | |
SEE YOU | 2:26 | |
SIDE C | ENOUGH SPACE | 2:36 |
FEBRUARY STARS | 4:49 | |
EVERLONG | 4:10 | |
WALKING AFTER YOU | 5:03 | |
SIDE D | NEW WAY HOME | 5:40 |