Greatest Hits (Foo Fighters album)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by Foo Fighters
Released November 3, 2009
Recorded 1994-2009
Genre Alternative rock, post-grunge, hard rock
Length 63:48
Label RCA
Producer Barrett Jones (tracks 9 & 12)
Gil Norton (tracks 3, 4, 5, 8 & 11)
Adam Kasper (tracks 1, 6, 7 & 10)
Nick Raskulinecz (track 1, 2, 7, & 13)
Butch Vig (tracks 14 & 15)
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters chronology
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
(2007)		 Greatest Hits
(2009)		 Wasting Light
(2011)
Singles from Greatest Hits
  1. "Wheels"
    Released: September 29, 2009

Greatest Hits is a compilation album released by the Foo Fighters on November 3, 2009. It contains two new songs, "Wheels" and "Word Forward" as well as previously released songs such as "The Pretender", "All My Life", "Learn to Fly", "Best of You", "Times Like These", "My Hero", "Everlong" and more.[1]

"Wheels" is the first single taken from the album, which premiered on radio on September 23, 2009. The single was officially released on September 29, 2009. "Wheels" and "Word Forward", which was written for Dave Grohl's friend, Jimmy, who had recently died,[2] were recorded specifically for the compilation with producer Butch Vig.

"Have a Cigar" features drummer Taylor Hawkins on lead vocals.

A deluxe edition of the compilation includes a book and a DVD featuring some of the band's music videos and live performances. It also includes a video for "Wheels" directed by Sam Brown, who also worked on "The Pretender".[3]

Contents

[edit] Track listing

[edit] CD

[4]

No. Title Length
1. "All My Life" (From the album One by One, 2002) 4:24
2. "Best of You" (From the album In Your Honor, 2005) 4:16
3. "Everlong" (From the album The Colour and the Shape, 1997) 4:10
4. "The Pretender" (From the album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, 2007) 4:27
5. "My Hero" (From the album The Colour and the Shape, 1997) 4:19
6. "Learn to Fly" (From the album There Is Nothing Left to Lose, 1999) 3:56
7. "Times Like These" (From the album One by One, 2002) 4:28
8. "Monkey Wrench" (From the album The Colour and the Shape, 1997) 3:53
9. "Big Me" (From the album Foo Fighters, 1995) 2:14
10. "Breakout" (From the album There Is Nothing Left to Lose, 1999) 3:22
11. "Long Road to Ruin" (From the album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, 2007) 3:48
12. "This Is a Call" (From the album Foo Fighters, 1995) 3:55
13. "Skin and Bones" (From the album Skin and Bones, 2006) 4:04
14. "Wheels" (Previously unreleased) 4:38
15. "Word Forward" (Previously unreleased) 3:49
16. "Everlong" (Acoustic version) 4:11
Total length:
 63:48

[edit] DVD

No. Title Length
1. "I'll Stick Around"    
2. "Big Me"    
3. "Monkey Wrench"    
4. "Everlong"    
5. "My Hero"    
6. "Walking After You"    
7. "Learn to Fly"    
8. "Next Year"    
9. "All My Life"    
10. "Times Like These" (Acoustic version)  
11. "Low"    
12. "Best of You"    
13. "DOA"    
14. "Resolve" (Non-glow version)  
15. "The Pretender"    
16. "Long Road to Ruin"    
17. "Wheels"    
18. "Everlong" (Live - "Everywhere but Home" DVD)  
19. "Breakout" (Live from Hyde Park)  
20. "Skin and Bones" (Live from Hollywood - "Skin and Bones" DVD)  
21. "All My Life" (Live - "Live from Wembley Stadium" DVD)  
22. "No Way Back" (Hidden bonus video)  

At the main menu, there is bullet hole that you can click, and shows Dave Grohl performing "Home" (from the album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, 2007) on the piano.

[edit] Personnel

  • Dave Grohl - Lead vocals, backing vocals, rhythm guitar, drums (tracks 1-3,5,8,9,12), lead guitar (tracks 3,5,8,13,17)

, bass guitar (tracks 9,12)

  • Nate Mendel - bass guitar (except tracks 9,12)
  • Chris Shiflett - lead guitar (except tracks 1-3,5,6,8,9,10,12,17)
  • Taylor Hawkins - drums (except tracks 1-3,5,8,9,12), backing vocals on tracks 4,11, lead vocals on "Have a Cigar"
  • Pat Smear - rhythm guitar (tracks 3,5,8,13)

[edit] Release controversy

Dave Grohl has stated his displeasure with the release of a greatest hits, stating he would have preferred to wait until after the band had retired. The band's label, however, had been wanting to release a compilation album for four years, and exercised a clause in the band's contract that allowed them to do so.[5] Grohl has also mentioned that he would've preferred a different track listing, featuring some songs other than those that were included.[6] In the liner notes of the album, Grohl writes:

These 16 songs are what we're calling our "Greatest Hits." Not to be confused with "Our Best Songs" or "Our Favorite Songs," it is a collection of the songs that have defined our band's identity to most people over the years. The other 65 album tracks... well, some of those might be our greatest songs. "Aurora," "New Way Home," "MIA," "Exhausted," "A320" ... depends on whom you ask. Personally, I don't think we've written our greatest songs yet. But that door is always open.[7]

[edit] Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4/5 stars[8]
The A.V. Club (A)[9]
Kerrang! 5/5 stars[10]
Pitchfork Media (7.0/10)[11]

Reception was mostly positive for the compilation. Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted in his positive review that the compilation was missing some of the band's successful singles, most notably "DOA" and "I'll Stick Around".[8] Matthew Perpetua of Pitchfork Media also noted the lack of "I'll Stick Around" on the compilation and suggested that the release would have been stronger with the inclusion of rarities and fan favorites, such as their cover of Prince's "Darling Nikki" or their popular soundtrack contribution "The One".[11] Perpetua also writes "Like nearly all songs recorded specifically for [greatest hits compilations], 'Wheels' and 'Word Forward' are catchy but uninspired, and have no place among the heavy hitters in this collection."[11] As of October 27, 2010 it has sold 330,000 copies.[12]

[edit] Chart positions

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[13] 1
Canadian Albums Chart[14] 6
Finnish Albums Chart[15] 23
Italian Albums Chart[16] 20
New Zealand Albums Chart[17] 1
Swedish Albums Chart[18] 12
UK Albums Chart[19] 4
US Billboard 200[20] 11

[edit] Year-end charts

Chart (2010) Position
US Billboard 200 159[21]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Foo Fighters to Release Greatest Hits". XFM London. September 8, 2009. http://www.xfm.co.uk/news/2009/foo-fighters-to-release-greatest-hits. Retrieved October 3, 2009. 
  2. ^ Word Forward Songfacts
  3. ^ Foo Fighters Reveal “Greatest Hits” Track List
  4. ^ [1][dead link]
  5. ^ "Grohl unhappy about Greatest hits album". contactmusic.com. 5 November 2009. http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/grohl-unhappy-about-greatest-hits-album_1121427. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
  6. ^ "Grohl unhappy with greatest hits release". breakingnews.ie. 5 November 2009. http://www.breakingnews.ie/entertainment/grohl-unhappy-with-greatest-hits-release-433039.html. Retrieved 19 November 2009. 
  7. ^ Amazon, Greatest Hits: Foo Fighters Amazon.com Greatest Hits product page
  8. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Greatest Hits - Review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1812464. Retrieved 2009-11-01. 
  9. ^ Ryan, Kyle. "Foo Fighters: Greatest Hits - Review". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/foo-fighters-greatest-hits,34865/. Retrieved 2009-11-07. 
  10. ^ "Foo Fighters: Greatest Hits (RCA) KKKKK. Dave Grohl & co get the retrospective treatment", Kerrang! (1285): 50, Wednesday 28 October 2009 
  11. ^ a b c Perpetua, Matthew. "Album Review: Foo Fighters: Greatest Hits". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13658-greatest-hits/. Retrieved 2009-11-07. 
  12. ^ Fighters Return, Dave Grohl Recruits Krist Novoselic, Billboard.com.Retrieved August 2011
  13. ^ Australian Peak Position
  14. ^ "Canadian Albums - Week of November 21, 2009". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/canadian-albums?chartDate=2009-11-21. Retrieved 2011-02-06. 
  15. ^ Suomen virallinen lista
  16. ^ "FIMI - Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana - Classifiche". Fimi.it. http://www.fimi.it/classifiche_artisti.php. Retrieved 2011-08-13. 
  17. ^ New Zealand Peak Position
  18. ^ Foo Fighters on Swedish charts
  19. ^ Sexton, Paul. "Bon Jovi Beaten by Cheryl Cole on U.K. Chart". billboard.biz. November 9, 2009.
  20. ^ Greatest Hits - Foo Fighters album info. Billboard.com
  21. ^ "Best of 2010 - Billboard Top 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/#/charts-year-end/top-billboard-200?year=2010. Retrieved 2010-12-31. 
Preceded by
Crazy Love by Michael Bublé		 Australian number one album
November 9, 2009–November 16, 2009		 Succeeded by
Reality Killed the Video Star by Robbie Williams
Preceded by
This Is It by Michael Jackson		 New Zealand number one album
November 9, 2009–November 16, 2009		 Succeeded by
The System Is a Vampire by Shapeshifter
Foo Fighters
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
Five Songs and a Cover • Greatest Hits • Medium Rare
Videos
Singles
Tours
There Is Nothing Left to Lose Tour • One by One Tour • In Your Honor Tour • Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace Tour • Wasting Light World Tour
Related
Articles
Bands
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greatest_Hits_(Foo_Fighters_album)&oldid=471693338"
Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages