Gay4Grunge: My Top 25 Foo Fighters Songs
The Foo Fighters have released 10 studio albums between 1995 & 2021 and each of those albums has a handful of singles that have been played a lot on rock radio for the last 3 decades. It means that of all the bands I've covered thus far on Gay4Grunge, The Foo Fighters might have the most hits. Pearl Jam is probably up there too, but none of their singles after Vitalogy stuck around on rock radio for long whereas a lot of Foo Fighters songs have. Not every Foo Fighter single has stuck around though and many of the band's best hits don't get as much radio play anymore and the band doesn't perform some of those songs anymore such as I'll Stick Around and DOA. Of course, in the era of streaming this isn't as important, but the real point I'm making is that it's easy to be a fan of The Foo Fighters and still not be aware of all their singles and especially all of their albums.
For me I view The Foo Fighters first 3 albums in the 90s to still be their best. Those albums have great singles and great deep cuts too and it saw the band change and evolve in their sound. Starting in the 2000s I do think the band's albums dipped a little bit in quality, but the singles were mostly solid (though I can't stand Best of You) and there would be an album track or two that I really dug on each of their 2000's albums. I think the band recognizes this as well as they've even said that some of their 2000s albums were not as strong and yet these are the albums that turned The Foo Fighters from a popular rock band to the biggest band in rock. As bands and sub-genres came and went The Foo Fighters remained as one of the most consistent bands of their generation.
As the band entered the 2010s, The Foo Fighters then went from being the biggest rock band on the planet, to the band that was keeping rock alive. As rock's popularity dwindled people started looking more and more to The Foo Fighters to keep the torch burning. The band felt this pressure, which resulted in one of their best albums, 2011's Wasting Light. It was then followed up with Sonic Highways, which was an album and 8-part HBO miniseries that saw the band travel to 8 different cities where they would explore the history of that city's music scene and then write and record a song about that city afterwards. It was an interesting experiment, but it also showed the weight the band was carrying at this point as if they had to be the ones to use their platform to shed light on other musicians while keeping rock and roll alive at the same time. I think that weight took a bit of a toll on the band and their next album Concrete and Gold felt strained at times. 2021's Medicine at Midnight was a slight improvement, but it definitely felt like the band's best days in terms of studio albums and singles were behind them now.
The group was still a top draw live though and they toured relentlessly to the point of exhaustion. It eventually took a toll on the band's drummer Taylor Hawkins who died while the band was on tour in South America. Taylor's death left the future of the band up in the air, but I think we'll see them return to the studio soon. In the meantime, let's take stock of the band's 10 albums and 1 EP and count down my top 25 favorite songs by The Foo Fighters.
25. Exhausted (1995)
The Foo Fighters debut album has become an anomaly in retrospect, because it sounds very different from the more polished albums that came later. This is especially true for the album's closing track Exhausted, which is one of the Grungiest songs in The Foo Fighters catalog. The distortion on this song is so full and enveloping that it feels like you're swimming through a sea of distortion, which actually feels relaxing on this song. The reason being that this is a slow song that just features distortion in a unique way that feels soothing. It kind of reminds me a bit of Mayonnaise by The Smashing Pumpkins, which is a slow beautiful ballad backed up by a wall of distortion as well. I know my friend Josh really loves this song as do some of my other friends. If you're only familiar with the Foo's big rock radio hits this song will probably surprise you.
24. The Feast & the Famine (2014)
Sonic Highways as both an album and HBO miniseries was something that was easy to admire, but sometimes the songs that came out of it left a little to be desired. That said, from the moment I first heard The Feast & the Famine at the end of the Washington DC episode I was hooked! I've never hidden my love for The Foo Fighters' harder rocking songs and that's probably why this is my favorite song off Sonic Highways. I think the opening riff has a nice ring to it and the chorus got stuck in my head pretty quickly. Lyrically this song deals with the dichotomy of Washington DC where you have a government that's supposed to be serving the people and yet there is a rampant homeless problem in Washington DC at the same time. As someone who works in Washington DC, I can attest to that. The Foo Fighters rarely get political with their music, unlike say Pearl Jam, but this one is an exception and maybe that's also why it's the standout song off Sonic Highways for me.
23. Erase/Replace (2007)
When I first listened to the Foo Fighters' Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace in 2007 I was also reviewing it for my college newspaper The Ithacan. I gave it a solid 3 out 4 at the time, which I still stand by now. It's a solid album but it wouldn't rank among my top 5 Foo Fighter albums. Outside of The Pretender, which I had already heard a lot before the album dropped, this was the song that jumped out for me the most. Years later Erase/Replace remains one of my favorite deep cuts by The Foo Fighters. It has a huge arena rock sound from the jump and it seems to stay in that mode until you hit the bridge, which gives way to this lighter and more melodic portion of the song and it gets me every time I listen to it. The bridge to Erase/Replace really makes this song for me even if it's not that flashy on its own, because the juxtaposition really works.
22. Alone + Easy Target (1995)
The Foo Fighters' first album can feel like a private obsession due to it mostly being forgotten by fans and rock radio in the years since it was first released, but it really is a treasure trove of great music from the height of Grunge and the Alternative Nation in the mid-90s. Songs like Alone + Easy Target really help drive home Dave's Grunge roots with Nirvana and honestly any Nirvana fan who doesn't care for The Foo Fighters should check out this album, because it's a lot closer to Nirvana in many ways than later day Foo Fighters. This debut album is pretty much a Dave Grohl solo album and it's made up of songs he wrote during his tenure in Nirvana. I could hear something like Alone + Easy Target included on Nirvana's Incesticide and it probably would have improved that album if they knocked out some of the garbage on the back half like Mexican Seafood or Hairspray Queen for Alone + Easy Target instead.
21. Overdrive (2002)
One by One has an interesting and complicated legacy because on the one hand it was probably the most difficult album the band ever made. Between Taylor's drug overdose, infighting within the band and the struggles trying to produce the album, One by One almost led to The Foo Fighters breaking up. The album is also over compressed in its production to a fault, because back in the early 2000s there was a volume war happening where albums were being produced too loudly in order to compete for attention on radio, but in retrospect it sounds sloppy and bad. And yet, One by One produced some of the biggest hits The Foo Fighters ever had and cemented their status as one of the biggest rock bands on the planet. While the singles are most definitely the highlights of this album (more on them later), I think it's got some hidden gems for those willing to look and Overdrive for me is the best hidden gem of that album. While it does suffer from the over compressed production, it feels lighter and more melodic than most of the other songs off One by One. It's a kind of a feel-good bop and it always puts me in a good mood whenever I hear it.
20. My Poor Brain (1997)
I almost felt compelled to include a 2-for-1 here with Hey Johnny Park and My Poor Brain since they feel connected on the album as one bleeds right into the other as you listen to The Colour & The Shape. I decided against it though because as much as Hey Johnny Park is a solid song I find myself listening to My Poor Brain a lot more on its own. My Poor Brain utilizes the quiet to loud dynamic of Grunge, but with a more slicked up production than what we had heard on the debut album. I also love the bridge which amps up the main melody to soaring heights. I love a good bridge and this bridge delivers!
19. Breakout (1999)
Now as we enter the top 20, I'm moving away from the deep cuts a bit (though there are still two deep cuts to come) and moving into The Foo Fighters' singles. As solid as many of their albums are, the group's main forte has always been their singles, since it's those songs that are the main foundation of the group's success and legacy. With that said, because the group has so many great singles, some of their best singles get forgotten in retrospect. The group's third album There is Nothing Left to Lose had 4 singles, but it's really the album's lead single Learn the Fly that most people remember now. Breakout was released in the summer of 2000 in conjunction with the movie Me, Myself and Irene and while the band still plays it live, the song didn't stick around on radio the way Learn to Fly did. Though at least it got included on their Greatest Hits album, which is missing too many great singles in my opinion. Breakout sees the band in full throttle rock mode and I'm usually always down for that. At times Breakout recalls Monkey Wrench, especially when Dave does his signature screaming during the bridge.
18. Low (2002)
Low was the third and final single off One by One and it didn't do as well as the album's first two singles. I remember hearing it a bit on rock radio before it disappeared. I'll admit that for a while I didn't return to this song much, but recently I've been getting back into this song in a big way. The main riff sounds very Queens of the Stone Age, which is not surprising since Dave had drummed on their 2002 album Songs for the Deaf around the same time The Foo Fighters were recording One by One. Low has this dark weirdness to it that permeates so much of Queens of the Stone Age's music and maybe that's why the song didn't do as well as typical Foo Fighters singles usually did. Looking back though, Low stands out, especially for the 00s, as one of The Foo Fighters' more interesting songs. There's a real hypnotic quality to Low that pulls you in and that riff will run laps through your brain after one listen.
17. The Line (2017)
Concrete & Gold was the first Foo Fighters album I didn't buy on CD and that's really because I wasn't buying CDs anymore by 2017 after upgrading to Spotify Premium. That said, even if I was still buying CDs I might have still passed on Concrete & Gold, because the first two singles did not do a thing for me. Run and Sky is a Neighborhood are two very different sounding songs, but I found neither song appealing. Even after listening to the album fully a few times on Spotify not much was grabbing me. The big exception was the album's final single The Line. This song feels a lot more melodic and breezier compared to the other singles from this album. I really like the production a lot on this track too and it's one of the album's only songs where I can say that. I really don't like the production on Concrete & Gold to the point that it might be my least favorite production of any Foo Fighter album and yes, I'm including One by One when I say this. In a lot of ways, I now look at Concrete & Gold as the moment I went from being a dedicated Foo Fighters' fan to a more casual fan when it came to their newer music. I'm still glad The Foo Fighters are around, but The Line is probably the last song of theirs that I really love.
16. The Pretender (2007)
The Foo Fighters have had a lot of big hits, but The Pretender could be their biggest hit of all. The stats back it up as the song spent a record breaking 18 weeks at number 1 on the Alternative Rock chart in the fall of 2007 where it became the biggest song that year on rock radio. For me this is the moment the Foo Fighters truly became the biggest rock band in the world. With Emo on the decline, Nu Metal long dead and the rise of Indie Pop just a few years away, The Foo Fighters became the go to band to save rock as they waved the flag for meat & potatoes rock 'n roll. The Pretender announces itself as an anthem the moment you hear that intro, which is lifted from the intro to rock's most celebrated anthem, Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven. The Pretender is a call to arms that's vague enough to not offend anyone so it can be an anthem for anyone who listens to it, which is part of what gave this song such mass appeal. In a lot of ways, the song also borrows a bit from All My Life, which I think knocks it down just a peg for me, but it also marks the moment The Foo Fighters formula really and truly cemented itself. The band would still play around with that formula and push against it here and there, but this is the moment The Foo Fighters now had an easily recognizable sound that was theirs and theirs alone.
15. Sean (2015)
The Foo Fighters released a surprise EP in 2015 called Saint Cecilia that was free to download. It was a nice little gift from the band and the title track got some decent airplay back then as well. For me though the real keeper off Saint Cecilia was the EP's shortest song Sean, which came in at just 2 minutes. I mentioned with The Pretender that the Foo Fighters started settling into their formula around 2007 and I won't lie at times it's made some of their latter singles a bit boring and strained for me. Maybe because it's just a 2-minute ditty on a throwaway free EP, but Sean feels fun, breezy and likably melodic in a way The Foo Fighters don't always feel anymore. Sometimes it feels like The Foo Fighters are trying too hard or are overthinking how their singles should sound to the point that they feel kind of unfun lately. And yet, when The Foo Fighters let go of pretense and just let a song like Sean come naturally, they can still be a really fun rock band. Sean feels like 90s era Foo Fighters in just the way that it feels like the band is tossing off a melodic gem with ease and not overthinking it and I'd honestly like to see the group record more songs like this instead of songs like Run, Shame Shame or The Sky is a Neighborhood.
14. No Way Back (2005)
Now here's a single that feels fun and fresh. No Way Back was the third single off In Your Honor and I remember hearing it throughout 2006 on rock radio. Afterwards though the song was quickly forgotten by both radio and the band itself who don't seem to perform it live anymore and excluded it from their greatest hits. That's a damn shame, because this is one the Foo Fighters best singles of the 00s and deserves to be more remembered than it is. When I first picked up In Your Honor after the release of DOA, I liked this song instantly and knew it needed to be the next single off the album, which it was. While this song dropped off after 2006, it's never left rotation for me as this is one of my most played songs by the group from the 2000s.
13. Bridge Burning (2011)
Wasting Light is probably The Foo Fighters best album since the 90s and one of the reasons for that is the production by Butch Vig, a person I've spent a lot of time talking about during Gay4Grunge and I will probably be talking about him again in future Gay4Grunge articles. By Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, the Foo Fighters had solidified their formula, but for some that was also viewed as a rut. You can tell that with Wasting Light, The Foo Fighters wanted to step up their game and produce an album that was worthy of their title of being the world's biggest rock band. The album sounded rawer and more focused than their '00s albums and ended up becoming their first #1 album and it won them and Butch a few Grammys to boot. The album comes roaring out of the gate with Bridges Burning, which is one of their most exciting singles ever. I wish it had been released as the second or third single though, because by the time it was released as the fourth single, rock radio was starting to move on from the album. Either way Bridges Burning sees the Foo Fighters firing on all cylinders with a rock song that can rip your face off while being melodic and catchy enough to set off tons of endorphins at the same time. For me this is peak Foo Fighters, especially for the 2010s.
12. Stacked Actors (1999)
Stacked Actors is probably the harshest and angriest single The Foo Fighters have ever released and that's probably why it's another classic single of theirs that gets overlooked. That opening guitar riff tears through the speakers with ease before settling into a surprisingly bossa nova styled verse. It's an interesting juxtaposition that on paper shouldn't work as well as it does but, it works beautifully here. The lead up to the chorus of Stacked Actors sees Dave screaming
"Stacked Dead actors
Stacked to the rafters
Light up the Bastards
All I Want is the Truth"
Along with I'll Stick Around, Stacked Actors sees Dave at his most biting as he spits out the chorus with as much vitriol as humanly possible. My husband actually loves this song surprisingly, because he loves how angry this song is and I can't blame him for it because I love it too. This is Dave at his most biting and unhinged and it's compelling as hell as a result. I also love the guitar solo too, which is chaotic in the best possible way.
11. My Hero (1997)
The Foo Fighters started off as a Dave Grohl solo project and it took a couple of albums before The Foo Fighters truly became a real band. I mention this because on the group's sophomore album, Dave still played all the drum parts like he did on the debut and you can really hear that in a song like My Hero. The first thing you hear as My Hero begins is that drum part, which is some of Dave's most memorable drumming he's ever laid to tape with or without The Foo Fighters. Then comes that guitar riff, also played by Dave, which is just as memorable and before we even get to the lyrics My Hero has already established itself as one of the best rock songs of the 90s. This was probably the most anthemic song the Foo Fighters had released up until that point though it wouldn't be the last. That chorus demands to be shouted along to by millions of screaming fans and as someone who has seen The Foo Fighters live three times, I can tell you that this song is usually the biggest sing along moment of the night. Now with Taylor Hawkins gone, I have a feeling that this song is going to take on an even greater resonance whenever The Foo Fighters perform it live in the future.
10. Times Like These (2002)
Times Like These was the second single off One by One and I remember hearing this one all the time back then on rock radio and it never left rock radio either as this became one of the groups biggest and most endearing singles. The song itself was written at a very low point for the band where Dave almost thought the Foo Fighters were going to break up. Times Like These seemed to be a very healing song that helped light the fire again for the band and helped them move forward. The lyrics are very hopeful with Dave singing
"It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again"
It's clear that the song not only meant a lot to the band but it also resonated with millions of people too, which is why it's become one of The Foo Fighters most beloved songs ever. When I got married my family and I mapped out the entire day and we decided to have a gathering before the ceremony where Cory and I would meet people as they arrived instead of after the ceremony. I of course made a mix CD of songs to play for the hour long gathering and this is where I fit in a lot of songs that felt appropriate for the occasion, but may not have been perfect dance floor filler. Times Like These was one of the songs I chose for the gathering. I remember a family friend coming up to me at the gathering and saying as soon as he heard the music playing as he drove up (which was Times Like These) he knew he was at a Dougystyle wedding.
9. Learn to Fly (1999)
The Foo Fighters had already established themselves as one of the most popular rock bands of the 90s by the time they released their third album There's Nothing Left to Lose in the fall of 1999. Despite their success though, The Foo Fighters had not crossed over to top 40 pop yet. All of the singles off their first two albums received extensive play on rock radio and MTV, but pop radio had not quite embraced The Foo Fighters yet, mostly because pop radio in the 90s became afraid of most rock music after Grunge. Learn to Fly became the group's first true crossover hit when it entered the pop top 20. I also remember seeing the video on VH1 just as much as MTV that year as well. Learn to Fly also became The Foo Fighters' first #1 hit on the Alternative Rock Chart and it's easy to hear why Learn to Fly became their biggest song up till that point. Learn to Fly sees the group toning down the distortion a bit while keeping the sky-high hooks they had already become known for. This was a song that could appeal equally to rock and pop radio listeners of all ages. This was also around the time my dad started taking notice of The Foo Fighters too and looking back you can hear an overt classic rock sound on that third Foo Fighter's album that also helped the group appeal to aging boomers as much as they had been with Gen X & Gen Y. Learn to Fly really helped set The Foo Fighters up to become one of the biggest rock bands of the 21st century and it's become a staple of every Foo Fighters live show ever since.
8. This is a Call (1995)
This is a Call was the Foo Fighters debut single and it was released without a music video, which was a rare thing to do in the 90s unless you were Pearl Jam. Talking with people who were following rock music at the time, it came as an absolute surprise that the drummer from Nirvana could not only sing, but could write songs as good as This is a Call. Nobody saw this coming back in 1995 and it's easy to see why. Whenever you watch old clips and interviews of Nirvana, Dave is always the quietest one of the group. If anything, Kirst Novoselic seemed to be Nirvana's spokesperson as he usually answered most of the questions in interviews and he always had something to say in every clip I've ever seen of the group. Dave on the other hand seemed very shy and reserved and only came alive when he was on stage drumming. This is a Call lived up to its title, because this was a call to everyone that Dave Grohl wasn't going anywhere and in fact, he proved to be a much greater singer/songwriter than anyone could have possibly guessed. The song went all the way up to #2 on the Alternative Rock chart, which was an impressive showing for a debut single and it would be the start of one of the most unlikely success stories of the decade. While This is a Call seems to have faded in the cultural memory, Dave hasn't forgotten it, because it is the one song from the debut album that The Foo Fighters still perform regularly, including all three shows that I attended, which always warms my heart. I also notice at each of the shows how about half the audience knows This is a Call and sings along to it, while the other half of the audience doesn't seem to recognize it at all. Those people who are clueless about the band's first album are probably the same people who think Best of You is the Foo Fighters best song and honestly, I feel sorry for those people and their lack of taste.
7. Rope (2011)
As I stated earlier, Wasting Light seemed to be the album where The Foo Fighters tried to regain some of the fire and passion of their 90s albums and they ended up succeeding since I feel it's their best album of the 21st Century, though I really like One by One more than most. When I first heard the intro to Rope it did remind me of the 90s novelty hit Detachable Pennis by King Missile. Seriously, take a listen to both songs because those two riffs are the same, but I don't mind because once the song gets going it goes in a completely different direction. It kind of reminds me of the drumming intro to Garbage's Stupid Girl, which is lifted from the Clash's Train in Vain, because once Stupid Girl begins proper you stop thinking about it because it ends up sounding completely different in the end. It should also be noted that Butch Vig produced both Stupid Girl and Rope. Anyway, once Rope gets going it becomes one of the best songs The Foo Fighters have ever done with one of their most exciting guitar solo/bridges ever. This song got played a lot on rock radio in 2011 and I never grew tired of it no matter how many times I heard it and I'm still not tired of it today. Every time Rope comes on, I turn up the volume. This is easily my favorite Foo Fighter song of the 2010s and I don't think that will ever change.
6. Good Grief (1995)
This deep cut off the Foo Fighters' self-titled album is a song nobody talks about ever, but I love it! In fact, this isn't just my favorite Foo Fighters' deep cut, it's my favorite deep cut of the 90s. As soon as I heard this song after purchasing this album in 1995, I took a liking to it instantly and I've never stopped listening to it since then. I love this song so much I just treat it as another Foo Fighters single since I include it on any mix that includes the Foo Fighters or 90s Alternative. The main riff of this song is my favorite part of it, which sounds like a fuzzed-up surf guitar and gives this song a sense of drive and energy that always pumps me up every time I hear it. Again, it's one of those Foo Fighters songs that nobody really knows about. The band only performed it on their first tour when they only had one album under their belt so it's hard to find any good quality recordings of it live since The Foo Fighters have not performed this song since 1996. As a result, I've always viewed Good Grief as my Foo Fighters song, because I don't think there is anyone else who loves this song as much as I do, but take a listen because maybe you'll end up loving it too.
5. DOA (2005)
DOA was the second single off In Your Honor and it was the song that convinced me to finally buy that album since I had been so turned off by the album's lead single Best of You. Upon its release DOA was a huge hit, becoming another Alternative Rock #1 hit for the group, but it seems the song's presence has diminished over the years. DOA was left off of The Foo Fighters Greatest Hits and the band doesn't seem to perform it live anymore, which baffles me because this is one of their best singles ever! DOA is quite possibly the catchiest single the Foo Fighters released in the '00s thanks to its strong melody and memorable guitar riff. I remember when I saw The Foo Fighters live in 2011, there was a couple sitting in front of me and the boy was very disappointed that The Foo Fighters didn't perform DOA, because it was his favorite song by the group. I totally felt his pain since I've seen The Foo Fighters three times and they never performed DOA at all the shows I attended. I told him that I too was slightly disappointed that DOA (along with the album's third single No Way Back) were not performed that night as well. Honestly, I don't know what kind of world we live in where DOA and No Way Back can be forgotten, but I do not approve!
4. Monkey Wrench (1997)
Monkey Wrench was the first single off The Foo Fighters second album The Color & the Shape, and while their debut album had been a big success, Monkey Wrench represents the moment The Fighters went from being another Post-Grunge band, to the band we all know and love today. The production on Monkey Wrench is a little glossier than anything we heard on the debut, but it's still a great hard rock song that hits even harder due to the upgraded production on The Color and the Shape. Monkey Wrench also features one of Dave's best screams during the bridge when he starts yelling "One last thing before I quit...", which is one of the best blasts of energy the group has ever recorded. The Foo Fighters have always excelled at full throttle rock songs, but Monkey Wrench could be their greatest high-octane song ever. The song starts at 11 and it doesn't let up for a single second. If Monkey Wrench doesn't pump you up and get the juices flowing you might want to check your pulse and see if you're still alive.
3. I'll Stick Around (1995)
I'll Stick Around is the second single off the Foo Fighters' self-titled debut, but it was the first to feature a music video and that music video was my introduction to The Foo Fighters thanks to its inclusion on the first Beavis & Butthead episode I ever watched back in the summer of 1996. Dave played all the instruments on this album including the drumming, which is obvious from the jump because I'll Stick Around begins with a great drum fill that sets the tone immediately. While The Foo Fighters eventually became a solid band in their own right, part of the reason those first two Foo Fighters albums are so great in my mind is that Dave is playing the drums and he is one of the best drummers of the 90s period. I'll Stick Around also has an interesting structure that reminds me a bit of Journey's Don't Stop Believing where the song's main chorus doesn't arrive until the very end of the song where it acts more as a climax than anything else. It's worth the wait though, because once that chorus hits it hits hard! Over the years many have suspected that I'll Stick Around is about Courtney Love, but it could easily be about rock critics and certain Nirvana fans who thought that Dave didn't have the right to start a band of his own in the wake of Kurt's suicide. Dave ain't having any of that though and I'll Stick Around is another statement of purpose where Dave announced that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and he's more than lived up to that promise for the past 3 decades.
2. All My Life (2002)
All My Life was the lead single off the band's 4th studio album One by One, and it became the group's second #1 hit on the Alternative Rock Chart. I switched over from top 40 radio to rock radio around the summer of 2002 so I remember hearing this song constantly that fall and I appreciated that because this song ROCKS! Monkey Wrench might be the Foo Fighters most high octane hit since it starts at 11 and seemingly never slows down, but All My Life might hit even harder. All My Life starts with a memorably chugging riff before exploding out of the gate where it doesn't slow down again until the start of the bridge where the song just goes back to that memorably chugging riff again. The tension that one riff builds at that moment is palpable as the band gears up for an all-out assault that feels dangerously chaotic and explosive as if the band is about to burst into flames any moment before bringing it all back to that arena rock chorus and for me it just hits every single time I hear it. This is peak Foo Fighters doing what they do best and everything is firing on all cylinders, but here's the thing the song sounds even better live. The Foo Fighters have all said at one point or another that no matter how good or bad a concert is going for them, as soon as they start playing All My Life everything changes. As someone who has seen the band three times live, I can attest to this, because All My Life is easily the best Foo Fighters song live. At all three shows I began dancing, jumping, head banging and basically acting like a complete spazz during All My Life and I'm always exhausted afterwards because I give it everything I got. As someone who has been to many concerts, I can tell you that there is nothing else like it, because when All My Life is playing the entire audience explodes with energy. While I've included the music video below, I'm also going to include some live performances too, because you can't truly understand the power of this song until you experience it live. All My Life isn't just the best Foo Fighters song live, it may be my favorite song to experience live period!
1. Everlong (1997)
Everlong might be the obvious choice to be The Foo Fighters' number 1 song, but it's also the right one. There's a certain power and draw to this song that really stands out for both The Foo Fighters and 90s Alternative as a whole. This song also brings me back to the summer of 1997 when I first became a pop music fan and started watching MTV every day. This video was heavily rotated all summer as I remember seeing it every day for months. While the song only peaked at #3 on the Alternative Rock chart, if you look at the chart more closely like I have you'll see how big this song was. Everlong stuck around at #3 on the Alternative Rock chart for months and months and months during the second half of 1997. I think that even by the time My Hero was released as the next single, Everlong was still charting strongly on the Alternative Rock chart. Monkey Wrench had announced this new version of the Foo Fighters and then Everlong cemented the band as rock radio mainstays who were going to outlive their Grunge and Post Grunge peers such as Bush, Silverchair and even The Smashing Pumpkins. The Foo Fighters would then go on to outlive Nu Metal, Emo, 2nd Generation Post Grunge, Indie Pop and every other subgenre that had its day in the sun on Alternative Rock radio since the mid-90s and Everlong is a big reason why. This song never left rock radio and it continued to resonate strongly over the years. Even people who didn't love The Foo Fighters had to admit that Everlong was a pretty great song. I remember Everlong being used well in an emotional moment on the show Daria, David Letterman has declared that Everlong is his favorite song of all time and even Pitchfork admits it's a great song. Every time I see the Foo Fighters live, they have to perform Everlong. The best performance I saw of Everlong was at the third show I attended when Dave had a broken leg and was sitting on his throne and this was the song the band opened with, which caused the entire crowd to erupt in cheers. I think Everlong will always be at the very center of The Foo Fighters legacy and it's very deserved.
