Dave Grohl and Heresy

So, my pal Marc wrote this here piece in praise of Dave Grohl. And since few have more love for Dave Grohl than I, I was all kinds o' down with the piece.

Until this bit:

I think Grohl's a better songwriter than Cobain was.

And even for me, that is just a bridge too far, well laid out as Marc's argument (not surprisingly) is.

I mean, wow.

Wow.

I love Dave Grohl.

I love Dave Grohl.

First, he's one of the two greatest drummers of the past twenty years—in fact, he's just plain the greatest—able to stand alongside Ringo and Charlie and Moonie and Bonzo as one of the true all-time titans of rock.

He’s also a charming actor/comedian, an excellent guitarist, an able singer and a songwriter of distinction.

What's more, from everything I've heard (and I'd rather not be disabused of this notion have you any evidence to the contrary), he's apparently one of the nicest guys in entertainment.

Oh, and he played a vital role in the recording of just about the last five-star album to be added to the rock and roll canon, a masterpiece which stands alongside such creations as Revolver, Abbey Road, Blonde on Blonde, Electric Ladyland, Exile on Main Street, What's Going On, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, Who's Next, Astral Weeks, Blood on the Tracks, Born to Run, London Calling, Tim, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Automatic for the People and Achtung Baby, amongst others. Which, all by itself, is one hell of an accomplishment, enough to make any artist feel pretty good about their life's work.

(Of course, just recording one of the greatest albums of all time generally isn't enough for most great artists, which is one of the things which make great artists great.)

All of which makes me feel extremely warm and fuzzy towards Dave, even if his joining a certain band in high school meant a good friend of mine was displaced from said band. (But, no, I’ve said too much already.) I have nothing but the utmost respect and fondest feelings towards the man.

Dave Grohl is, in short, awesome. All kinds o’ awesome. And not to mention? Cute as a button.

Now, Marc is an outstanding writer, a learned and erudite man and just plain a great guy, so I hesitate to get in a war of words with him since there isn't even the slightest chance I could possibly hold my own, much less actually win. Furthermore, I must issue this full caveat: I have not heard the Foo Fighters’ latest album, although I do have it on reserve at the liberry, which means my personal opinion carries even less weight than usual, which is astonishing, since that actually manages to somehow push it into the negative zone.

I have, however, heard every previous Foo Fighters release. And enjoyed them all, to varying degrees.

But if you really think Dave Grohl is a better songwriter than Kurt Cobain, you’ve got to cut down on the crack. Or at least switch to much higher grade material.

In the first eleven years of their existence, Dave and the Foos produced fewer songs destined to stand the test of time than his previous band did with just their second album, never mind their first or third album, or any of the odds and sods they produced elsewhere. And this isn’t even considering that fact that, fine singer as he is, Dave Grohl cannot begin to measure up to Kurt Cobain as a vocalist—a singer who has entered into truly hallowed company amongst the rock and roll immortals.

Sure do love Dave’s vidyos, though.

In fact, I’m just plain glad the world has him around—it's a better place for his presence.

Oh, but it occurs to me: while Dave may be—nay, is—an outstanding role model for all them drummers toiling at the back of the band, I'd submit that being "just" the drummer ain't exactly the end of the world; as J.D. Considine once pointed out, there has never been a truly great band without a truly great drummer.

And that in terms of being a role model, there's another drummer guy out there who carved out a pretty swell career for himself, and maybe, just maybe Dave knew about this not-exactly-obscure guy and what happened to him after his singer left.

Phil Collins.

Comments

[genevieve]

Amen to all that. Lovely guy, but Kurt was the goods.
I had heard no Nirvana to speak of till the mid '90s, (hey, I'm OLD,)when I turned on MTV Unplugged one night and got to see the Unplugged show. All through it I was astounded at the suppleness of the writing, the powerful lyrics, the seamless three piece work. Dave will never write like that, he is an honest quarryman but not a sculptor. Later my kids got the retro Nirvana bug, and I now know the music much better.
Goodness your wife's blogs are gorgeous :)

[Steve the LLamabutcher]

That was just low at the end. Low.

Plus, Grohl was the one who got Harry to jump on the broomstick in the first week of school, breaking the express order of Madame Hooch. Little known fact....

[scott]

That was just low at the end. Low.

Nah. I loves me my Phil Collins. I do. I do I do I do. Oh Lord.