Greatest Hits | ||||
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Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | November 3, 2009 | |||
Recorded | October 1994 – 2009 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 63:48 | |||
Label | RCA | |||
Producer |
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Foo Fighters chronology | ||||
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Singles from Greatest Hits | ||||
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Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album released by American rock band the Foo Fighters on November 3, 2009.
Greatest Hits includes a selection of Foo Fighters hit singles. Two singles from their 1995 debut, Foo Fighters album ("This Is a Call" and "Big Me") are included. Three singles are included from 1997's The Colour and the Shape album ("Monkey Wrench", "Everlong" and "My Hero"). The Colour and the Shape remains the band's biggest selling album in the US. Two singles are included from 1999's There Is Nothing Left to Lose album ("Learn to Fly" and "Breakout") as are two singles from 2002's One by One album ("All My Life" and "Times Like These"). One single ("Best of You") is included from the band's biggest worldwide selling album In Your Honor , released in 2005. "Best of You" remains the band's highest-charting hit on the U.S., UK and Australian singles charts. Two singles are included from 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace album ("The Pretender" and "Long Road to Ruin"). Greatest Hits also contains two new songs "Wheels" and "Word Forward". [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 composed during the Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace tour and recorded specifically for the compilation with producer Butch Vig. [3]
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". [4]
Dave Grohl has stated his displeasure with the release of a greatest hits album, 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 felt that the album did not include some of the band's best work and that it was "like a CliffsNotes version of what we've been doing for the last 15 years". [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]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 85/100 [8] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [9] |
The A.V. Club | A [10] |
Kerrang! | [11] |
Pitchfork | 7.0/10 [12] |
Q | [13] |
Under the Radar | 7/10 [14] |
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". [9] Matthew Perpetua of Pitchfork 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". [12] 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." [12] As of December 2015, it has sold 1,009,000 copies in the U.S. [15]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Originally from | Length |
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1. | "All My Life" | Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett | One by One , 2002 | 4:24 |
2. | "Best of You" | Grohl, Hawkins, Mendel, Shiflett | In Your Honor , 2005 | 4:16 |
3. | "Everlong" | Grohl | The Colour and the Shape , 1997 | 4:10 |
4. | "The Pretender" | Grohl, Hawkins, Mendel, Shiflett | Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace , 2007 | 4:27 |
5. | "My Hero" | Grohl, Mendel, Pat Smear | The Colour and the Shape | 4:19 |
6. | "Learn to Fly" | Grohl, Hawkins, Mendel | There Is Nothing Left to Lose , 1999 | 3:56 |
7. | "Times Like These" | Grohl, Hawkins, Mendel, Shiflett | One by One | 4:28 |
8. | "Monkey Wrench" | Grohl, Mendel, Smear | The Colour and the Shape | 3:53 |
9. | "Big Me" | Grohl | Foo Fighters , 1995 | 2:14 |
10. | "Breakout" | Grohl, Mendel, Hawkins | There Is Nothing Left to Lose | 3:22 |
11. | "Long Road to Ruin" | Grohl, Hawkins, Mendel, Shiflett | Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace | 3:48 |
12. | "This Is a Call" | Grohl | Foo Fighters | 3:55 |
13. | "Skin and Bones" | Grohl | Skin and Bones , 2006 | 4:04 |
14. | "Wheels" | Grohl, Hawkins, Mendel, Shiflett | Previously unreleased | 4:38 |
15. | "Word Forward" | Grohl, Hawkins, Mendel, Shiflett | Previously unreleased | 3:49 |
16. | "Everlong" (Acoustic version) | Grohl | Previously unreleased | 4:11 |
Total length: | 63:48 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Originally from | Length |
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17. | "Have a Cigar" (Pink Floyd cover) | Roger Waters | "Learn to Fly" single, 1999 | 4:00 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Originally from | Length |
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17. | "Band on the Run" (Paul McCartney and Wings cover) | Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney | Radio 1 Established 1967 , 2007 (Recorded in 2004) | 5:07 |
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" | |
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 at Slane Castle, Slane, Ireland - Everywhere but Home DVD, 2003) | |
19. | "Breakout" (Live at Hyde Park, London, England - Skin and Bones DVD, 2006) | |
20. | "Skin and Bones" (Live at the Pantages Theater, Hollywood and Vine, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, August 2006 - Skin and Bones DVD, 2006) | |
21. | "All My Life" (Live at the Wembley Stadium, Wembley, London, England, June 2008 - Live from Wembley Stadium DVD, 2008) | |
22. | "No Way Back" (Hidden bonus video) |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [84] | 6× Platinum | 420,000‡ |
Austria (IFPI Austria) [85] | Gold | 10,000* |
Belgium (BEA) [86] | Gold | 15,000* |
Canada (Music Canada) [87] | Gold | 40,000^ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [88] | Platinum | 20,000‡ |
Germany (BVMI) [89] | 3× Gold | 300,000‡ |
Ireland (IRMA) [90] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
Italy (FIMI) [91] | Platinum | 50,000* |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [92] | 5× Platinum | 75,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [93] | 5× Platinum | 1,500,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Songs for the Deaf is the third studio album by the American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released on August 27, 2002, by Interscope Records. It features guest musicians including Dave Grohl on drums, and was the last Queens of the Stone Age album to feature Nick Oliveri on bass. Songs for the Deaf is a loose concept album, taking the listener on a drive through the California desert from Los Angeles to Joshua Tree, tuning into radio stations from towns along the way such as Banning and Chino Hills.
Foo Fighters is the debut studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on July 4, 1995, through Roswell and Capitol Records. Former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl wrote the entire album. He recorded it himself in six days with the assistance of producer Barrett Jones at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle, Washington, in 1994. Grohl said that he recorded the album just for fun, describing it as a cathartic experience to recover from the suicide of Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain. The album is considered to have started the post-grunge genre.
The Colour and the Shape is the second studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on May 20, 1997, by Roswell and Capitol Records. It was the first album by the Foo Fighters to be recorded as a full band, as the previous self-titled album was both written and recorded entirely by frontman Dave Grohl. The Colour and the Shape is widely considered a defining album of the post-grunge genre, with its three singles becoming staples of rock-oriented radio in the United States. It was among the highest-selling rock albums of 1997 and 1998, and was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards.
There Is Nothing Left to Lose is the third studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on November 2, 1999, through Roswell and RCA Records. It marked the first studio credit for drummer Taylor Hawkins, and is often seen as a departure from the band's previous work, showcasing a softer, more experimental sound. Vocalist and guitarist Dave Grohl has called it his favorite Foo Fighters album, stating that it was "totally based on melody" and that the recording process was a serene experience. The album was recorded using only three musicians; Grohl, Hawkins, and bassist Nate Mendel in the basement of Grohl's home in Alexandria, Virginia.
One by One is the fourth studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on October 22, 2002, through Roswell and RCA Records. Production on the album was troubled, with initial recording sessions considered unsatisfying and raising tensions between the band members. They eventually decided to redo the album from scratch during a two-week period at frontman Dave Grohl's home studio in Alexandria, Virginia. The album, which includes the successful singles "All My Life" and "Times Like These", has been noted for its introspective lyrics and a heavier, more aggressive sound compared to the band's earlier work, which Grohl said was intended to translate the energy of the Foo Fighters' live performances into a recording. This was the first album recorded with Chris Shiflett as part of the band, and the first in which Grohl did not play drums, as drum duties were permanently assigned to Taylor Hawkins.
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"Everlong" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters, released in August 1997 as the second single from their second studio album, The Colour and the Shape (1997). The song reached number three on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart and the Canadian RPM Rock/Alternative chart. It is often regarded as the band's signature song. "Everlong" was the last song performed live by former drummer Taylor Hawkins before his death in March 2022. As a result of his death, streams of the song increased and charted on the Billboard Global 200 at #123, the band's first appearance on the chart.
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Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace is the sixth studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on September 25, 2007, through Roswell and RCA Records. The album is noted for a blend of regular rock and acoustic tracks with shifting dynamics, which emerged from the variety of styles employed on the demos the band produced. It also marks the second time the band worked with producer Gil Norton, whom frontman Dave Grohl brought to fully explore the potential of his compositions and have a record that sounded different from their previous work. Grohl tried to focus on songs with messages that resonated with his audience, writing reflective lyrics that drew inspiration from the birth of his daughter.
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"The Pretender" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters. It was the first single from the group's 2007 album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. It is one of Foo Fighters' most successful songs; peaking at number 37 on the US Billboard Hot 100, only "Learn to Fly" and "Best of You" beat its position on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Best of You" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters, released as the lead single from the band's fifth studio album, In Your Honor (2005). Dave Grohl notes that the song was written following appearances at 2004 American presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign trail and is "about breaking away from the things that confine you". The song holds the band's highest chart peak in the U.S., the UK, and Australia, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The song won the Kerrang! Award for Best Single. It also topped Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for seven weeks. Following the band's performance at Live Earth, the song again entered the UK charts at number 38.
"Wheels" is a single by American rock band Foo Fighters. The single premiered on radio on September 23, 2009, though it was officially released six days later.
Them Crooked Vultures is the only studio album by American rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures. It was released on November 13, 2009. The first single from the album, "New Fang", was released on October 26, 2009, followed by "Mind Eraser, No Chaser" on November 3. The album debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200, selling 70,000 units in the US in its first week.
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