"Long Road to Ruin" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Single by Foo Fighters | ||||
from the album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace | ||||
Released | December 3, 2007 | |||
Recorded | March–June 2007 | |||
Genre | Post-grunge, alternative rock, pop punk | |||
Length | 3:44 | |||
Label | Roswell/RCA | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Gil Norton | |||
Foo Fighters singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Long Road to Ruin" on YouTube |
"Long Road to Ruin" is the second single from the Foo Fighters' sixth studio album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace . The music video was released on November 1, 2007, with the single released on December 3, 2007. The video features an appearance by actress Rashida Jones, and was directed by Jesse Peretz, who had previously collaborated with the band for "Big Me", "Learn to Fly", "The One", and "Low".
"Long Road to Ruin" topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for seven consecutive weeks and reached number two on the Mainstream Rock Tracks in early 2008. It peaked at number 89 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song's number-one position on the Modern Rock chart, gave the Foo Fighters a record-setting feat by becoming the first act to reach number one on the chart in each of four consecutive years.
In the United Kingdom, "Long Road to Ruin" peaked in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart and number one on the UK Rock Chart.
"Long Road to Ruin" was the most played rock song in Canada in 2008. [1]
The music video of the song, directed by Jesse Peretz (who also has directed previous Foo Fighters videos "Big Me" and "Learn To Fly"), is a comedic spoof of a stereotypical 1970s-era hospital soap opera ( General Hospital in particular), and is essentially a "show within a show". As seen in the opening credit sequence, the Foo Fighters portray the actors who in turn portray the show's characters. Grohl plays "Davy Grolton", who stars as the main doctor, "Hansom Davidoff". Drummer Taylor Hawkins plays "Ty Hawkstone" ("Les Groper", Davidoff's womanizing colleague). Guitarist Chris Shiflett plays "Christopher Mishomotohama" ("Little Jimmy", a severely injured child). Bassist Nate Mendel plays "Ned Bender" ("Saul Goode", the show's shady antagonist). Actress Rashida Jones guest stars as "Racinda Jules" ("Susan Belfontaine", the doctor's love interest).
In order to avoid confusion with the soap opera (also entitled "Long Road to Ruin") and the "real world", the scenes in the soap opera have brown tones to make it more vintage, while the real world retains normal color. There are various accidents and rifts on-stage (a fight between the cast, Grolton inadvertently hitting Jules in the face). Backstage, Grolton's cast mates read a magazine about him becoming a rock star, and later place his debut album on a dartboard and throw darts at it. Upset, Grolton goes outside, only to find screaming teenage girls who want his autograph. After wiping away tears, he accommodates and interacts with them.
The video then cuts to a concert in a mall where he fronts "The Davy Grolton Band" and performs the song. The band is also portrayed by the other Foo Fighter members, in attire appropriate of the era. The scene is inter-cut with flashbacks about Jules. While singing, he sees her amidst the audience filled with the ravenous girls, but she leaves after realizing he has spotted her. He ends the performance to give chase with the fans behind him, but when he finally finds her, she has driven off. Grolton becomes hysterical before continuing his pursuit.
The video is interspersed throughout with scenes of Grolton driving in a car, wistfully singing the song. The final scene has him intentionally driving off a cliff in a typical 1970s television or movie death scene, with the vehicle bursting into flames during the fall. Grolton is clearly in an open-top Jaguar E-Type, but in what was likely an intentional continuity error (or the fact that the E-Type was too valuable to destroy), the vehicle that's crashed appears to be a 1990s Porsche 911. The stock footage would later be used at the end of the video for "White Limo", a track from the following album.
An alternative version of the video, consisting of the Davy Grolton Band performance in its entirety, is available on Entertainment Weekly's website, and available to buy on iTunes. [2]
Personnel adapted from Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace liner notes [3]
Foo Fighters
Additional Musicians
Chart (2007) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [4] | 38 |
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders) [5] | 6 |
Canada (Canadian Hot 100) [6] | 43 |
Canada Rock ( Billboard ) [7] | 1 |
Germany (Official German Charts) [8] | 79 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [9] | 21 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [10] | 23 |
Portugal (Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa) [11] | 41 |
Switzerland Airplay (Schweizer Hitparade) [12] | 83 |
UK Singles (OCC) [13] | 35 |
UK Rock & Metal (OCC) [14] | 1 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [15] | 89 |
US Adult Alternative Songs ( Billboard ) [16] | 21 |
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [17] | 2 |
US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [18] | 1 |
Chart (2008) | Position |
---|---|
Canada Rock (Radio & Records) [1] | 1 |
US Alternative Songs (Billboard) [19] | 7 |
US Mainstream Rock Songs (Billboard) [20] | 13 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [21] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [22] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
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.
"Big Me" is the fourth single by Foo Fighters from their self-titled debut album. Released in the spring of 1996, the song became a crossover hit for the band on pop radio, when it reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay.
"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.
"Learn to Fly" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters. It was released as the lead single from their third studio album There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999) in October 1999. It was the band's first song to enter the Billboard Hot 100, as well as their second-highest charting song on the Hot 100, peaking at number 19. It also peaked within the top 40 in Australia, Canada, Hungary, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland and the United Kingdom. The song's music video won Best Short Form Video award at the 43rd Grammy Awards in 2001.
"All My Life" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters, released as the first single from their fourth album, One by One. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance, and spent ten straight weeks at number 1 on the Alternative Songs chart and it peaked at number 3 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It was also a top 5 hit on the UK Singles Chart.
"Times Like These" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters. It is the fourth track from their fourth album One by One, and was released as its second single in 2003.
"The One" is a song by Foo Fighters, released as a single in 2002. It appeared on the soundtrack album for the film Orange County. The retail single itself was only released in Australia and New Zealand, but it was made available by import in the US and UK; further, promotional singles for radio airplay were sent out to a number of countries, including Canada, the UK, and the US. It is available through the Foo Files digital album collection.
"Resolve" is the third single from Foo Fighters album In Your Honor. It was released on 21 November 2005. It has been released on two different discs. In The West Wing episode, "Election Day Part II", the band is seen playing this song at a campaign party for Democratic Presidential candidate Matt Santos.
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.
The discography of Foo Fighters, an American rock band formed in 1995 by Dave Grohl, consists of eleven studio albums, ten extended plays (EPs), six video albums, and 57 singles. The current Foo Fighters line-up consists of Grohl, Rami Jaffee (keyboard), Nate Mendel (bass), Chris Shiflett (guitar), Pat Smear (guitar) and Josh Freese (drums).
"Shame Shame" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters. The song is from the band's tenth studio album, Medicine at Midnight. It was released as the album's first single on November 7, 2020.
"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.
Live at Wembley Stadium is a live video by the Foo Fighters, released on August 22, 2008, in Ireland and August 25, 2008, in the UK on DVD. It was also released in Australia on August 30, New Zealand on September 1, and Germany, Austria and Switzerland on September 5. It was released in the United States on November 18, 2008.
"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.
Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album released by American rock band the Foo Fighters on November 3, 2009.
"No Way Back" / "Cold Day in the Sun" is the fourth single released from Foo Fighters' fifth album, In Your Honor. It is a double A-side single, including "No Way Back" and "Cold Day in the Sun", which is from the second disc of the album.
Wasting Light is the seventh studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on April 12, 2011, through Roswell and RCA Records. Wanting to capture the essence of their earlier work and avoid the artificiality of digital recording, Foo Fighters recorded the album in the garage of frontman Dave Grohl in Encino, California, using only analog equipment. The sessions were produced by the band alongside Butch Vig, with whom Grohl had worked on Nirvana's Nevermind. Since the old equipment did not allow for many mistakes to be corrected in post-production, the band spent three weeks rehearsing the songs, and Vig had to relearn outdated editing techniques. The band sought a heavier and rawer sound in contrast to the experimentation of their previous albums. Most of the lyrics were written as Grohl reflected upon his life and possible future. Guest musicians include Bob Mould, Krist Novoselic, Jessy Greene, Rami Jaffee and Fee Waybill. Pat Smear played as an official member of the band for the first time since The Colour and the Shape (1997).
"Walk" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters, released as the third single from their seventh studio album Wasting Light. It was written by Dave Grohl and co-produced by Butch Vig.
"The Sky Is a Neighborhood" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters. It was released as the second single from their ninth album Concrete and Gold on August 23, 2017. As of November 2017, the song had peaked at number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart and seven on the Alternative Songs chart.
"Run" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters. It was released as a single on June 1, 2017, and is off their ninth studio album, Concrete and Gold. The song performed well commercially and critically, topping the Billboard US Mainstream Rock Songs chart. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song and was nominated for Best Rock Performance at the 2018 Grammys.