Remember right after Record Store Day we posted that funny local news clip of Metallica signing autographs and talking about the kids “textin’” and not going to record stores and shit? And that a number of your comments centered around the band being especially not-very-good at this point? Well, looks like Dave Grohl agrees. In fact, the Foo Fighter has penned James, Lars & Co. a cheeky fan letter. Fade to black.
Via Blabbermouth::
Dear METALLICA,
Hey, it’s Dave! Remember me? Yeah, I’m the guy that’s been listening to your band faithfully since 1983. I bought your first album Kill ‘Em All from a mailorder catalogue called Under The Rainbow, I think. Actually I can’t remember. It was 1983 for Christsakes! But that album changed my life and I’ve been listening to your albums ever since (even St Anger!).
I can’t wait to hear the new shit, and no matter what you guys do I’ll always be first one at the shop waiting to hear it. I’m sure you’ll come out and blow everybody’s fuckin’ minds, because you’re fuckin’ METALLICA!
Good luck. And don’t release it until it’s kick-ass.
Yours, Dave Grohl.
P.S. Are you finished recording the drums yet?
Them’s foo fightin’ words. Now Metallica can hate two Daves. And, Lars, are you going to thrash him? At least he said he’d buy it, right?
UPDATE: OK, so this story is only half true. Dave explains on the Fooblog:
Just wanted to write a quick note to clear up this whole “Open letter to Metallica” fiasco……For the record, I never “wrote” anything to Metallica. I was asked by a journalist, at the end of a long interview (abut the Foo Fighters) to give a quick message to Metallica in the studio. So, I rattled that quote off the top of my head. No biggie, right? Somehow it became my “open letter” to the band, and now it’s been picked up by everyone from Blabbermouth to Rolling Stone (as if anyone really cares!). Now, it’s true that I’ve been a loyal fan of this band for 25 years, and I can’t wait to hear the new shit, but an “open letter” to the band?!!?? Nah. Not my style. I’d rather just text ‘em……
OK…….just needed to get that off my chest. Hope you guys are good. Thanks for coming out to the shows, they’ve been a blast. Only a few more before we crawl back into our cave and hibernate. It’s gonna be a loooooong winter…….
Dave
Understood, Dave. But for the record — we agree with you. Thanks for the tip, Risa.
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Everything since …And Justice For All has been pretty bad, but I don’t know if Dave is one to talk. I feel like Foo Fighters have been putting out the same album for 8 years.
Irony!
I agree,Foo Fighters,Metallica,Megadeth all had their day……Slayer has never forgot what metal is and stands for every album pulls you in and punches you in the mug then beats the hell out of grand mother leaving you saying god these guys know what its all about!!!!!!
Anyone who doesn’t know that Foo Fighters are kick-ass is retarded.
Foo Fighters have never come remotely close to matching The Color and the Shape so he’s one to talk.
Wait, what? I must’ve missed the start of this wave of Metallica hate. I’ll gladly join in, though.
remember Napster?
Gotta love Dave’s little jab at his own drum-whore reputation.
you got to admit, Dave’s pretty funny.
i love dave grohl about as sincerely as one can love someone she doesn’t know. i think he continuously write beautiful, well-crafted rock songs, and keeps it real. honestly, he hasn’t seemed to change a bit over the years. it’s refreshing, really.
I am a big fan of Dave Ghrol in every way, but the irony holds true here. Foo’s haven’t had a great album since they “sold out” with Colour and the Shape. He’s still hands-down the best drummer in the last 20 years though.
(Just off the top of my head)
Zach Hill
Brian Chippendale
Damon Che
Are all better drummers than dave grohl
And Dave is a much better drummer than Lars.
Dave’s a great drummer. But he’s not a metal drummer. While it is without a doubt the least universally accepted genre, it is truly the home of the greatest instrumentalists. There are no Yngwie Malmsteens, Alexi Laihos, or Cliff Burtons in pop rock. Dave’s great, and he is perfect for bands like Nirvana, where the technical aspects of the music are not as closely examined. However Lars Ulrich is in a completely different league. Lars, The Rev, Chris Adler, Dave couldn’t touch these guys, It’s apples and oranges.
Not to imply he is not a great drummer. But, “He’s still hands-down the best drummer in the last 20 years though”, give me a break
I’m not sure this is a negative letter- it seems that blogs like this- like to stir the coals-
It’s tongue and cheek- Kirk was/is a huge Nirvana fan- he was at the Hollywood
Paladium gig back in 1991- around the time he was finishing the black album-bands that
sell 10 million records can take as long as they want- Dave knows that- he’s now in that position too- Why not just blog about No Age some more? Perhaps they’ll sell out MSG soon too.
Huh,
It seems to me- that probably- you could have made the above statement-effectively-without using so many- dashes. Try periods- or maybe commas.
The grammar police is here! Beware!!
http://xkcd.com/326/
“He’s still hands-down the best drummer in the last 20 years though.”
Not even a tiny bit close.
I agree. But he is a very good Pop or Power Pop drummer, or whatever. And I don’t mean that as a knock, I like Dave Grohl’s drumming a lot.
But even he would be quick to point out (and he has before) that Matt Cameron and Dale Crover are two other grunge drummers, particularly from his era, that are much better than he is.
Actually, it would be “The grammar police ARE here.” Technically, that is…
americans don’t get irony
foreigners don’t get generalizations.
and, clearly, stereogummers don’t get irony.
I think Dave’s a generally funny guy….it’s his music that sucks. Also, Metallica’s.
i must admit that i do enjoy post-colour foo fighters, even though i know it?s not as groundbreaking as most fans would claim. on the other hand, die hard metallica fans are pretty much the most annoying people possible, as i learned seeing metallica twice when i was a young lad. furthermore, it?s pretty ridiculous to claim that dave grohl is the best drummer of the past 20 years. he?d probably slap you for saying that.
at any rate, i?d probably give dave an hj in a heartbeat? srsly. or maybe not.
Why is There Is Nothing Left To Lose SOOOO underrated!? I love love love the Coulour and the Shape, but TINLTL is so solid. STACKED ACTORS!!!!!! BAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DROP A TUNING!!!!!!! Solid album…….then……one by one was okay………….then…well, you know the rest of the story…
Dave’s referring to the fact that Metallica takes a year to cut one drum track in the studio. The parts are all edited to death.
Dave should play drums for them. At least then he’d be behind a drum kit where he belongs.
Back when I listened to metal, I thought Dave’s Probot album was MUCH better than anything Metallica had done since ’88. So in that sense he has a right to talk trash to Hetfield & Co.
Foo Fighters suck?? What the hell have you idiots been listening to. The best live show I have ever been to. Plus no ego b.s. to put up with with Dave and the guys. Yeah everlong, monky wrench, all my life, pretender, and best of you , i guess they all sound the same and suck? You guys probably went out and bought Mariah Carey’s new album. Anyway hope the are some true Foo fans on here to agree.
Yes, all the songs you cited certainly sound the same and all suck so I have to disagree with you. Unless you were being sarcastic.
Blabbermouth.net and Metal Hammer both cited each other as the source of this letter. Metal Hammer (who posted after Blabbermouth) has deleted its story. Blabbermouth had posted first without citing Metal Hammer, but later edited its story to cite Metal Hammer.
Full explanation here.
http://TheMusic.FM/2008.05.10/dave-grohl-metallica-letter-source-doubt
I have requested more information from Blabbermouth.net and from Metal Hammer and will update the post when it comes in.
The first Foo Fighters record was great and they’ve had some decent material since then, but Metallica have always sucked the dick. Yeah, I know they were important to metal and they championed the Misfits and other then-obscure punk rock blah blah blah… but I could never get into a band that’s fronted by a guy who sings(and looks) like a total dipshit redneck. The icing on the cake was when their record label somehow convinced them that Napster had something to do with their dwindling post-Load record sales.
Opeth is the hardest metal known to man.
I just like the guy who called Dave Grohl a “power-pop drummer”.
I’m a big Dave G. fan, but there are several drummers from the alternative days who were more bad ass:
Will Goldsmith (SDRE; quit Foos when DG wouldn’t let him record his own drum parts)
Jimmy Chamberlain (sp)
Zach Barocas (jawbox)
Dave was and is a great drummer, just wish he was drumming more often.
Does playing in a power pop band make one a power pop drummer?
Discuss.
Dave Grohl has been sucking Dale Crover’s dick ever since before Nirvana. That’s why he had to write Metallica a letter… Talk about a mouthful
I don’t understand? Since when did Dave play in a pop band?? Scream? No Nirvana? No. Foo Fighters and No . So who really cares about his drumming anyway? He plays guitar for a kickass band now. He writes and taught himself to play piano too. Why so are people hating on Dave. Foo Fighters rock! Oil lion you ever been to a show of his?? Probably not. Idiot!
To Norm’s comment. I was not being sarcastic, but respect your incorrect comment. I would like to know what band you like. I bet i could make an argument about a few of their songs sounding a little the same. No matter who it was.
It isn’t Madonna is it?? LOL that was sarcastic.
Let’s see if Metallica kills Bonnaroo the way it killed the original incarnation of Lollapalooza and the third stab and Woodstock.
Fools fight uphill… You don’t know what a good show is and that’s YOUR fault, dipshit
I don’t get the Foo Fighters idea, that’s because Dave’s one of the greatest drummers of all time. Its like Picasso would’ve become a writer…. there’s no point!
You should buy (instores, of course) Killing Joke 2003 album (self titled) or Songs for the deaf (Queens of the Stone Age) to expand your horizons about Dave Grohl, and stop talking about that useless Foo Fighters.
The Foo Fighters have always put out very consistent rock records. Some just have a better sound quality than others. And how can you say Dave sold out? He was already in one of the biggest bands of all time! He just moved over to another band.
And WTF do you care if bands “sell out” anyway? I hate that. Either the band sucks or they don’t. You aren’t paying their bills. End this sell out BS already.
In closing, I may have lost interest in the Foo Fighters in the past years, but it comforts me that they are ruling rock radio and not Nickelback or some other crap rock band.
To Oil lion, Please enlighten me to who a good show is. I was just stating that you were talking crap about a band you haven’t even seen live. I guess they sell out shows because they suck?? Think not!
They sell out shows because there are a lot of stupid people like you. Until you’ve dropped some acid and witnessed Pink Floyd in some of their greatest moments, you don’t know what a SHOW is… AMEN
Load of bollocks, Dave never wrote an ‘open letter’ to Metallica. Go to the Foo Fighter’s website for his own comments on this.
To Oil Lion, I was talking about bands that aren’t 60. It is funny you need to drop acid to enjoy a show. Seems a little strange, but maybe that is the norm for you. I didn’t need drugs to enjoy the Foo Fighters.
I really have never understood the love of the Foos. To me they sound like a competent generic grunge-y rock bar band. I mean outside of the vocalists I can’t really distinguish their sound from the endless radio scrubs like Nickelback, Pearl Jam and the like.
I think the best thing about Metallica is the lead singer looks like a dipshit redneck. That’s always been metal’s core audience anyway. And Hetfield’s got a great voice – no one can deny that.
Dave is one of the most diverse musicians in Rock today and for the past 20 fucking years…so fuck off and stop bashing Dave
As for metallica…yes…they have put out some pretty brutal records since “an justice…”. But the black album was a little bit heavier…took away a little bit of the guitar solos…Load and reload were toned down (dont forget they sounded the same because it was meant to be a double album…reload was just songs from load that didnt make the final cut and eventually released)…garage inc was a covers album with their 1980′s EP Garage days Revisited addded…and St. Anger…well it sounded like it was recorded underwater and the fact the James was just out of Rehab and found god took away alot of the evil and anger in his song writing which may have led to the case…adn who cares about napster…its done.
Point being…a band can not stay the same through out the years…they progress different sounds through out the length of their carreer….Floyd did it, the beatles, Led Zep, Alice in Chains, Sound Garden, Pearl Jam…and so many others such as Weezer, NIN, Manson, Greenday…all to name a few
Dave is one of the most diverse musicians in Rock today and for the past 20 fucking years…so fuck off and stop bashing Dave
As for metallica…yes…they have put out some pretty brutal records since “an justice…”. But the black album was a little bit heavier…took away a little bit of the guitar solos…Load and reload were toned down (dont forget they sounded the same because it was meant to be a double album…reload was just songs from load that didnt make the final cut and eventually released)…garage inc was a covers album with their 1980′s EP Garage days Revisited addded…and St. Anger…well it sounded like it was recorded underwater and the fact the James was just out of Rehab and found god took away alot of the evil and anger in his song writing which may have led to the case…adn who cares about napster…its done.
Point being…a band can not stay the same through out the years…they progress different sounds through out the length of their carreer….Floyd did it, the beatles, Led Zep, Alice in Chains, Sound Garden, Pearl Jam…and so many others such as Weezer, NIN, Manson, Greenday…all to name a few
i forgot to add dave was only a drummer for nirvana and a few other projects…He was more so a frontman, guitarist, etc etc etc as the co-creator of the fighters of foo.
So thats why he is so diverse.
Alright then!
Let’s just all agree that Dave is one of the coolest cat’s in rock.
Period!!
Would Dave Grohl be considered the best rock or metal drummer? Absolutely not.
Was Nirvana considered one of the heaviest, catchiest, most rocking *Pop* bands of all time? Yes. And that’s by Kurt and Dave and Krist’s own description of Nirvana’s music. They were in Teen Beat and Tiger for god’s sake!
So I say yes, Dave Grohl is an amazing pop drummer. He’s played drums on many of the heaviest most popular pop songs in the last 20 years.
When did Dave Grohl play for The Backstreet Boys? I wouldn’t call Foo Fighters , nirvana, Queens of stone age, or Tenacious D pop. Sorry have to disagree there. Just because it is not Zepplin or Black Sabbath does not mean it is not rock. It is todays rock.
You obviously don’t remember the extent of Nirvana’s fame. Little girls loved that band.
And if it’s not pop, then how do you explain Kurt’s numerous comments that Nirvana was just a pop band? He consistently compared the band with Cheap Trick! It’s in their press bios.They were adamantly a pop band. When asked to describe Nirvana in one interview, what does the band do? They start playing “My Sharona,” one of the most quintessential pop songs of the last half century.
Besides, look at the structure: Verse-Chorus-Verse, high melodic content, minimal focus on instrumentation, high vocal focus, solos that replay the verse melody note for note, 3 minute structure, easy to remember lyrics. For crying out loud, most 3rd verses are the 1st verse repeated, a pop arrangement so cliche it’s vocally made fun of in songs by bands like The Ramones.
That’s Pop music. If you don’t get it, then you must not have actually lived through Nirvana’s hey day.
You know what? Fuck it. The first thing AllMusic Guide lists as Nirvana’s style is *ALTERNATIVE POP*. Case closed for me.
And if you think Pop = Backstreet Boys, I suggest you check out The Beatles or The Beach Boys sometime.
I just think everyone is hung up on being able to define ROCK with a special title. Pop rock, soft rock, hard rock , classic rock etc. etc. It sounds like you have studied the definition in school or something. You rattled that b.s. off like you have practiced it for a while. I don’t need a All music guide to tell what Nirvana or Foo Fighters music is. Their probably the same people that think Madonna belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ????? So lighten up and enjoy the music! It is only Rock and Roll (but i like it).
Grohl is a great drummer…better than Lars Ulrich? Uhhhh….nah. Grohl’s not even close to Josh Freese either(go ahead and cue up NIN’s With Teeth for the Pepsi challenge). Glad to see people agree that a Foo Fighters album is a cookie cutter by the numbers thing these days. I do like them but it’s pretty bland now and kinda just background music.
Lars says he’s studying Trent Reznor as far as online distribution….well wtf is taking so long? Jump on board. Trent is on an island now w/ CBS Radio/Infinity boycotting the new single Discipline despite it rocketing into the Billboard top 10 Modern Rock tracks. Sh!t or get off the pot Lars….I for one still like Metallica and would like to see them return to form, but f@ck the record companies and corporate radio.
You ALL suck! None of you know music! okay Lars was a dick back in the day lets forgive him now and move on. We Need Classic Metallica NOw and thats all there is too it.
Another thing “…And Justica For All” is by far thee greatest Metal Album of all Time!
The Black Album is Bland. But ok.
And Ya’ll should respect Grohl for his contributions to music unlike any of your Lazy ASSES!
Who’s the best this, who’s the best that? What is this a sport? Why not exchange the word “best” for “most important” or “influential”?
When your talking about people creating a genre of it’s own and taking it to the people, it goes beyond personal taste. It’s a turning point in the history of rock music and it’s no secret Nirvana became an unprecedented phenomenon soon after Grohl started playing for them.