All My Life, Foo fighters, 2002
Add It Up, Violent Femmes, 1983
A new Foo Fighters album dropped week before last … I make a conscious effort to keep up with new album releases and I’ve listened to the new Foo album a few times now. It’s underwhelming. Listening to it this past week made me think about my hard feelings against the Foo Fighters.
Don’t get me wrong … I respect Dave Grohl as a talented and driven artist. Don’t get me wrong … I like so many Foo Fighters songs. They’re good. Everlong is brilliant. But, the first time I heard All My Life, I lost respect for Grohl and his band. The day I got the album, One by One, I was dumbfounded. From the second All My Life launched, I stood with my mouth open. I listened to it on a loop non-stop for a long time that day and the more I heard it, the angrier I got. All My Life is a blatant rip-off of Add It Up by the Violent Femmes.
I was still married at the time and thankfully, my ex and I actually found common ground with most music. I yelled out for him, “you have to hear this!” I didn’t explain; I just let him listen to All My Life. After it played, I asked, “Do you hear it?” He said, “the Violent Femmes?”
Back in 2002, we had the Internet … really, we did. We also had smartphones but we weren’t as attached to them as we are now. I remember searching back then to see if anyone else had made the same inference as I had but there really wasn’t much. I still search when the mood hits me and still, years later, there are only a few hits. You hear it though, right?
Oh and really ... Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee? I don't know how I feel about that.
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