The Truth About The Foo Fighters' New Disco Album
In their 25-plus years together, the Foo Fighters have proven time and again that they know how to reinvent themselves. Their 1995 debut was an even more melodic take on the grunge sound of frontman Dave Grohl's previous band, Nirvana, and while they carried most of their original influences over to 1997's sophomore effort "The Colour and the Shape," most fans will agree that the now-all-time-classic track "Everlong" showed a maturity that wasn't quite there in the first album. We could go on and on until their 10th and most recent album, "Medicine at Midnight," but what if we tell you the Foo Fighters have something else in store this year, and that it happens to be very different from anything they've done before?
As you may have heard, the Foo Fighters are indeed releasing a disco album later this summer, but in case you haven't yet, you aren't reading it wrong. After running the gamut of rock sub-genres from the first album to the latest, the Foos are finally dipping their toes into the disco pool, and you may be wondering what to expect when the new record finally drops. Having said that, here's the truth behind this upcoming release, and everything we know about the album so far.
Meet the Dee Gees -- Foo Fighters' disco alter-egos
Given how the Foo Fighters will be releasing an album that's so far removed from their usual fare, it shouldn't be a surprise they won't be using their actual band name. Instead, as the BBC noted, they will be billed as the Dee Gees — a reference not only to Dave Grohl's initials but also to the Bee Gees, who were not named after their sole surviving member (Barry Gibb) nor the fact that they consisted of the Brothers Gibb. As for the name of the LP, Grohl and company went with another clever pun, calling the vinyl-only release "Hail Satin," which, of course, is a play of words on "Hail Satan" and the fabric favored by most disco musicians back in the day.
If you're curious how the Foo Fighters, er ... Dee Gees will sound like on their upcoming album, the band took to Twitter on June 17 to share a brief clip of their cover of the Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancing." Amazingly, Grohl's falsetto doesn't sound too far removed from that of Barry Gibb, though if you listen closely, there's enough to give it away as a very uncanny tribute from the Foo Fighters frontman.
Side 1 of Hail Satin will feature four Bee Gees covers and another disco remake
During the recording of "Hail Satin," the Foo Fighters chose to keep it simple by mostly sticking to the music of the Bee Gees when choosing covers to include on the LP's first side. According to the BBC, Side 1 of the album will feature remade versions of the Bee Gees classics "Night Fever," "Tragedy," "You Should Be Dancing," and "More Than a Woman." Except for "Tragedy," all of these songs were included in the soundtrack of "Saturday Night Fever" (via AllMusic), and when it comes to disco albums, few, if any, are more iconic than the OST to John Travolta's breakout movie from 1977.
As for the fifth cover, the Foo Fighters/Dee Gees chose to keep it in the Gibb family by offering their own take on Andy Gibb's "Shadow Dancing." Before his death in 1988 at the much-too-young age of 30, the youngest Gibb brother rivaled the Bee Gees as a bonafide hitmaker, with his first three singles all hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — 1978's "Shadow Dancing" was his third consecutive chart-topper, following "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" and "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water."
Side 2 will feature live versions of songs from Medicine at Midnight
As mentioned above, the Foo Fighters have explored many sub-genres of rock through their 10 studio albums so far, and 2021's "Medicine at Midnight" stood out from the nine previous releases for being the band's "party record," as opined by Pitchfork. In its mostly critical review, the publication compared the songs on "Medicine" to the dancefloor-friendly tunes from rock legends David Bowie (his 1983 album "Let's Dance") and the Rolling Stones ("Miss You," in particular, from their disco-inflected 1978 record "Some Girls"). Additionally, Grohl referred to "Medicine" as the Foos' "'Let's Dance' record" in an interview with Los Angeles' ALT 98.7 FM, according to Loudwire.
With that in mind, it isn't much of a shock that the second side of "Hail Satin" consists exclusively of live versions of "Medicine at Midnight" tracks. Side 2 of the upcoming LP includes the following tracks, which were recorded live at the Foo Fighters' 606 Studio: "Making a Fire," "Shame Shame," "Waiting on a War," "No Son of Mine," and "Cloudspotter." With the exception of the fast-paced, hard-rocking "No Son of Mine" and the mostly acoustic "Waiting on a War," these tunes arguably lend themselves well to a disco (or disco-themed) album, based on their original configuration. Still, it should be interesting to see if the Foos added some disco flavor to their own songs during the making of "Hail Satin."
Dave Grohl had never sung in falsetto before the disco album
He may have initially been known as Nirvana's drummer, but as he's shown with the Foo Fighters, as well as his many side projects (via Uproxx), Dave Grohl is a highly versatile musician. However, he apparently hadn't tried singing falsetto prior to covering "You Should Be Dancing" for BBC Radio 2's Sofa Session in February 2021. That was the first real hint at what was to come with "Hail Satin," and Grohl opened up to Sofa Session host Jo Whiley about the inspiration for the "You Should Be Dancing" cover. "While we were having this conversation somebody said, 'Hey, have you seen that Bee Gees documentary?' And I was like the last person on earth – the only person that hadn't seen it! So I was like, 'Why don't we just do a Bee Gees song?'" the frontman explained, via Loudwire.
Talking about his lack of experience singing in an unnaturally high-pitched voice, Grohl said that he had "never, ever in [his] life sung like that" but stressed that everything came surprisingly easy to him. "I sang the song, and it was like six minutes and I was done," he added. "I should have been singing like this for the last 25 years!" We don't know if we can imagine early hits like "I'll Stick Around" sung in falsetto, but we're definitely not doubting his talent.
Hail Satin will be released as part of Record Store Day's July 17 drop
A special album oftentimes needs a special occasion for its release, and in the case of "Hail Satin," the Foo Fighters' first-ever effort as the Dee Gees will be dropping on July 17, 2021 — this year's second edition of Record Store Day, or RSD. According to USA Today, RSD started in 2008 as a way for U.S. record stores to showcase their offerings, particularly rare and limited-edition vinyl LPs and CDs that are normally available via independent retailers only. Initially, the event was held every third Saturday of April, though in 2010, RSD became a twice-a-year thing, with the first Black Friday edition taking place that year, per Consequence.
Due to the extraordinary circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, Record Store Day's drop schedules have changed a fair bit as of late. According to the event's website, this year's first RSD was held on June 12 — almost two months later than the usual schedule. The RSD site also shows that 12,000 copies of "Hail Satin" will be made available as part of the July 17 drop, along with albums from acts ranging from the Beastie Boys to "Weird Al" Yankovic. It's going to be quite the event, not only for Foo Fighters fans but also for anyone hoping to get their hands on unusual releases from their favorite musicians.