I have in my possesion two of the unreleased demos from 2002 One by One Foo Fighters’ album! Ok, so yes, you could go online and find these gems yourself; but why bother when you could just join us here at Call Yourself a Nerd?

These are what drummer Taylor Hawkins referred to as the Million Dollar Demos because that is how much money the band dropped on the first draft of their wildly successful One by One album.  Why were there two drafts you ask? Well, Taylor was recovering after a bad drug overdose. The band had just finished a long tour and were kind of burnt out, Ghrol was lending his talent to other bands to avoid the band’s creative blocks… in summation: Band drama + personal drama = The almost demise of the Foo Fighters! They dealt with their stuff, regrouped, because they are too awesome to split up and recorded in Dave Ghrol‘s garage to create the version you all, no doubt, have at home.

Before we get to the clips, I have listened to them many many times already and feel justified in saying that the Foo Fighters are one of the best rock bands of our time. They did release these two songs; these are the rough cuts.  I appreciate the fact that they wanted to put their best work out there and not just something that would sell. Too many artists get lazy or perhaps frustrated and put out tracks that just fall flat. That is not the case with the Foo Fighters. They always deliver amazing tracks that hold onto that iconic sound while still evolving.

Enjoy! and scroll down for a tangent afterwards….

Tangent… I believe a band is only great if they hit on multiple levels.  1. Sound, 2. Lyrics, 3. Live shows, and  4. ego. You only have to watch this group live once to see that they hit on each and every one of those levels. At their shows it is not about the flashy costume changes, it is about the music and the fans. I went to see them play a huge arena show a few years ago and we were in the pit against the railings about midway in the crowd.  They had a catwalk and lowered a second stage from the ceiling so that the people in the back of the arena could have a front row view. They used their stage in a way where even 5’3” Natalia could see everything. They were even gracious to their opening acts, thanking them and expressing how much they enjoyed touring with them. This time it was Weezer who opened for them and since it was the last date on the tour Dave decided to pay male strippers dressed as rock meds to dance behind as they played. I think the massive amounts of cat calls and laughter alerted Rivers to what was going on and it was pretty priceless. So yes, 1. nailed it everytime. 2. everlong… enough said. 3. Best views, great sounds, long sets, guaranteed encore. 4. T-shirts and Jeans, no hollywood crap, c’mon the frontman plays drums for up and coming bands because he loves music. (See: Them crooked Vultures, Queens of the Stoneage etc.), gracious, no frills!