The album Dave Grohl called “the most beautiful record” ever made
One of modern rock’s most salient names, Dave Grohl, has undoubtedly left a legacy of high-octane musical impact both with Nirvana and Foo Fighters. His name, for its connection to these two bands alone, will be remembered in rock history for some time. As the drummer for the pioneering grunge outfit, he demonstrated a brutish talent that endeared him to millions. That love only grew when he stepped out from the kit and joined the front of the stage to become the singer and leader of Foo Fighters.
Sadly, his career has been littered with tragedy, first with the death of his Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain and, earlier this year, his Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. These tragedies have undoubtedly shaped Grohl personally and professionally. And, perhaps most importantly, made him insatiable with a desire to achieve the dreams his friends never got to fully realise.
Grohl’s tenacious creativity against the odds is a testament to his winning personality that radiates humble confidence and true musical passion. Consequently, Grohl has a warm relationship with peers and fans who have supported him in a symbiosis over the past three decades.
In his interviews, Grohl oozes positivity and never shies from commending fellow musicians past and present. Over the years, he has painted a vivid image of his musical background, from his early percussion obsession – as he drummed along to his parents’ Beatles records – to the pivotal inspiration he and his Nirvana bandmates garnered from Pixies and Melvins.
Speaking with Melody Maker in 2000, Grohl discussed some of his favourite albums of all time. Among his selections were a couple of old-school classics by the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, but he also paid tribute to some of his contemporaries in the US grunge scene.
For one of his more contemporary choices, Grohl picked out his friend Mark Lanegan’s 1990 debut solo album, The Winding Sheet. The music marked a turned corner from Lanegan’s heavier previous work with The Screaming Trees, but, as with Nirvana’s famous MTV Unplugged album, from within the acoustic tranquillity, stony grunge roots pervade.
“Oh man, it’s the most beautiful record,” Grohl said of Lanegan’s solo debut. “It’s a Sunday morning, acoustic, soulful blues record. The guy has so much soul and the most beautiful voice. You imagine this is what your heart would sound like if it could sing, it’s so fuckin’ beautiful.”
The album connected with Grohl on a far deeper level too, as it soundtracked one of the most pivotal moments of his life: “This album came out just after I moved to Seattle, so to me, it represents that whole time. Mark sang for the Screaming Trees, so he had his flipside, but there was also a lot of appreciation in Seattle at that time for the purity and truth of real music.”
Lanegan sadly passed away in February 2022 after a lifelong battle with addiction and related health issues. Grohl, who, like Lanegan, joined Queens of the Stone Age on tour occasionally, was among the late musician’s close peers to pay tribute following the news.
“It was so pure and so real,” Grohl told the Independent of Lanegan’s talent. “If he sang about pain, you believed it, and if he sang about love, you believed it.” This truth is one that is increasingly hard to find in music. Lanegan’s ability to open himself up emotionally and convey the pain he felt and, by proxy, enact it on to you, was perhaps his greatest talent of all.
The truth is that the pain came from somewhere real. Grohl understood this as he explained: “If you know anything about his story, or have read any of his books, you’ll understand why he sang what he did and why he sang it the way that he did,” he added. “There was nobody like him. In Seattle, he was much loved.”
Listen to ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night’, from Mark Lanegan’s The Winding Sheet, below. For this track, Kurt Cobain provided guitar accompaniment.
