Dave Grohl names his number-one album of all time: “I remember discovering that”
It’s usually impossible for any artist to pick something they would consider their favourite song. The whole point of being a music fan is to have a diverse music taste, and there’s a chance that a hip-hop song might speak to someone in a much different way than a rock and roll tune ever could. But Dave Grohl knew that some heights couldn’t be reached again, and that normally came from hearing a guitar pumping out the best riffs imaginable.
When looking at Grohl’s music taste history, though, certain pockets will always be close to his heart. Anyone who has ever been mildly interested in music will probably tell you the time and place when they heard The Beatles for the first time, but the genesis of Grohl’s musical epiphany came from the moment he saw Naked Raygun perform in Chicago. He was a mild-mannered kid before then, but he had now officially begun his transformation into a punk rocker.
Then again, Grohl seemed to be one of the few members of the DC hardcore scene who could still appreciate melody. The whole reason he joined Scream was that there were still songs that had catchy hooks to them, and no matter how much punks might have complained about hearing poppy melodies in certain tunes, it’s hard to deny a song that makes you headbang and want to sing along at the same time.
Ever since forming Foo Fighters, though, nothing has been off the table for Grohl to work on. There was still room for him to make new music with his band, but hearing him work off of people like Trent Reznor, Josh Homme, or Norah Jones were examples of him trying to test his range. He was still a great rockstar, but a rockstar is only as good as the person he’s performing with, and that meant Grohl having a refined musical palette.
But given his history as being one of the best drummers in the world, Grohl was always drawn to the guitar. The six-string had always been the outlet for people to speak through in rock and roll, and it didn’t get much better than listening to Ry Cooder playing on the soundtrack to Paris, Texas. It’s far from the most mainstream listen, but Grohl still felt that nothing he’s ever heard has topped it.
Even when putting it next to Beatles albums, Grohl still held this record in the highest esteem possible, saying, “The number one of all time is Ry Cooder’s Paris, Texas soundtrack. I remember discovering that record while I was on tour in Italy in 1988, driving along the coast. I recommend it to anybody who has a long car or train ride, because it will soothe your soul.”
Despite the album being mostly instrumental, though, it’s not hard to see why Grohl gravitated towards it. The best records of all time have been able to put emotions into music much better than anything else could, and even without lyrics, Cooder had the ability to take you back to a memory that you may not have even lived.
While it would be easy to classify this as the rock and roll equivalent of ambient music, that’s underselling what Cooder has on display here. This was one of the finest rock guitarists of all time playing the kind of music that was never meant for a specific pop audience. It was meant for anyone with a passing knowledge of what beauty was supposed to sound like.
