Dave Grohl’s favourite punk albums: “It changed my life”
After Nirvana released their debut album, Bleach, a seminal record to emerge from Seattle’s grunge scene, the band sought out a new drummer. They landed upon Dave Grohl from the hardcore punk band Scream, which had recently split. With Grohl in tow, Nirvana recorded Nevermind, shooting grunge, and subsequently alternative rock, into the mainstream.
Nirvana became one of the most popular bands of the decade, with hits such as ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and In Utero’s ‘Heart Shaped Box’ defining a generation. Grohl’s insane drumming skills propelled the band forward, acting as the perfect addition to the lineup. However, Nirvana came to an unexpected end when lead vocalist Kurt Cobain was found dead in 1994.
Thus, Grohl formed a new band, Foo Fighters, becoming the lead vocalist and guitarist. Since its formation, the band has sold millions of records, making them one of the most successful outfits in American music history. It is safe to say that Grohl is a rock legend, although his journey towards becoming such an icon wouldn’t have been possible if he had not discovered the joys of punk rock as a teenager.
He found himself enamoured by hardcore punk, immersing himself in the scene so passionately that he had no choice but to join a band and become a member of the scene. Grohl recalled to The Guardian, “In 1983, I discovered punk rock music through a cousin in Chicago. My world turned upside down. My favourite bands were Bad Brains and Naked Raygun; I listened to Dead Kennedys and Black Flag.”
He revealed how he was captivated by small underground shows. “I didn’t have that festival/stadium/arena rock experience; I just saw four punk rock dudes on the stage, playing this fast three-chord music, with about 75 people in the audience climbing all over each other. It changed my life.”
After discovering the Washington DC scene, he regularly attended gigs in the area, such as Minor Threat and Fugazi. He explained, “By the time I was 14, I was cutting and dyeing my hair and wearing leather jackets. All I wanted to do was leave school, jump in a van and tour shitty basement clubs with my punk band.”
Punk has been a vital influence on Grohl’s musical career, and you can hear traces of the genre running through his own work. There is one album that Grohl calls his favourite punk record: Rock For Light by Bad Brains. The band are widely considered pioneers of hardcore punk, releasing their self-titled debut album in 1981.
Yet, it is their second album that Grohl prefers. He revealed to Melody Maker, “This might be my all-time favourite record. It was the first time I’d heard a hardcore band that had that supreme musicianship, but kept it kind of simple – four black guys from Washington DC who laid every other hardcore punk rock band to waste.”
Grohl called Bad Brains “the most amazing live band in the world,” praising their incorporation of reggae. He added, “They were Rastafarians, so they’d throw in a little bit of reggae just to mellow out the punks or something.”
Out of Grohl’s ten favourite records, there was only one more that fell into the punk category – The Melvins’ Gluey Porch Treatments. The band were much more of a sludge metal outfit, exerting considerable influence on the burgeoning grunge scene, yet, at their core, the Melvins still possessed plenty of punk spirit.
Whether you consider the album punk or not, Grohl justified his choice by stating, “The Melvins started off as this fast, hardcore punk rock band, but then turned into this sludgy Black Sabbath metal militia that they knew everyone would hate.”
He added, “They were the kings of that whole bratty nature of punk. It’s kind of a basement production job, but it sounds heavier than any fuckin’ Dio or Slayer record I ever heard.”
Dave Grohl’s favourite punk albums:
- Rock For Light – Bad Brains
- Gluey Porch Treatments – The Melvins
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