Vinyl and Foo Fighters lovers rejoice: The rock act is releasing an entire set of covers in honor of Record Store Day this year.
“Medium Rare” boasts 13 tracks, from “Band on the Run” by Paul McCartney & Wings to “Darling Nikki” by Prince, and drops exclusively on vinyl LP on April 16. Foos have a long history of covers, having released some as B-sides, others as live set staples and bootlegs, the ilk. This is the first collection of this kind for them, and is the bow of two previously unreleased takes on Thin Lizzy’s “Bad Reputation” and The Zombies’ “This Will Be Our Year.”
I’m particularly tickled to hear Hüsker Dü’s “Never Talking to You Again”; I am mildly disappointed there isn’t one single female musician in the list.
The announcement comes within the same day Dave Grohl & Co.’s new music video to “Rope” dropped. Check out what HitFix’s Melinda Newman has to say about it here.
Foo Fighters’ new Butch Vig-produced set “Wasting Light” arrives only a few days before “Medium Rare,” on April 12. A documentary on the band, cleverly named “Foo Fighters,” makes its bow during the South By Southwest (SXSW) Film festival in Austin this coming week.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised, so far, with the Foos’ promotional campaign for “Wasting Light,” with “Medium Rare” being one helluva pleasant surprise. As Britney Spears’ snippet and full-song leaks continue, and Lady Gaga’s slow world takeover rages on, the band has packed their spring with a lot to be proud of. While I have yet to hear the new studio effort, “White Limo” raged pretty hard (if at least with its Lemmy-starring video) and I’m intrigued about the inclusion of Krist Novoselic in the tracklist. The band proved again it could have fun as a crew with “Rope.” Their take on the rock doc — which may overshadow their more boring album contributions (*cough* “Echoes” and “One by One” *cough*) — could be a great snapshot of a rock band in its testy middle age.
Here is the tracklist for “Medium Rare”:
1. “Band on the Run” (Paul McCartney & Wings)
2. “I Feel Free” (Cream)
3. “Life of Illusion” (Joe Walsh)
4. “Young Man Blues” (Mose Allison)
5. “Bad Reputation” (Thin Lizzy)
6. “Darling Nikki” (Prince)
7. “Down in the Park” (Gary Numan)
8. “Baker Street” (Gerry Rafferty)
9. “Danny Says” (The Ramones)
10. “Have A Cigar” (Pink Floyd)
11. “Never Talking to You Again” (Hüsker Dü)
12. “Gas Chamber” (Angry Samoans)
13. “This Will Be Our Year” (The Zombies)