Dave Grohl reveals what he believes to be the “perfect record”

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Dave Grohl reveals what he believes to be the “perfect record”

“I’ve probably listened to it 10,000 times, and I still love it”

Dave Grohl has revealed the album that he considers to be the “perfect record”.

  • READ MORE: Foo Fighters live in Liverpool: rock club vibes on a stadium scale from our greatest supergroup

The Foo Fighters frontman was asked to name which album he considers to be a masterpiece during a recent interview on BBC 6 Radio Music, and named Pixies’ 1988 debut album ‘Surfer Rosa’.

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Among the reasons he shared were the intricate yet stripped back lyrics, the sonic engineering from the late producer Steve Albini, and the blending of voices throughout the 13-song tracklist.

“I love that record so much for a lot of reasons. One, that it was produced by the almighty Steve Albini,” Grohl shared. “And it was maybe the first album to become popular and showcase his incredible engineering sonic technique.”

He continued, saying that frontman Black Francis “was an amazing lyricist”.

“His lyrics were just— they kind of teetered back and forth from abstract intellectual to things that just sounded so absurd and almost like dumb in a way… His voice and Kim Deal, their two voices together, it was just such a wonderful blend,” he added. “And it was unusual at the time. They really did sort of coin this specific dynamic and the simplicity of it was really powerful.”

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Concluding, he said: “That record I’ve probably listened to 10,000 times and I still love it. I could still listen to it every day.”

‘Surfer Rosa’ is considered among the best alt-rock albums of all time, and others to praise the album since its release in 1988 have included PJ Harvey and The Smashing Pumpkins’ frontman Billy Corgan.

The debut featured Pixies’ massive hit ‘Where Is My Mind?’, which famously featured in 1999’s Fight Club starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter. The song has also been used in other films including 2011’s Sucker Punch and 2015’s Knock Knock.

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As for Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters are currently on the road for their European ‘Take Cover’ tour, which comes in support of their brand new album ‘Your Favorite Toy‘. The dates kicked off with two shows in Liverpool last month, and saw the rockers serenaded by school children ahead of the first gig.

NME caught their first gig in Liverpool and gave it a glowing four-star review, which read: “That laid-back rock club vibe is what makes this work. Foos don’t have the bells, whistles, pyro, or blockbuster special effects of other standard stadium acts, just tunes and banter.”

“Who’d have thought that ‘This Is A Call’, ‘For All the Cows’ and ‘Big Me’ – written for their 1995 debut and for sweaty little rooms – would land like Queen classics on this pitch?” it added.

  • Related Topics
  • Alternative
  • Black Francis
  • Dave Grohl
  • Foo Fighters
  • Pixies
  • Rock

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Dave Grohl has revealed the album that he considers to be the “perfect record”.

  • READ MORE: Foo Fighters live in Liverpool: rock club vibes on a stadium scale from our greatest supergroup

The Foo Fighters frontman was asked to name which album he considers to be a masterpiece during a recent interview on BBC 6 Radio Music, and named Pixies’ 1988 debut album ‘Surfer Rosa’.

Advertisement

Among the reasons he shared were the intricate yet stripped back lyrics, the sonic engineering from the late producer Steve Albini, and the blending of voices throughout the 13-song tracklist.

“I love that record so much for a lot of reasons. One, that it was produced by the almighty Steve Albini,” Grohl shared. “And it was maybe the first album to become popular and showcase his incredible engineering sonic technique.”

He continued, saying that frontman Black Francis “was an amazing lyricist”.

“His lyrics were just— they kind of teetered back and forth from abstract intellectual to things that just sounded so absurd and almost like dumb in a way… His voice and Kim Deal, their two voices together, it was just such a wonderful blend,” he added. “And it was unusual at the time. They really did sort of coin this specific dynamic and the simplicity of it was really powerful.”

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Concluding, he said: “That record I’ve probably listened to 10,000 times and I still love it. I could still listen to it every day.”

‘Surfer Rosa’ is considered among the best alt-rock albums of all time, and others to praise the album since its release in 1988 have included PJ Harvey and The Smashing Pumpkins’ frontman Billy Corgan.

The debut featured Pixies’ massive hit ‘Where Is My Mind?’, which famously featured in 1999’s Fight Club starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter. The song has also been used in other films including 2011’s Sucker Punch and 2015’s Knock Knock.

Advertisement

As for Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters are currently on the road for their European ‘Take Cover’ tour, which comes in support of their brand new album ‘Your Favorite Toy‘. The dates kicked off with two shows in Liverpool last month, and saw the rockers serenaded by school children ahead of the first gig.

NME caught their first gig in Liverpool and gave it a glowing four-star review, which read: “That laid-back rock club vibe is what makes this work. Foos don’t have the bells, whistles, pyro, or blockbuster special effects of other standard stadium acts, just tunes and banter.”

“Who’d have thought that ‘This Is A Call’, ‘For All the Cows’ and ‘Big Me’ – written for their 1995 debut and for sweaty little rooms – would land like Queen classics on this pitch?” it added.

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2026-07-29 16:51:14

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