Not every song can manage to please fans around the world. Even though every artist tries to please the audience that comes to see them, there are just as many times when an album, song, or musical passage doesn’t fit with what fans think they should sound like. Although it’s hard to deny the likability of Dave Grohl, even he admits that one Foo Fighters song isn’t for everyone.
The truth is, Grohl was never looking to make music for anyone in particular when starting his new project. Formed out of the ashes of Nirvana, half of the reason why Foo Fighters started was for Grohl to record songs he wanted to hear, making the band’s debut album in a few days to help himself move on from his old band.
Once the record started to take off, though, Grohl needed to get a band together to see it through, bringing in old friends like Pat Smear and fresh faces like Nate Mendel. Although it would be torturous trying to finish their second album, The Colour and the Shape, Grohl finally found a dynamic that worked once Taylor Hawkins and Chris Shiftlett joined the band.
Throughout the 2000s, the band would continue to go from strength to strength, with nearly every album having a song that cracked the charts. Although Echoes Silence Patience Grace marked the moment when the band embraced the light and the dark side of their sound, it was also about time that the group put together their first greatest hits album.
Much like all best-of packages before them, though, Grohl was commissioned to write a new song for the project as if to write the next big hit for the band. Taking some inspiration from Tom Petty, ‘Wheels’ would become another massive success for the band, featuring a swirling chord progression and sounding like the band is flying through the air as the song plays.
Even though Grohl was proud of the song, he freely admitted that the song is not what traditional fans would come to Foo Fighters for, saying, “You do a song like ‘Wheels’ and people go, ‘Really? That’s the Foo Fighters?’ People get all scared. ‘Oh no, is that the direction they’re going?’ It’s one of those songs that our biggest fans hate. I like that we have songs that lots of different people either enjoy or dislike”.
Despite the hookiness of the song, it’s easy to see where Grohl is coming from when talking about that dropoff in the fanbase. Unlike the forceful edge of singles like ‘All My Life’ or ‘Best of You’, the midtempo groove and open chords make it feel like the song never truly gets out of first gear, always building before dropping off again.
While the song provided a nice bit of ear candy to stick onto a best-of collection, the band have been a bit touch-and-go with the song, playing it off and on throughout their career, depending on how they’re feeling. Even though Foo Fighters have their own identity as the definitive rock band of the modern age, this was the first time they dipped their toes into ‘dad rock’ territory.
