One by One | ||||
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Studio album by Foo Fighters | ||||
Released | October 22, 2002 | |||
Recorded | April–May 2002 | |||
Studio | Studio 606 in Alexandria, Virginia | |||
Genre | Alternative rock, post-grunge,hard rock | |||
Length | 55:11 | |||
Label | Roswell/RCA | |||
Producer | Foo Fighters, Adam Kasper, Nick Raskulinecz | |||
Foo Fighters chronology | ||||
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Singles from One by One | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 75/100 |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
The Austin Chronicle | |
Blender | |
Robert Christgau | B– |
Entertainment Weekly | A− |
NME | 8/10 |
Pitchfork Media | 5.4/10 |
Q | |
Rolling Stone | |
Stylus Magazine | B+ |
One by One is the fourth studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on October 22, 2002 by RCA. The album is the first to feature guitarist Chris Shiflett. Production on the album was troubled, with initial recording sessions considered unsatisfying and raising tensions between the band members. They eventually decided to redo the album from scratch during a two-week period at frontman Dave Grohl's home studio in Alexandria, Virginia. The songs on the album, which include the successful singles "All My Life" and "Times Like These", have been noted for their introspective lyrics and a heavier and more aggressive sound compared to the band's earlier work, which Grohl said was intended to translate the energy of the Foo Fighters' live performances into a recording.
The album was a commercial success, topping the charts in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom and sold over one million copies in the United States. One by One was positively received by critics, winning a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2004—the second Grammy Award for Best Rock Album won by the band—and praised for its sound and production. However, some considered the work inferior to the band's previous albums, and the musicians themselves eventually grew distasteful of the record as a whole.
Following the extended tour promoting There Is Nothing Left to Lose, which kept the Foo Fighters mostly on the road between 1999 and 2001, the band started to compose songs for their next album in early 2001. After demo work in drummer Taylor Hawkins' home studio in Topanga, the band used the second quarter of 2001 to perform in European festivals. In August, after performing in Chelmsford's V Festival, Hawkins suffered a heroin overdose that left him in a coma for two days. After taking time off to recover, during which frontman Dave Grohl accepted an offer to play drums for the Queens of the Stone Age on their album Songs for the Deaf, the band got together in October 2001 to continue composition. During November and December, they had been recording at Grohl's Studio 606 in Alexandria, Virginia, working with both the producer for their previous album, Adam Kasper, and recording engineer Nick Raskulinecz, whom they met after he had engineered "A320" for Godzilla: The Album. Raskulinecz had just left his job at Sound City Studios, and speculated that Grohl, having found difficulty in 'finding a guy who would commit to sitting in his basement for four months', picked him for his energetic and enthusiastic nature.