Maps of Music

One by One (2002)

Where the lyrics of One by One take you, and where it was really made.

The band scrapped its recordings and rebuilt the album from scratch in a two-week stretch at Dave Grohl's home studio in Virginia.

Key places

Grohl's Studio 606 in Alexandria (2002)

Recording site Studio 606 — The band recorded the early sessions for the album at Grohl's home studio in Alexandria, Virginia, in November and December 2001. The map point is set at city-center level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Los Angeles sessions at Conway (2002)

Recording site Conway Recording Studios — In January 2002 the band moved here for a change of scenery, recording 29 songs of which about ten were considered for the album. The sessions took four months. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Parts recorded at The Hook Studios (2002)

Recording site Hook Studios — Mendel and Shiflett later recorded their parts here, mostly under the supervision of Raskulinecz, while Grohl returned to Queens of the Stone Age. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• One by One: fourth studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters
• Released October 22, 2002 through Roswell and RCA Records
• Includes the singles “All My Life” and “Times Like These”
• First Foo Fighters album with guitarist Chris Shiflett as a band member
• First album not played on drums by Dave Grohl; Taylor Hawkins took the drum seat permanently

Background

• Frontman Dave Grohl began working on material for the next album as early as 2000
• Early sessions in 2001 and 2002 were considered unsatisfying and raised tensions among members
• In April 2002 the band discarded the recordings and took a break
• A reunion for the Coachella festival in April 2002 led the band to continue and re-record the album
• Hawkins suffered a heroin overdose in August 2001 that left him in a coma for two weeks

Recording

• Initial sessions took place at Grohl's Studio 606 in Alexandria, Virginia
• The band then moved to Los Angeles' Conway Studios for a change of scenery
• Grohl redid the drum, vocal and guitar tracks in Virginia over a twelve-day period
• Mendel and Shiflett recorded their parts later at The Hook Studios in Los Angeles
• Queen guitarist Brian May guests on “Tired of You”, the only surviving track from the original sessions

Cover

• Artwork by Raymond Pettibon, known for 1980s punk art for Black Flag and Minutemen
• Two versions of the cover, black and white, were issued

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Seattle in 1994 as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl.
• Grohl recorded the debut album mostly alone in six days after Nirvana disbanded.
• Recruited bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith of Sunny Day Real Estate, and guitarist Pat Smear.
• The band made its first public performance in February 1995, five months before the debut album's release.

Members

• Current members: Dave Grohl (vocals, guitar), Nate Mendel (bass), Pat Smear and Chris Shiflett (guitars), Rami Jaffee (keyboards), Ilan Rubin (drums).
• Taylor Hawkins died in March 2022; Josh Freese served as drummer from 2023 to 2025 and Rubin from 2025 onward.

Career

• Released twelve studio albums, the twelfth, Your Favorite Toy, in April 2026.
• Won 15 Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album five times.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, their first year of eligibility.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: average score of 75 out of 100 from 19 reviews
• Rolling Stone: praised the potent guitar riffs and the introspective themes, which it called stronger and broader than autobiography
• NME: April Long felt even the quieter moments bristle and saw the album as an affirmation of the band's quality
• Billboard: Michael Paoletta considered the album among the band's best work
• Entertainment Weekly: Ken Tucker rated the album A− and praised its unexpected exhilaration
• The Austin Chronicle: praised the heavy sound while noting the band kept its melodic instincts
• AllMusic: Stephen Thomas Erlewine found it too polished to hit at a gut level, with songs less immediate than earlier work
• PopMatters: Margaret Schwartz found it ultimately unsatisfying despite its quality writing and production
• The A.V. Club: Stephen Thompson called it mostly middling, sticking to a slick, functional rock formula
• BBC: Nick Reynolds found the record inconsistent, praising the first four tracks
• Pitchfork: Eric Carr was very critical, calling the album overproduced with songs lacking strength and character

Reappraisal

• Grohl later said he was frustrated at rushing the album, saying four songs were good and the other seven he never played again
• Hawkins said that thinking too much about things made them sterile, which he said the band found out there
• Shiflett said there are great songs on the album, and then there are parts of great songs

Records

• Debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with 122,000 copies sold in its first week
• Spent 50 weeks overall on the Billboard 200
• Topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia
• Surpassed two million copies worldwide by January 2003, according to RCA
• Won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album, the band's second Grammy
• Sold 1.333 million units in North America by 2011, certified Platinum by the RIAA

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Brian May guest-plays on “Tired of You”, the only track from the original sessions that was kept.
• Nick Raskulinecz was promoted to producer after Grohl consulted him during the two-week rework.
• The Los Angeles sessions at Conway recorded 29 songs, with about ten considered for the album.
• The title One by One was taken from a lyric on “All My Life”, and the spelling 1 X 1 was also considered.
• The album was issued with two different covers, black and white, and the first 575,000 units included a bonus DVD.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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