It’s summer, so I feel I ought to be writing something here once in a while. I have a few entries on math in the works, but until I get back to those, I figured I’d write a bit about music.

Much of my initial exposure to music was of the classical variety, and perhaps as a result, I have always conceived of music as something larger than a sequence of singles. I don’t like listening to the radio, because the selection is so manic (and repetitive). I prefer to listen to artists one at a time, and in particular, albums from start to finish.

So when I think of my favorite music, I think primarily in terms of albums. Which albums do I love in their entirety? Which albums do I keep turning back to, and rarely skip a track? I started forming a list, and realized that these are albums I have quite a bit to say about, and want to evangelize as simply great albums.

The first one I’m going to mention is the Foo Fighters‘ The Colour and the Shape.

The Foo Fighters are an “alternative rock” (whatever that means) band fronted and formed by Dave Grohl (previously Nirvana’s drummer) shortly after Kurt Cobain’s death. Their eponymous first album was entirely written and performed by Grohl himself. CatS was their second album, and first with a band besides Grohl. Of course, Grohl was dissatisfied with their drummer, William Goldsmith, and ended up re-recording almost all the drum parts without telling Goldsmith, who subsequently left the band.

The album loosely follows the arc of a relationship, but I wouldn’t really consider it a concept album. It’s probably Nick’s favorite, and definitely one of mine. I don’t need to comment extensively on it, since theoretically you will go listen to it, but here are my liner notes:

“Doll” is a short, quiet prelude to the album, immediately followed by the fast, loud “Monkey Wrench.” One of the popular songs off the album, and one of my favorite, it uses the loud chorus, quiet verse structure that the Foo Fighters follow in many of their songs. (I think this song, in particular, shows ’80s metal’s influence on Grohl, a genre to which he later paid tribute with his solo metal side project, Probot.)

The next few tracks build from a calm happiness to a sort of loud elation that seems to climax at the end of “Up in Arms.” Following that is “My Hero,” a song that received a lot of radio play but which I honestly think is the weakest track on the album. I really don’t understand why people like it so much, besides its vague subject matter.

A few tracks later comes “February Stars,” a quietly resigned song that seems to signal something went wrong. After that is “Everlong,” without question my favorite Foo Fighters song, and one of my favorite songs ever. It’s the first track on the album since “Monkey Wrench” that I’d call driven, and it’s pretty much the opposite of “Monkey Wrench”’s “good riddance.”

To me, “Everlong” perfectly captures the point just past the apex of a relationship, when everything’s too perfect and you feel an impending fall. It’s a sort of blissful desperation to keep things exactly the way they are. (“And I wonder / If everything could ever feel this real forever / If anything could ever be this good again.”) It’s a catchy song, almost therapeutic in its recklessness, as you remember what it is to feel that way. (Or maybe it’s just about sex, but is that reading really any different? SURPRISE CLAIM)

“Walking After You” follows through on the breakup, with a whispered, sad hope that things can be back that way. (“If you walk out on me, I’m walking after you”) But the album ends with hope, in what’s maybe my second favorite track on the album, “New Way Home.” It’s a persistently hopeful track that ends in the repeated insistence that “I’m not scared.”

I’ll also mention that one B-side to this album is a great cover of Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street.” You should check it out.

Anyway, I’m about out of things to say, so I hope you’ll check out this album, and love it as much as I (and Nick) do. If nothing else, listen to Everlong.

NEXT UP: Dream Theater’s Octavarium, an immense concept album made of total awesome.