The Colour and the Shape

The Colour and the Shape is the Foo Fighters second album. It was released May 20, 1997 through Roswell/Capitol Records.

The album was the debut of the Foo Fighters as a band, as frontman Dave Grohl had recorded all of the first album by himself with the exception of one guitar part by Greg Dulli. The Colour and the Shape was produced by Gil Norton, who was perhaps best known for his work with the Pixies. It was loosely conceived by Grohl as a concept album which documented the beginning and end of a romantic relationship. Over the course of the making of the album, Grohl’s own marriage to photographer Jennifer Youngblood ultimately ended in divorce.

After six weeks of work at Bear Creek Studios in Woodinville, Washington, the band took two weeks off from recording. Grohl returned to Virginia and wrote several new songs, recording one of them, Walking After You, by himself at WGNS Studios in Washington, DC. The band (minus drummer William Goldsmith) relocated to Grandmaster Recorders in Hollywood, California, and re-recorded most of the album with Grohl performing the drum tracks (some segments from the Bear Creek sessions with Goldsmith on drums appear on the finished album, including the entirety of Doll).

The album reached number three in the UK and number ten in the United States. The Colour and the Shape is the Foo Fighters’ biggest U.S. seller, having sold over two million copies according to Nielsen SoundScan.