Fighting Foo, Just For You.

Once upon a time, there was a band from Seattle. This band was fronted by a skinny blonde dude who had trouble dealing with life, and eventually stuck a shotgun in his mouth and ended it all. But that's not who I want to talk about.

This band had gone through a half dozen or so drummers -- kind of like Spinal Tap, except, insofar as I know, none of them spontaneously combusted onstage; it was more of a thing where they just moved on for various reasons -- before auditioning a guy named Dave Grohl, whose previous band, Washington, DC-based Scream, had just broken up.

They released three albums before the blonde guy did himself in, and attained something of mythic status. But what do you do after your legendary band is no more?

Well, you could do what the band's bass player, Krist Novoselic, did and become a director and political activist, or you could form the Foo Fighters, which is what Dave Grohl did.

Since 1994, the Foo Fighters (who, if they'd been formed two years earlier, could have had the greatest band slogan ever: Fighting Foo Since '92) have released seven albums: Foo Fighters (1995), The Colour and the Shape (1997), There Is Nothing Left To Lose (1999), One By One (2002), In Your Honor (2005), Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007)... and, as of today, Wasting Light.

The Foos have always been a popular band, but mark my words: 2011 will be the Year of the Foo Fighters. For one thing, this has been one of the most visible album releases ever -- a documentary on the band has been airing on VH1 Classic and Palladia, and this week alone they have made appearances on The Tonight Show, The Daily Show, a 90 minute webcast on CBS.com where they played the entirety of the new album plus some older material, and then later tonight they'll play The Late Show with David Letterman.

It's only halfway through April, but this is, for me, the best album of 2011, hands down. Get it, or you so do not rock.