Ah the lonely life of a drummer. Always in the background and hardly ever recognized as a driving force in the band. For quite sometime, Dave Grohl was a major part of one of the most influential rock bands of the 90's--Nirvana.

After Kurt Cobain's unfortunate passing, the fate of Nirvana's surviving members was up in the air. After a hiatus, Grohl burst onto the scene with the debut of Foo Fighters. An underrated and highly innovative album in which Grohl actually played all the instruments. This was followed by the superior Color and the Shape, an album that featured a talented group of musicians that helped Grohl realize his dream

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Foo Fighters live in Vegas in which they previewed songs from their third and very effective album--There is Nothing Left to Lose. Although not quite as groundbreaking as the Color and the Shape, this third effort is certainly one of the best albums of the year.

Where Nirvana showed incredible raw energy, Grohl's Foo Fighters show a flare for great songwriting and musical diversity. Most of their tunes are also refreshing and upbeat as opposed to the angst driven anthems of Nirvana. Some of the album's best tracks include "Learn to Fly," the rocking opening track "Stacked Actors," and the ballad "Next Year."

Although Foo Fighters are a young band and only have three albums to their credit, they're shaping up to be one of the highlights of the 90's. Hopefully that will continue into the next century.