"Generator" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters, released as a single in 2000 from their third album, ''

There Is Nothing Left to Lose ''There Is Nothing Left to Lose'' is the third studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on November 2, 1999, through Roswell and RCA Records. It marked the first appearance of drummer Taylor Hawkins, and is often seen as a depa ...

'' (1999). The single was only released in Australia, and it was also released as a limited-edition single in Europe. The song is particularly unique among the band's work because of Dave Grohl's implementation of the

talk box A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the sou ...

in parts of the song. The usage of the device was partly inspired by Grohl's admiration of Peter Frampton and

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has been a member of three successful rock bands: the James Gang, Eagles, and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr ...

, both of whom helped popularize it in the 1970s.

Track listing

Australian CD

(The EP also contains an enhanced segment containing exclusive documentary footage and photos) # "Generator" # " Learn to Fly" (Live 24 January 2000 Sydney, Australia) # " Stacked Actors" (Live 24 January 2000 Sydney, Australia) # "Breakout" (Live 23 November 1999 Glasgow Barrowlands, Scotland)

European CD

(This version was available for only 1 week between March 6 and March 12, 2000, each CD was a limited, numbered edition and at the end of the week of release all remaining stock was deleted. As well as the music tracks it also included a multimedia 'enhanced' segment containing exclusive documentary footage and photos) # "Generator" # "Ain't It the Life" (Live Acoustic at 2 Meter Session 22 Nov 1999) # "Floaty" (Live Acoustic at 2 Meter Session 22 Nov 1999) # "Fraternity" # "Breakout" (Live 23 November 1999 Glasgow Barrowlands, Scotland)

7-inch

# "Generator" # "Fraternity"

Music video

No video was filmed for the single. Instead, a live performance of the song recorded on February 1, 2000, at the

Chapel Off Chapel Chapel Off Chapel is a theatre venue in Prahran, Melbourne. Located near Chapel Street and opened in 1995, the venue consists of the 255-seat Chapel Theatre, the 150-seat Chapel Loft and a visual arts gallery. Chapel Off Chapel is particularly ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, was overdubbed with the studio version to promote the single and album. The performance was filmed and broadcast by

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

; Scott C. Wilson re-edited the footage, using different camera angles, to make it. The music video for "Breakout" features the song "Generator" at the beginning on the video.

Chart positions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Generator (Song) 1999 songs 2000 singles Foo Fighters songs Song recordings produced by Adam Kasper Songs written by Dave Grohl Songs written by Nate Mendel RCA Records singles Songs written by Taylor Hawkins