"Something from Nothing" is a song by the American rock band

Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...

from their eighth studio album ''

Sonic Highways ''Sonic Highways'' is the eighth studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on November 10, 2014, through Roswell and RCA Records. Similar to their previous album, ''Wasting Light'' (2011), it was produced by the band with Butch ...

''. It was released as the album's lead single on October 16, 2014. Recorded at

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

Electrical Audio Electrical Audio is a recording studio, recording facility founded in Chicago, Illinois by musician and recording engineer Steve Albini in 1997. Hundreds of independent music projects have been recorded there. Unlike most producers, Albini refuses ...

studio, the song was influenced by the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

music scene.

Composition

"Something from Nothing" has been regarded as an

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

song. According to Daniel Kreps of the ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine, the lyrics of the song "Here lies a city on fire... it started with a spark, and burned into the dark" seem to be inspired by the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...

(1871). "Something from Nothing" is "a ferocious, at times even hypnotic, rocker with hints of

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

, and

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...

's signature monster growl." It features soaring guitar that is reminiscent of Chicago-based alternative rock band

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamb ...

; and at one point, borrows heavily from the riff of Dio's heavy metal song "

Holy Diver ''Holy Diver'' is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Dio, released in 1983. Vocalist Ronnie James Dio had just finished his first tenure in Black Sabbath, whose drummer, Vinny Appice, he took with him to put together his ...

". The song starts with muffled guitar, and subsequently builds up to "non-stop ferocious

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

" in its fourth minute, and "an ear-shattering outro lined with scorching guitar riffs."

Recording

"Something from Nothing" was recorded at Albini's Electrical Audio studio in Chicago. The song features guitarist

Rick Nielsen Richard Alan Nielsen (born December 22, 1948) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and leader of the rock band Cheap Trick. He is well-known for his numerous custom-made guitars from Hamer Guitars, incl ...

of the rock band

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and ...

as Chicago City's "guest of honor."

Music video

The music video aired at the end of the '' Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways'' "Chicago" episode. It shows the band performing at Electrical Audio while 2D animated lyrics appear in the background throughout the video. The video also features appearances by

and

Rami Jaffee Rami Jaffee (born March 11, 1969) is an American musician. He is best known as the keyboardist for the rock band Foo Fighters, whom he initially joined in a touring and session capacity in 2005. Jaffee has contributed to six of the band's studi ...

Commercial performance

"Something from Nothing" debuted at number five on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Rock Airplay The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

chart, as well as at number 12 and number 16 on ''Billboard''s

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

and

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

charts respectively. It soon rose to number one on all three charts. "Something from Nothing" is also the twenty-fifth Foo Fighters' single to make the top 75 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

,Official UK Singles Chart - Foo Fighters - peak positions - singles
officialcharts.com. Retrieved November 17, 2014. and the twenty-seventh Foo Fighters' single to make the top 100 on the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Full Lyrics at LyricsOnDemand.com
{{Authority control 2014 singles 2014 songs Foo Fighters songs Song recordings produced by Butch Vig Songs written by Dave Grohl Songs about Chicago Songs written by Taylor Hawkins Songs written by Nate Mendel Songs written by Chris Shiflett Songs written by Pat Smear