一无所有 (1999)

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 studio credit for drummer Taylor Hawkins, although the frontman Dave Grohl still providing the drums on some of the songs, and this is the band's final release until But Here We Are (2023) which Grohl performed on drums, as Hawkins permanently assigned as the full-time drummer on the band's subsequent releases until his death. The album is often seen as a departure from the band's previous work, showcasing a softer, more experimental sound. Grohl has called it his favorite Foo Fighters album, stating that it was "totally based on melody" and that the recording process was a serene experience. The album was recorded using only three musicians; Grohl, Hawkins, and bassist Nate Mendel in the basement of Grohl's home in Alexandria, Virginia.

There Is Nothing Left to Lose won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2001, marking the band's first ever Grammy win. The band would go on to win the Grammy for Best Rock Album for three of their next four studio releases (One by One; Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace; and Wasting Light).

There Is Nothing Left to Lose is Foo Fighters' first album to be entirely released and marketed by RCA Records since their departure from Capitol Records after the release of The Colour and the Shape two years earlier. Their two previous studio albums, originally distributed by Capitol, were since then distributed by RCA.

Background

Prior to recording, guitarist Franz Stahl was fired after about a year as frontman Dave Grohl felt the guitarist had not found his place in the band. Grohl decided the band would be a three-piece for the record: himself along with bassist Nate Mendel and drummer Taylor Hawkins.

Having just exhausted themselves in the studio making the last record The Colour and the Shape and losing two band members in the process, Grohl decided to buy a house in Alexandria, Virginia and make the record in its basement without any record company presence during production. This was helped by the Foo Fighters' leaving Capitol Records after president Gary Gersh left the label. Grohl named his home facility Studio 606, at first saying, "It's just one of those numbers that's everywhere. Like when you wake up in the middle of the night and it's 6:06, or you see a license plate that says 606." He later told the full story of the number's significance in a July 20, 2020, Instagram post: spending the evening with his father in 1985, he received a particularly searing "what do you want to do with your life" lecture that defines the bittersweet moment he finally communicated to his father the depth of his commitment to becoming a professional musician, before sneaking out. "606" was his father's apartment number.

The album is the first to feature Hawkins on drums. He performed on the majority of album, while leaving the faster songs for Grohl to play. The liner notes of the album do not specify who plays on which songs, although Hawkins states "Aurora" and "M.I.A." are good examples of his playing style, and that he plays the "jazzier" drums parts.

Grohl set up the studio with the help of Adam Kasper, who eventually co-produced the album. The biggest challenge, according to Grohl, was making the record sound good without computer programs such as Pro Tools or AutoTune. Dave Grohl notes that he had: "[...] been living in Los Angeles for about a year and a half, just being a drunk, getting fucked up every night and doing horrible shit, and I'd finally gotten sick of that new car smell. So I bought this great house in Virginia and told everyone I was building a studio in the basement. It was literally a basement with sleeping bags on the walls!"In a 1999 interview during the production of the album, Grohl commented on what the song "Ain't It the Life" meant to him:"Ain't It the Life" I think is the one song that I would love to play on my porch [...] Living in Los Angeles for a year and a half, I think it ignited that hatred that I'd had for so long of things that are false, and glamorous, and just not real. Getting back to Virginia was such a nice feeling of community, family, and the D.C. music scene, old friends, and things that I'd never lost but felt like I needed more of in my life. So "Ain't It the Life" is just kind of about living the quiet, Virginia life.