December 21, 1999
Web posted at: 2:32 p.m. EST (1932 GMT)

By Donna Freydkin
Reporting for CNN Interactive

In this story: AUDIO: Clips from 'There Is Nothing Left To Lose' A state of nirvana RELATED STORIES, SITES

(CNN) -- Four years after forming on the heels of Nirvana's demise, the Foo Fighters seem to have found their own sense of bliss.

With a third album, "There Is Nothing Left To Lose," in stores since November 2 and a massive world tour planned for 2000, the Foo Fighters -- formed by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl -- have been hot and heavy on the media circuit. And while their latest hasn't burned up the charts like its predecessors, at least the band is still together, no mean feat given its numerous personnel changes.

"We get along really well," says bassist Nate Mendel. "We've never had a fight. I'm going to keep saying that until we do, until I jinx it to the point where we duke it out."

Right now, that doesn't seem too likely. This is a band that while working on "There Is Nothing Left To Lose," eschewed structured studio time in favor of male bonding. Mendel, guitarist-vocalist Grohl and drummer Taylor Hawkins got together in Grohl's newly renovated Virginia home. Between beers, barbecues and basketball, they recorded the CD, currently at No. 65 on the Billboard album charts.

And to hear Mendel tell it, the title couldn't be more apropos. Musically, says Mendel, there really is nothing left to lose.

"I've always been the kind of person who thinks there's always good music out there, it's going to wax and wane in popularity, but it's out there," says Mendel. "But you know, I'm sort of starting to come around and realize that there is something to all this talk about rock being dead. Rock really is sort of f----d right now and maybe it shouldn't be. People out there should be listening to better music."

	AUDIO
"Learn To Fly" [185k MPEG-3] or [255k WAV] "Aurora [205k MPEG-3] or [280k WAV] "Headwires" [200k MPEG-3] or [275k WAV] (Courtesy RCA Records)

So the Foo Fighters took it upon themselves to provide that better music.

"We've always been left alone," says Mendel. "That's the great privilege of being in this band. We didn't have anybody dictating which way we were going to go. The deal we have going with RCA now is a little more traditional, but we basically still have all of our freedom."

They earned their freedom by exercising their "key man" clause and parting ways with Capitol Records after last year's departure of former president Gary Gersh. As free agents, the Foo Fighters went to work on their third album without the support -- or pressure -- of a record label.

And after former guitarist Franz Stahl (who had replaced original guitarist Pat Smear) jumped ship earlier this year, the Foo Fighters became a temporary trio. So Mendel and Hawkins moved in with Grohl in late February, and went to work on the album. They shopped the finished product around and ultimately tied the knot with RCA.

"The label gave us a nice advance and we'd never taken money from a record label before upfront," says Mendel, "and we're all sort of nice people. We're kind of like, 'They gave us a bunch of money and we've got to do some work. These people can't be losing money.'"

And along the way, they hooked up with new guitarist Chris Shiflett, whom they found after auditioning more than 30 musicians.

Of course, given the Foo Fighters' commercial track record, the record label doesn't have much to worry about in its investment.

The band's 1995 self-titled platinum debut -- with Grohl playing all the instruments and penning all the lyrics -- yielded the hits "This Is a Call," "I'll Stick Around" and "Big Me." And the Foo Fighters' last album, 1997's "The Colour and the Shape," peaked at No. 10 on The Billboard 200 and sold more than one million copies in the United States.

Success must taste especially sweet to Dave Grohl, the former Nirvana member who founded the Foo Fighters after Kurt Cobain's suicide. He says he'd yearned to prove that he could do more than sit behind a drum kit. So he cut a record and circulated the demo on his own Roswell Records. Finally, he set out to put a band together, hooking up with guitarist Pat Smear, drummer William Goldsmith and Mendel.

"I liked the first record that Dave had made and it was really obvious that Dave was talented and I had a lot of faith in myself," says Mendel. "I knew that if we all got along, we'd be able to make really good music."

Two years later, the Foo Fighters released a more cohesive effort with "The Colour and the Shape," which also marked the departure of Goldsmith. He was replaced by drummer Taylor Hawkins, who had toured with Alanis Morissette's band. In 1997, Smear also jumped ship, and was replaced by Stahl, who was replaced by Shiflett. The album, of course, produced rock hits "Monkey Wrench," "My Hero" and "Everlong."

While Grohl may have proved his musical mettle with the Foo Fighters, the comparisons to Nirvana -- and interest in his former band -- are inevitable.

"I think people are too self-conscious of Dave's past to compare us to Nirvana," says Mendel. "But I'm sure that people privately do that. Especially earlier on, Dave was really up front about wanting to make this a separate effort and wouldn't even talk about Nirvana. Now, if somebody sort of slips in a question, he's fine with answering it."