Former Foo Fighters drummer William Goldsmith has accused frontman Dave Grohl of leaving him “creatively raped” by re-recording most of the drum tracks on their second album The Colour And The Shape in 1997 – and questions the suggestion that Grohl regrets how he treated him before Goldsmith left the band.

Goldsmith's two-year tenure ended soon after he discovered that the majority of his studio work had been replaced by Grohl’s own drumming. Goldsmith told the Daily Mail, as reported by NME: “He was a bit like the kid who is popular, but is mean, and everyone likes them. I have been given the impression he feels bad about the way things went. Then why hasn’t he tried to get a hold of me? All he would have to do is sit down and talk it out with me.”

The former Nirvana man argued that the band’s management, production executives and Grohl himself all wanted Grohl to play drums on the record. “I found out he had redone all the tracks and got rid of everything – then he still wanted me to be in the band and tour,” he said. “I was like, ‘Man, there are some people that are session musicians and that’s cool, but that’s not why I set out to play music.’"

“I would have been cool if it had been half me and half him, or even if there had been some kind of communication about what they were doing. They basically dragged me through the coals. It was brutal. I think maybe the producer was hoping I would give up, but I didn’t.”

Using the phrase “creatively raped” he added: “It was a way of describing how it felt, when you put that much of yourself into something, and then, without you even knowing, it is completely destroyed from existence.”

By the time he quit, Goldsmith – who went on to join Sunny Day Real Estate – had begun to struggle with drugs and alcohol issues. He last saw Grohl in 2002. “Once Dave said that touring with me was like touring with a punching bag,” he said. “At that point in my life, my ability to set boundaries and my own self-confidence was lacking. I made it much easier for him.

“As time has gone on I have gone through experiences which turned me into a man. People aren’t allowed to pull bullshit with me any more. I am as much as fault for allowing myself to get treated like crap. The way I look at it now is, if it hadn’t happened, the records I made afterwards wouldn’t have been made, and I wouldn’t have the children I have.”

Foo Fighters will release ninth album Concrete And Gold on Sept. 15.

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