 Shiflett added that for the first time he played lead guitar in some tracks while Grohl "usually works out all the bits" of composition.Recording began on March 2007 at Studio 606 in Dave Grohl's Virginia home's basement (the studio has since been moved to Northridge, California).As the band took a ten-day break in April, Grohl thought that the record needed another uptempo song, so he spent his time developing an unfinished song that became "The Pretender".