4 stars (out of 5)
Foo Fighters is one of those rock bands that can be easily hated, and really, they are. Having directly descended from the lineage of Nirvana, some hipsters write them off for not being authentic or hard enough, or arena-rock sell-outs. But really, the Foos are consistent. I can't point to one genuinely bad album in their discography, though of course, like most other modern rock bands out there, they have more than their share of disposable tracks. Some people think they're a little too safe, but you know what? Some people like a little safety and comfort in their music; it's why Coldplay have sold tens of millions of albums with just a handful of LP's.
Now before you start accusing me of comparing Foo Fighters to Coldplay, (I'm not.) let's get to the matter at hand- the former's brand spanking new album, their seventh studio record headed straight for the top of the US charts in just a few days, the one that kindly kicked off Adele from her 11-week perch on the UK album charts. Produced by Nirvana producer, Butch Vig, the album was described as the band's heaviest album yet before anybody had even heard it.
Lead singer Dave Grohl states that "with Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, [their last album] we were too concerned with being musical. Now it's time for us to be a rock band again." Well, to be honest, the album rocks hard as fuck; there are no two ways around that. But to call the album unconcerned with being musical would be incorrect.
Starting with "Bridge Burning," the album kicks off into high gear- "These are my famous last wooooooooooooooords!!!!" Dave Grohl screeches, in true Dave Grohl fashion. I'll be damned if the song's melody isn't good enough to dance to; in fact, it IS- "It's all coming down, your bridges are burning down," the chorus goes as drums pound and pound, creating one noisy, really terrific melange of sound. First single "Rope" is next, and if you haven't heard it or seen the video anywhere, then too bad for you. Aside from "The Best of You," it may the first Foos single that I instantly loved on first listen. The whole dance-y vibe of the first track is carried over, too, and I totally dig the melodic shifts right through.
Bob Mould, guitarist for Hüsker Dü, provides backing vocals and guitar on "Dear Rosemary," but it is the song after, the terrific "White Limo," that is one of the album's true stand-out moments. Reminding me of System of a Down's "Prison Song," "Limo" muffles Grohl's vocals a bit, (I hardly hear a thing he's singing) but the thing that is most remarkable about this song is how much confidence the band exudes. Here is where things really start to get interesting.
"Arlandria," with its Queens of the Stone Age-esque rhythm section, brings back Grohl's vocals into clear view. The song has what is maybe my fave line from the whole album- "Use me up, spit me out, let me be your hand me down." The bitterness continues with "These Days," a track in-line with the Foos' trademark style: a soft, melodic beginning that eventually explodes into a giant chorus about love and loss. But it isn't until the track after, "Back and Forth," that the album is pushed above and beyond, quite possibly, anything that they have done before. Sure, it shares common ground with the band's hardcore roots, but this is rougher, more daring than them simply trying to top each other in the studio. The last four songs, though not bad by any means, don't add up to the middle section of the album (especially "Matter of Time" and "Miss the Misery") but luckily, they don't subtract from what is a tremendous wallop of an album, one of the best rock records released so far this year.
It has to be said that Foo Fighters is one of the most honest-to-goodness rock bands operating today. They're far from the best, but Wasting Light is one of their albums that prove that Dave Grohl and the guys have it in them to be enjoyable, visceral and relatable. They're never gonna pull off, or even attempt, a Radiohead kind of mid-career genre experimentation, but that's fine, we don't need or want them to; we already have Radiohead for that.
