Foo Fighters …
Wasting Light …
Seventh studio album …
Out now …
This is how rock music should sound like …
You could perfectly leave a review at that. Well, maybe add a “go buy“. But in essence, that’s it. Wasting Light really is no-nonsense rock from the first to the last second of the eleven tracks of the standard issue. Pure. Hard. Good.
Maybe that’s because it was recorded in Dave Grohl’s garage (sic!). Maybe it’s because the recording of the album was done completely analog (according to drummer Taylor Hawkins, Dave Grohl said: “If I see a fucking computer in the studio, I’m gonna grab a baseball bat and smash it.”). Maybe it is because for the first time in 14 years Pat Smear is officially part of a Foo Fighters album. Maybe it is because this created some initial tension – between Grohl and Chris Shiflett, rather than between the “new” guitarist Shiflett and the returning Smear – which might have influenced the creative process and ultimately lead to an even better chemistry within the band. Maybe it is for any one of a number of other reasons. It could just be that the Foo Fighters are a seasoned beast of a rock band and know exactly what they’re doing. But in the end, does it matter why Wasting Light sounds how it sounds?*
Of course one of the big questions (always) is: is there a Hero? Meaning, is it “just” a constant high of really good rock music or is there something that sticks out even more? Something worthy of the Foo Fighter hall of fame of songs? Something like My Hero? Something like Best Of You? Or Times Like These? Well, the first single Rope pretty much goes in that direction. White Limo, Miss The Misery and I Should Have Known would be such candidates. But on Wasting Light it doesn’t get any better than Walk. Expect this to be on a future Best Off/Greatest Hits. And if it is not one of the album’s singles, someone is making the wrong decisions.
The deluxe version of the album gives you a remix of Rope by Deadmau5, the bonus track Better Off, the music video of White Limo (beautifully over-acted with an early ’90s look and guest Lemmy Kilmister) and a video of a splendid Walk live performance at The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood. If you ask me, replacing the (kind of unnecessary) Deadmau5 remix with live version of Walk (as an additional song track) would have made the deluxe version perfect. Not that there is much to complain about anyway.
Foo Fighters …
Wasting Light …
Out now …
Definitely not wasted money …
Liked this post? Then feel free to share it through the social media buttons below. And follow NeverMindTheBuzzkills on Twitter @NMTBuzzkills
(Listening to while finishing this blog entry: Walk by Foo Fighters)
* Well, yeah, if they plan on recreating the sound for future records. But for the time being: no.
