Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

Back after a four year hiatus crammed full of mediocre side projects, the Foo Fighters have resolutely thrown a monkey wrench in the works of anyone who might have been claiming they are a bored and spent force akin to their new album’s title. They have by no means become a Wasting Light, and one listen to their fantastic new release will prove it.

I must admit, a week before it hit the shelves I was sceptical myself. Lead single ‘Rope’ just wasn’t floating my boat. Its mix of staccato Them Crooked Vultures riffs and a big Foos chorus simply doesn’t seem to sit right, coming across about as coherently as “no no no” Jim from Dibley, and a touch contrived for my liking. I needn’t have worried though; it’s the worst song on the record. And I think I’d struggle to find any other faults with it if you gave me a magnifying glass and pair of tweezers.

They’ve decided to go back to basics with Wasting Light, recording it in Dave Grohl’s garage on old analogue equipment (as a gesture to fans, those buying the CD or vinyl album will find a segment of the ORIGINAL master tape enclosed – but don’t get too excited, those things run at about 30 inches per second so you’ll be lucky to get a whole hit of a drum). The impact is subtle but real: turn the volume up and you feel you’re sitting next door to their rehearsal room, fully aware of why your love affair with them probably lasted throughout your early and mid-teens.

Forty seconds in and you know they mean business. The distinctive growl (or is that Grohl?) of “These are my famous last words”, set to a maelstrom of beefy rhythm guitars, three of them now that Pat Smear has re-joined the ranks, establishes the tone in opener ‘Bridge Burning’: it’s clear from the off that ballads are out of the question this time around. It’s a fine art they’ve developed here; despite being their heaviest record to date, it remains melodic enough to keep fans of their more radio-friendly hits happy.

As it keeps on spinning, ‘Dear Rosemary’ kicks in with a ‘Times Like These’-type love song, ‘White Limo’ leaves that far behind with some fast and loose (and utterly undeniable) larynx-shredding headbanging, ‘Arlandria’ well and truly hits the spot with the age old loud/soft grunge formula, and with equal measures of sweet and angsty bitterness ‘These Days’ rounds off the first half in classic Foos style.

Introducing a bit of light relief is ‘Back and Forth’, a bouncy, easy-going throwback to the …Nothing Left to Lose days, followed in a similar vein by the slightly heavier ‘A Matter of Time’, and the almost AC/DC ‘Miss the Misery’. The subsequent ‘I Should Have Known’ is probably the quietest song on the record, but somehow also one of the most intense. Good as it is, however, it pales in comparison to the album’s finale, the brilliant ‘Walk’. This isn’t a song done justice listened to in isolation; the quiet first verse and chorus are a deep breath before a passionate rush to the finish that might not be appreciated as much when not preceded by the other ten tracks, but it’s darn good nonetheless and my pick for best song.

I’m glad to say, though, that I think quite a few people who buy this album (and I implore you to be one of them) will disagree: speaking to four owners, three different “best songs” came out, so there’s certainly plenty to go at. The blogosphere seems to be saying it’s the best Foo Fighters record since The Colour and The Shape, but song for song, I’d say it even exceeds it by a reasonable margin. It truly is a pleasure to listen to - meat and two veg rock ’n’ roll at its absolute finest.

★★★★★

Like this? Try Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam; Motorhead, The World is Yours; Biffy Clyro, The Vertigo of Bliss.



Add Comment

You must log in to submit a comment.