Well just for a change I thought I would do a review of an album (a musical one obviously) and this will cover the Foo Fighters latest album, Sonic Highways. So let's give this one a looksee...
I won't go too indepth here but will start by saying it is something of a new take for the band, as they recorded each song in a different city, so with eight songs they visited eight cities: Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, Seattle, Washington D.C. and New Orleans. Dave Grohl wrote the songs based on his feelings on each city, which reflects the different tones in the songs on the album itself. The band also made an HBO documentary TV series about the recording of the album as well.
So how does it all stack up???? Hmmmm well its a bit of a curate's egg and it certainly isn't one of the band's stronger albums but at the same time it still has something going for it. I think the concept to record in different cities was interesting one but overall I feel it hasn't been entirely successful for Dave and the band. But the album does get off to a strong start with its first track "Something for nothing" with Dave singing in an almost John Lennon-eqsue style and some rather morose guitar chords echoing in the background. But then it then moves into the remainder of the song's rocking melody and it finishing with some screeching from Dave as he yells out the chorus over and over. Next up is the best song on the album, "The feast and the famine" which is a slightly angular track (recorded in Chicago) with an unusual guitar riff and odd time signature from Taylor on the drums. The song soon then launches into its catchy chorus and it also has an excellent bridge section before going back to its chorus and followed by a rocking outro to close it out. After this is "Congregation" (recorded in Nashville) which is a nice mellow MOR track and it has a jaunty leisurely pace to it as well as a pleasing central riff and it easily one of the stronger tracks on here.
After this however the album starts to take a slight dip in quality as "What did I do?/God as my witness" (recorded in Austin) which is essentially two tracks in one song, but overall it is a pretty average track, which echoes the sounds of Boston (the 70s rock band) more than anything else and the opening riff of "What did I do?" is blatant rip off Lynard Skynard's "Sweet home Alabama". "Outside" (Los Angeles) on the other hand is a pretty good track even if it lacks a killer riff to hook you in. "In the clear" (New Orleans) is also quite a good track and relatively catchy and it has a pretty good chorus although its not a standout in itself. Next is "Subterranean" (Seattle) which is another pretty mellow track but its pretty uninspiring to listen to and it sees Dave's lyrics and vocals dithering in a kind of dreamy bubble throughout. And then we have the album's finale "I am a river" (New York) which is the album's longest track at over 7 minute and its another mellowed track, which sees the album finish on a rather bland note as it really isn't one of the band's better songs.
So to sum up Sonic Highways for me is not a bad Foos albums, but it is overall a bit disappointing and the idea was intruiging in itself for the band to record a song about each visited city but its a theme that isn't entirely successful. In the end the album is a bit of a mixed bag and it shows the Foos they are clearly trying to expand their sound but it doesn't quite live up to expectations. It does still have its moments and some good tracks but they are not enough to put the album among the band's finest works and for me the Foos really need to record an album that get's back to the roots of their rock sound but with Sonic Highways they haven't done that. So if I'm being very fair I will give it a 7/10 but it could easily sit between 6/10 or 6.5/10. In all its not bad, but it could have been way better.
And with that I shall bye for now and will be back soon.
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