Concrete and Gold, the ninth album by Foo Fighters, takes the classic rock genre into new territory.
Some naysayers would have you believe these are the end days of classic rock, the last gasp, but Concrete and Gold proves it’s screamingly loud and vital.
Foo Fighters started down-tempo and punkified over 20 years ago. Then they went pop/acoustic and then morphed to pseudo-stadium rock. The weird thing is they succeeded at them all — so take your pick. They’ve got some history at their fingertips and they access that heritage on Concrete and Gold with some assistance and inspiration from producer, Greg Kurstin.
So who’s in the Foo’s now on this album? Dave Grohl (of course), Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, Nate Mendel, Taylor Hawkins and Remi Jaffee make up the band this time around. There’s an army of guest musos, people like Paul McCartney, Justin Timberlake and Alison Mosshart and many more. In spite of the name recognition, these guests blend in rather than do the ‘feat.’ thing so rampant on hip hop releases. Indeed, McCartney plays drums.
Run is a hard hitting representation of all things Foo. The track starts atmospherically and sweet, hits a road bump into grungy punk with Grohl screaming his guts out, then on to heavily arranged riff rock. Through all of this, it sounds like they’ve been tripping to some Beatles. But that could also describe Nirvana’s music as well.
Concrete and Gold is at its best when the songs shoot straight. Arrows is righteously ragged and angst fuelled. Make It Right rocks and rolls with a blunt hook and Beatle-esque harmonies for embellishment. It has attitude and finesse, enquiring minds and Dos Equis drinkers will rock to it.
The recording runs on high adrenaline and a sense of reckless excitement. Where is it going next? Consider three songs in the middle: The Sky Is a Neighborhood, La Dee Da and Dirty Water. The first track is a loud piece of neo-psychedelic weirdness. The second is edgy, industrialized warehouse rock and the last is the beautifully moody semi-acoustic rock that Foo Fighters have always turned out. One gets the sense that this sound is the heart of the band’s creativity. Through all those tangents they stay on point, never far from number eleven on the dial.
Their range is wide and they cover ideas and emotions with nuance, power and a vintage heart.