THE METAL WILL LIVE ON: FOO FIGHTERS ~ SONIC HIGHWAYS

The Foo Fighters have long been considered my all time favorite band. It was the songs of The Colour and The Shape that first grabbed a hold of me. Then the song Learn To Fly. Then All My Life. The first album of theirs that I ever purchased was The Colour and The Shape. They have made a life long obsessive fan of me. I own all their albums, around twenty singles (all with rare tracks not included anywhere else), and every dvd/blu-ray they've released so far. I've seen them in concert and talked endlessly about how great they are. There... now that I've gotten that out of the way...

SONIC HIGHWAYS is the latest album released by the Foo Fighters just this last Tuesday November 10th. It marks the band's eighth studio album and twentieth year as a band. The album consists of 8 tracks for a total of 42 minutes. It is the band's shortest album both in total run time and track numbers. The track titles are:

1. Something For Nothing
2. The Feast and the Famine
3. Congregation
4. What Did I Do?/God As My Witness
5. Outside
6. In The Clear
7. Subterranean
8. I Am A River

It has been three years since the last studio album of the Foo Fighters titled WASTING LIGHT was released. That album was strangely good. I mean, all the Foo Fighters albums are good but Wasting Light was incredibly good. I don't know how they did it but wow was that an amazing album. To me it stands as an anomaly. In the wake of the sheer power of Wasting Light, Sonic Highways doesn't seem as strong. But that is to be expected and in no way does that mean this is a bad album. In fact it feels right on par with Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace.

The band did something different this time, something unprecedented to my knowledge. They have traveled to 8 different cities with rich music heritage and unique musical identity. These cities are Chicago, Arlington, Nashville, Austin, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Seattle, and New York. They've collaborated with Rick Nielsen, Pete Stahl, Skeeter Thompson, Zac Brown, Gary Clark Jr., Joe Walsh, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Ben Gibbard, Tony Visconti, and Kristeen Young. They also produced an HBO tv series documenting the experiences of the bands in these eight cities and the resultant creations of the songs and album.

Sadly I don't have HBO and I haven't watched the series. Having said that, I'm sure watching the tv show would provide me new appreciation and insight on the album. Until I see the show my review will be simply based on the music within the album and my own past experiences with the band. So to sum it up I'm a little disappointed. My disappointment stems from the album length and not the music. If there were some bonus tracks at least I'd feel a little better. It has always been my feelings that an album with less than ten tracks is more an EP or extended play and not full length. Maybe I've been spoiled over the years with bonus tracks and B-Sides. Whatever, it's still short.

It plays a lot like albums One By One and Echoes... where there are three standout songs and then there's the rest of the album. Songs like Something For Nothing, The Feast and the Famine, and Congregation are my favorites on the album. Something For Nothing starts out pretty mellow but works itself into a rocket punch fist to the face frenzy by the end (which I so do love). The Feast and the Famine is intense through and through, keeps your blood pumping nice and heavy after the epic finish of the previous song. Congregation tones us down a bit but keeps rocking.

After that the album explores other melodic themes and territory I'm not as well versed in. Dave Grohl knows music better than anybody and truly seems to appreciate the art form. I can't even begin to tell you what he's drawing from in these other songs. But they are assembled with just as much care and attention to detail as the others, they just explore different avenues. What Did I Do/God As My Witness has a lot of power and emotion in it and feels truly epic in scope. Outside is another rocking track with a long guitar solo in the middle that trails on for a while, almost just as good as Congregation. In The Clear is another solid song with plenty of replay value.

The Foo Fighters, as great as their rock songs are, have always had equally powerful ballads and acoustic plays. The final two songs fit this tradition. Subterranean has a haunted melodic quality to it. The lyrics strike me in this song, almost as if the Foo are talking to us the listeners and telling us we don't know shit about what these amazing guys are capable of. And it's true. Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett, Nate Mendel, and Pat Smear can do anything they damn well please and this album is just another example of how talented they are. The final song I Am A River is a powerful send off. It is a beautiful song both lyrically and musically.

All in all it is another solid notch on the band's belt, just a little short. It isn't as phenomenal as Wasting Light but very few are. At this stage in the game you always wonder if your favorite band has anything left to give or if we're listening to their twilight years. They made a clear distinction after Echoes that the first chapter of their careers had ended. The second chapter began with Wasting Light and continues through Sonic Highways. We haven't come anywhere close to the twilight years in my opinion. They still have plenty of piss and vinegar left in em.

Overall Ranking: 6 out of 10

My buddy, Chad, ordered the album straight from the band's website on LP. The lucky bastard received a 45 with an extra song titled "Two-Headed Dog" a cover of the classic Roky Erickson song. They performed this song for Austin City Limits a year or so ago. As far as I know this is the first it's been recorded for release. A lot of the Foo Fighters extra songs are covers and that's cool with me. There's a super rare compilation album of the Foo Fighters titled Medium Rare (more like ridiculously rare) that collects a number of their covers. Good luck finding it on either LP or CD.