Foo Fighters
Wasting Light

After two great albums like "In Your Honor" and "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" and a celebratory best of, the time has come to release the seventh album for Dave Grohl's Foo Fighters, returning to the scene after two years of absence.

Given the positive experience in working on the two new tracks included in the aforementioned best of, Grohl first confirmed veteran Butch Vig as producer, and (finally, it must be added) officially announced the return of guitarist Pat Smear, who had contributed so much to forge the winning sound of the American band's early albums.

With all these changes, one wonders how this new "Wasting Light" sounds. Well, compared to the solid previous work, the sound forged by Vig for the new album is much more hard, essential and direct; where (in "Echoes...") we were facing a launched start that then led us to a progressive approach towards more reflective and completed shores, this new studio effort maintains a certain constant sonic aggressiveness that permeates the entire album through its more than forty-seven minutes of duration.

Few indeed are the concessions to quiet, which are reduced to the beautiful "I Should Have Known" (a nostalgic reunion with Krist Novoselic, here on bass and accordion) and to an "A Matter Of Time" which maybe is the least convincing track of the entire album.

For the rest, we are facing a solid, compact, and luckily inspired work typically "Foo's", right from the powerful opening "Bridge Burning". "Rope" is the good first single, a post-grunge ride that Grohl can now write with his eyes closed; "Dear Rosemary" (which would be perfect as the second single) boasts another prestigious guest, namely Bob Mould, who here has fun with guitars and backing vocals. "White Limo" is a violent assault in decibels that vaguely recalls Grohl's now-dated excursion into metal with the excellent side project Probot (and in the amusing video clip, indeed, the boozy face of His Majesty Lemmy appears). "Arlandria", a fans favorite from the live shows, is another catchy melody.

Another good effort by Foo Fighters, now a monument of American alt-rock and beyond. And a more and more convincing applause to Dave Grohl; rebuilding a virginity after such a burdensome past, still fresh in the memory of rock lovers worldwide, wasn't easy, but he did it with irony, charisma, and, above all (which is what counts most), talent.

Back & forth!

Key tracks: "Bridge Burning", "Dear Rosemary", "White Limo", "I Should Have Known"