Foo Fighters - Wasting Light Album Review

The Foo Fighters were formed in 1994 by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Initially started as a small solo gig, the band quickly snowballed into a full-sized project. The band's nonsensical sounding name comes from a term for aerial phenomena seen by pilots during WWII. The band has produced seven albums during their career so far, three of which won Grammy awards for Best Rock Album.

Wasting Light is by far the most gritty and aggressive album the band has put forth to date. After listening to the new album I can hear the potential for this project in their past work. It's like they've always had it in them but something kept Foo Fighters from kicking it up to this level before. Most bands start out raging and powerful at the start and then either fall apart or evolve as age and maturity force the band to essentially grow up but for Foo Fighters it seems they've actually been holding back over the course of their career.

Listening to Wasting Light there were so many moments where it felt like listening to a newly discovered classic album. Like if a legendary rock band from decades in the past recorded an amazing album and then put it in a time capsule for future generations to enjoy. This retro vibe was exactly what Foo Fighters were aiming for; the entire album was recorded on analog tape in Grohl's basement. The band apparently wanted to go back to a simpler mindset where the music and not so much the recording method mattered.

Wasting Light is essentially an anthem album; this is both a compliment and a criticism. Sometimes it feels like the entire album was crafted with concerts in mind; legions of adoring fans belting out the choruses along with the band. There is nothing wrong with this approach, for a few songs. For an entire album it's a little tiring.

Some of the lyrics are quite frankly painful. For example: "Shame, shame, go away. Come again some other day." That line was surely meant to be artful and witty but it comes off as a cheap pun at best. Plus why invite the shame to come back at all? Because it would ruin the pun otherwise. The musical strength of the album manages to offset embarrassing lyrical moments like that and all-in-all it's a minor complaint.

Wasting Light is a complete departure from the trend of having a couple of purchase worthy tracks glued together by other, forgettable tracks that serve as placeholders so it can be called an "album". In fact, the album feels like something that would have been released long before the degradation of the music industry. It's like the band lived in a cave while the internet and iPods took over things and the music industry was turned upside down. The mood, tone and sound are all quite cohesive throughout the album as a whole and it's really refreshing to hear such thought and dedication put into an album again.

The pounding drums and screaming vocals are strung together skilfully and Wasting Light is an enjoyable experience from the first track to the last. It's worthwhile to purchase the entire album; if listeners just pick and choose tracks without giving the whole thing a listen they'll be missing out.