Album Review: Concrete and Gold Foo Fighters

Dave Grohl is rock music’s cool uncle                         

The Foo Fighters trailblaze on their ninth studio album Concrete and Gold. Foo Fighters have been a mainstay of popular rock for nearly two decades, after the forming of the band after the late Kurt Cobain passing and the breakup of Nirvana one of the biggest groups of the 1990s. The twenty year discography has had many highs and lows between the band and has had a lasting impact on young musicians and fans alike. This album marks a seminal step for the band into understanding their place as one of the biggest acts in rock music history and their streak of featuring many guest musicians.

The recording process of the album came to fruition when Dave Grohl heard a recording from indiepop act The Bird and The Bee, a project of famed music producer Greg Kurstin. Grohl would then go on a conquest to gain a chance to record with Kurtsin which would lead to the creation of Concrete and Gold

The Foos approach of bombastically loud choruses and a mix of rhythm oriented rock music is amplified on the album. Partially thanks to the previously mentioned Kurstin, famous for his work on Adele’s 25. This approach is something that some can actually appreciate from their sound, the idea of a stadium rock band having a production style that makes their sound like it is being recorded inside a stadium definitely makes a mark in their style. Frontman Dave Grohl also seems to agree as seen in his love for the recording in The Making of Concrete and Gold.

The album itself is quite standard fare with a slight twist. The band has developed a more diverse amount of chops on their songwriting, Sometimes the tracks reach screeching vocal melodies that are so distorted it resembles something from the 80s Hardcore or Industrial Noise, especially on the track La Dee Da. While other songs almost reach a somewhat light jazzy feel to them see Dirty Water (probably because of the influence of Kurstin’s previous projects which Grohl found downright outstanding.) This range creates the dynamic much of the Foo Fighters mainstay fans enjoy while others may be offput by the volume shifts being used as their song structures it still functions under the label of “Foo Fighters playing Foo Fighters songs”. The fact that some people call their songs very samey I’d say that the effort that Grohl and co take on this album is an attempt in a way to ward off those comments but think the criticism of “sounding all the same” doesn’t hold much weight, after 9 studio albums bands generally find a format that they like and stick to it.

Gripes aside the album is a solid fun rock album, which is sometimes all you need. In an era of rock bands branching into mixing their sound and making as complex music as possible, it’s nice to kick back with a corporate friendly band that still knows how to rock out. The Foo Fighters seem to understand their place culturally and seem to be fine with fading off into their own circle instead of fighting for relevancy, they want to make the music they want to make and that shows in the album. So if you’re interested in some fun music to break glass to you could do a lot worse than Concrete and Gold.

You can listen to Concrete and Gold on Spotify and Apple Music.