FOO FIGHTERS レコード& CD

Review: Recorded in the wake of drummer Taylor Hawkins death, Foo Fighters 11th studio album has been trailed as their "most personal yet". That's understandable, and lyrically Hawkins' tragic demise looms large - at times, the songs sound like the band going through the grieving process in public. It's a bold statement, with music - produced by long-time collaborator Greg Kunstin and featuring Dave Grohl on drums - that self-consciously references the raw energy, fuzzy riffs, and sweat-soaked energy of the band's 1995 debut album. Only time will tell where it sits in their catalogue - in terms of greatest moments, at least - but on first listen it's a raw, raging, melancholic alt-rock masterpiece.

Review: But Here We Are is the new album from Foo Fighters, and marks the band's return after a year of staggering losses, personal introspection and bittersweet remembrances. Evidently a well-justified most-personal-album-yet moment for Grohl and co., the album follows the untimely passing of the band's longtime drummer and founding member, Taylor Hawkins, in 2022. Murmurations that Foo Fighters were going to be an entirely different band going forward have now been proven correct: while noted to have been intentionally made to channel the naivete of their debut namesake LP, songs like 'Rescued' and 'The Teacher' also bring several decades' worth of 'maturity' to theirs sound. They add a new, central theme: the fleeting nature of life.

Review: Remarkably, the last Foo Fighters retrospective dropped way back in 2009, so this career-spanning 'best of' is undoubtedly well overdue. As a starting point for exploring their catalogue - or, for confirmed fans, having all the band's best bits in one place - The Essential Foo Fighters does an excellent job. There are naturally plenty of grungy, high-energy, guitar-laden alternative rock smashers present - 'Rope', 'Monkey Wrench' and so on - but also nods towards the more classic rock-orientated end of their work ('Cold Day In The Sun', the Beatles-esque 'Big Me'), punky and funky indie club anthems ('All My Life') and a smattering of acoustic and semi-acoustic gems ('Waiting On a War' and a wonderfully sparse, folksy take on 'Everlong'). Like Ronseal products, it does exactly what it says on the tin.

Review: They're a Marmite band no doubt, especially among those who followed the altogether more deviant and dengerous Nirvana that brought FF frontman Dave Grohl to the world's attention initially. But there's no denying the fact that the Foo Fighters' anthemic, surging power chord pileup of a sound has turned them into a prospect that - whether live or record - now massively eclipses their predecessor in popularity. This is the definitive double-LP compiliation of all of the Foo Fighters' most essential cuts, including 'Everlong', 'Monkey Wrench' and 'Rope' and many more.

Review: Despite Dave Grohl's position in the rock firmament, the man rarely seems content to rest on his laurels, and this is proven once again by the mission he and the band embarked on to come up with Sonic Highways, their eighth album proper. Travelling around America to simultaneously record this album and create the HBO documentary series based on the musical history and local scenes of eight cities, he took inspiration from those he interviewed - from Dolly Parton to Bad Brains - to craft an album rich with the passion that first compelled him to play music. The result is the most life-affirming Foo Fighters record in well over a decade - explosive, melodious and fierily idealistic, it's a modern rock masterclass.