On their ninth album, Concrete And Gold, Foo Fighters go all in on that classic rock love, resulting in a batch of songs that uses the past to give the band new life.
Mr. Grohl and Foo Fighters wear their influences so openly--Pink Floyd in “Concrete and Gold,” Led Zeppelin in “Make It Right,” the Beatles all over the album--that they still come across as earnest, proficient journeymen, disciples rather than trailblazers.
In the end, it’s the lack of direction that’s fatal for Concrete and Gold; at least the last three records, scored through with problems as they were, had a sense of what was driving them, even if it was something as superficial as Sonic Highways’ city-hopping.
Foo did it again! Definitely a stand out album. Not a huge fan of the name but I dig the majority of the album. Stand outs; The Sky Is aFoo did it again! Definitely a stand out album. Not a huge fan of the name but I dig the majority of the album. Stand outs; The Sky Is a Neighborhood, Dirty Water, The Line and Run.…Expand
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Excellent album, with explosive moments and moved (but very melodic despite the distortion of these) and calm with some mellow (mostly in "Happy Ever After (Zero Hour)"), with impressive riffs (well, in "Run" is only two notes hahahahha) and entertained consistently, and even with the voice of Taylor in one of them, one of the best of the entire album but that pitifully lengthens (and much), may not be the best album of his career , but one of the best, being the only (and great) mistakes in their production and in their own songs, the increase of expectation with respect to the news that there would be great guests of the present music like collaboration (Justin Timberlake and Paul **** McCartney more than anything), this collaboration being virtually indistinguishable at the time of its listening, since anyone can say that the chants of "Make It Right" (excellent song) are made by any female voices, or that the beat in "Sunday Rain" is any or even the same Grohl, and that when listening to the songs, it can become something repetitive, that is, sometimes the riffs are repeated a lot, and at the time of the choruses is not that there is a lot of change (this being the reason why "The Sky is a Neighborhood" is the best of the album according to many). But in conclusion, a very good album, with good guitar riffs, and even a song with the very same Taylor Hawkins main voice, with guest artists practically null. I look forward to the bonus track…Expand
I enjoyed all the tracks in this album aside from the title track which i thought was okay, not great. Stand outs are La Dee Da, Dirty Water,I enjoyed all the tracks in this album aside from the title track which i thought was okay, not great. Stand outs are La Dee Da, Dirty Water, T Shirt, Make it Right, and Happy Ever After. Overall im very pleased with this Foo Fighters albuum.…Expand
Concrete and Gold is a good album, don't get me wrong, but, concerning Foo Fighters, good is what it's come to be expected. The album inConcrete and Gold is a good album, don't get me wrong, but, concerning Foo Fighters, good is what it's come to be expected. The album in itself lacks a proper identity,unlike previous albums who presented themselves as a very tightly knitted together work.
The album starts with unappealing hard rock songs, that sounds like everything we've heard before from Foo Fighters, before entering the second part of the Album, where we get the "weirdness" we've been promised. As much as the first songs aren't noteworthy, stacking low against the storied list of Foo Fighters Singles, the second part presents welcomed nudges to the band comfort zone, bringing unexpected styles, composition, orchestration and execution. Songs like "Sunday Rain" and "Happy Ever After (Zero Hour)" are blessings hidden in the last part of the album.
Getting better and juicier as it goes, Concrete and Gold offers a reversion of Foo Fighters tendencies, where the Singles are the worst part of the album. You will have to be patient and wait to the end for the reward, but it's absolutely worth it, having some of the best and most innovative songs ousted by Dave Grohl and cia.…Expand
I could basically review the first single, Run, and it'd be the same review as my review of this album. It came out, I was hyped, and I wentI could basically review the first single, Run, and it'd be the same review as my review of this album. It came out, I was hyped, and I went from thinking it was average to thinking it was the amazing and everything in between. Yeah so this album didn't exactly land in the amazing category, but not far off. Stylistically the album has a lot of influences from different rock genres like blues, progressive and stoner rock.
The album begins with T-Shirt, one of my favorite songs (though only 1 min 22 seconds) which is pretty much an intro to the aforementioned Run. Run doesn't really live up to the hype T-Shirt built up for it, with the production (seemingly everyone's main gripe with the album) draining some of the power from the screaming Dave Grohl and the extremely hard guitars. The song drags on a little too long, but I'd say it's enjoyable.
Also now that I brought up the production I have to say: I didn't find it too bad. Overall it didn't take too much away from songs, and it actually worked with some of the songs.
After Run comes Make It Right which isn't exacly my favorite song on the album. The main riff isn't very good and it just gets played over and over on top of what is probably the worst case of overproduction on the record. It's a little boring, but I wouldn't say it's bad per se.
Then comes the second single, The Sky Is a Neighbourhood. Definitely one of my favorite songs. It's a very bluesy alternative rock song with a really nice chorus.
La Dee Da is pretty much a better Make It Right. It's a little rougher and has a quality bassline. The political message (not the first or last time on the album there is one) is good and it's just a good song.
Dirty Water's probably not many people's favorite song. I think it's rather good. It has a nice kind of sleazy bedroom-made feel along with a good production and nice backing vocals. I really like the track.
Arrows is another good track. It's a pretty classic Foo Fighters song, but it's clearly from Concrete and Gold. It's in a weird middle-ground. I like the walking verses mixed with the buildup to the loud chorus. Production is done especially well here.
Yeah not a massive fan of Happy Ever After (Zero Hour). It has a nice folky feel and good lyrics, but the song feels a little too stagnant. It's not all that exciting.
Sunday Rain is another track I'm a little mixed on. I want to like it more than I do. The chorus good and production is nice. However I kinda feel the same as I do with the track before it. Still pretty enjoyable.
The Line is really boring and overproduced. I really don't like it. It was released as a promo single before the album's release and I listened to it like three times. I've never really been a huge fan of the song. Maybe it will still grow on me.
Oh boy I love Concrete and Gold. The song just chugs along in a magnificent way, and although the production isn't at its best here I don't care. I love this song. BTW **** you Darrell.
Overall while the album tends to be slightly overproduced and slow at times (mostly towards the end), there's more songs that are enjoyable than otherwise. I'd give this album a strong 7.
Track ratings:
T-Shirt decent to strong 9
Run strong 7 to light 8
Make It Right decent 5
The Sky Is a Neighbourhood light 9
La Dee Da strong 7
Dirty Water light to decent 8
Arrows decent 8
Happy Ever After (Zero Hour) strong 6
Sunday Rain light 7
The Line strong 4 to light 5
Concrete and Gold decent 9
(these ratings might have changed from the original ones)…Expand
Foo Fighters are a singles band more than an albums band. It's not hard to see that. I mean okay, to be fair, the band does have great recordsFoo Fighters are a singles band more than an albums band. It's not hard to see that. I mean okay, to be fair, the band does have great records under their belt, like the Colour and the Shape and Wasting Lights, but they do put out better singles than they do with albums. And this album is no exception, although this is still a little dissapointing. Unlike their last album, Sonic Highways, which promised more with it's concept of recording in different studios and taking different styles into their sound only to put out another Foo Fighters album but without the excitement, Concrete and Gold is different. They do go for different sounds and styles, however it cannot help but feel like the band is playing it safe yet failing when they take risks. Greg Kurstin was the wrong choice to produce this album! He's most known for working with pop artists like Adele, Sia, and Kelly Clarkson, and you can tell he has no idea what he's doing with the Foos! Hell the closest he has to "rock" are Foster the People and producing the last two Tegan and Sara albums (a.k.a. the ones where the duo went from a catchy indie pop duo to making sterile 80s pop leftovers). The rocks songs are way too fuzzed out to be exciting, with the exception of Run, and the different styles feel so polished and passe. Not to mention artists like Justin Timberlake, Paul McCartney, and Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men fame, who contribute to songs, are super underutilized! I get the band changing their sound, Dave Grohl can do that at this point, but unfortunately not all the experiments work (although these experiments feel as daring as switching a brand of toothpaste) and instead of sounding exciting they just sound like they're grasping for relevance. It's not all bad as the band puts in effort to make this album works, but it's not among their best and there isn't a song as good as Run on here either.…Expand
Get details on the most-anticipated albums arriving this fall (including new releases from St. Vincent, Taylor Swift, U2, Beck, and more), and listen to tracks from each one.
Published: September 7, 2017Get details on the most-anticipated albums arriving this fall (including new releases from St. Vincent, Taylor Swift, U2, Beck, and more), and listen to tracks from each one.