Final Rating: 7.5/10
I can’t think of an album in recent memory more hyped and eagerly anticipated than Foo Fighters’ Sonic Highways.
Then again, no album has ever really had this type of promotion behind it, primarily driven by what will amount to an 8-week informercial on North America’s most popular and far-reaching pay TV channel.
Following the success and acclaim of the FOO’s back-to-garage-basics Wasting Light in 2011, music mastermind Dave Grohl apparently wasn’t simply satisfied with saving rock ’n’ roll from whatever ailed it. He moved from behind his singer’s mic to that of a director’s viewfinder, helming the very well-received Sound City, a documentary on the legendary studio of the same name, with a subplot of real songs and records continuing to be made by analog-loving musicians. The companion soundtrack, you may remember, featured several kick-ass collaborations, including one with a certain Sir Paul McCartney that led to a spontaneous Nirvana reunion of sorts.
Sound City went over so well, Grohl must’ve thought, let’s do the same thing eight times over; it’ll be that much more awesome…uh, right? Sonic Highways is impressively ambitious, I’ll give it that – For the uninitiated (and if you’re one of these, I really want to know what rock you’re living under), the show sees Foo Fighters travelling to eight musically historical cities, endeavouring to somehow bottle and capture on tape everything that is great and distinctive from disparate areas of the US such as Chicago blues, Nashville country, and New Orleans jazz. As of me writing this article, we are through four nothing-short-of-riveting episodes. Grohl the director definitely has a knack for extracting heartfelt excitement from his interview subjects while deflecting any focus away from himself. The weekly buildup to the concluding lyric video is top-notch drama, as good if not better than any scripted fare. Very slick, Mr. Grohl!
But this review is about Sonic Highways the stand-alone album. And if you remove all the proverbial bells and whistles and take it at its face LISTENING value, Foo Fighters’ ironically-numbered 8th LP falls more than a little short. If I were to do one of those complete band discography rankings which seem to be the rage among bloggers these days, this would wind up somewhere in between their loud/soft concept In Your Honor and time-honored classic The Colour and the Shape. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with any of the tracks; some are quite terrific and have already become fast FOO-rites of mine, namely “Outside”, “Congregation”, and “Something from Nothing”, even if the latter’s main riff was clearly stolen from Dio’s “Holy Diver”, in addition to being overplayed by commercial radio. Three rock solid cuts out of eight in this day and age, mind you, is good enough for Album of the Year consideration, at least in my books.
I honestly think Sonic Highways’ biggest problem is that despite its initial bold claims of being unlike anything Foo Fighters have done before…it sounds an awful lot like what Foo Fighters have been doing for the last 20 years. Yes, there has audibly been an evolution from the one-man grunge machine on “This Is a Call” to the orchestral climax that closes “I Am a River”, as well as a subtle yet concerted effort to mold contemporary Americana rock in their image. Forget Springsteen or Tom Petty, the FOO see themselves as the quintessential, all-American working class band, so much so that no matter who they bring aboard as a contributor, whether it’s an old hat like Joe Walsh or a still-wet-behind-the-ears Gary Clark Jr., the guitar is going to come out just like Grohl, Pat Smear or Chris Shiflett would play it.
So while highly enjoyable at times, I feel like I was promised more, and expect more than waiting to binge-watch all of Sonic Highways once the series runs its course. Then again, the songs will surely sound amazing whenever I get to see the FOOs live, sometime in 2015 at a massive venue no doubt!
