Unless you’ve been living on Mars while wearing earplugs and blinders, then you’re probably aware that the Foo Fighters have a new album out entitled Sonic Highways. In fact, no album in recent memory has been more heavily promoted. Everywhere you look these days you can find Dave Grohl’s mug on something. In addition to the countless interviews, magazine articles, guest appearances, etc., the Foo Fighters also had a weeklong residency on Late Night with David Letterman, and they even have their own HBO mini-series surrounding the release. Grohl topped off the promotional tour with an appearance at The Concert for Valor in Washington, DC, where he performed solo acoustic, and on electric guitar with The Zac Brown Band and Bruce Springsteen.
With such around the clock promotion, however, there runs a risk of overexposure. There’s a fine line between promotion and potentially alienating the very fan base that the Foo Fighters have ridden to become the mega rock act that they are. Such exposure will ultimately come with its share of criticism, and that alienation and negative criticism is already beginning to take shape.
In the world of Rock n Roll, it’s called selling out, but where do the Foo Fighters fit on this tight rope? Years ago when he was told he was a sellout, Gene Simmons of Kiss responded that, “Yes. We sell out every show.”
Dave Grohl, it seems, has taken a much more humble approach to this question, as it’s obvious during his, and the Foo Fighters’, many promotional appearances, that Grohl just truly enjoys writing, playing, and listening to music. It’s something that can’t be faked. It’s as if it has become a personal mission for Grohl to introduce his fans not just his music, but also to the roots and legacy behind, jazz, punk, blues, country, and rock. It’s an ambitious effort, and it’s the basis behind Sonic Highways.
Sonic Highways attempts to extract the uniqueness from the music scenes in eight different cities; Austin, New York, New Orleans, Chicago, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, and Seattle, and translate the musical heritage from each city into a song recorded at a legendary studio in each city. Dave Grohl said that he considers the project “a love letter to the history of American music.”
What becomes obvious after listening to the first three tracks, regardless of the city in which the song was recorded, is that this is still first and foremost a Foo Fighters album. This CD rocks. Period. You will not have to worry about hearing a country style pedal steel guitar on the song recorded in Nashville (“Congregation”), or hear go-go beats on the song recorded in Washington, DC, (“Feast and the Famine”). This is a rock album, and it is solid throughout. The weakest link on the CD by far is “In the Clear,” but it’s still a serviceable track.
Despite cameos from Gary Clark, Jr. (Austin), Zac Brown (Nashville), and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band (New Orleans), the influence from each city is definitely more lyrical than musical. Scattered throughout the CD’s eight tracks are references to the city in which the song was recorded. These include references to Austin’s The 13th Floors, Nashville’s Blue Bird Café or DC’s 14th and U Streets where the 9:30 Club resides. Most of the musical influence from each city is subtle. In fact, Gary Clark’s soulful guitar solo during “What Did I Do/God As My Witness“ ends unceremoniously in a fade out, something that never should have been allowed given the professional chops of producers Butch Vig (Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, Nirvana) and Dave Grohl.
Oddly, the city with the most influence on the CD is Liverpool, but then again pretty much every American band has plenty to thank The Beatles for. Sonic Highways is chock full of melody, engrossing hooks, solid backing vocals, and appealing, yet basic, guitar phrasing. “What Did I Do/God as My Witness” is certain to be the Foo Fighters “Hey Jude” like anthem on their upcoming tour and beyond, and the bass line on “Subterranean” is almost like listening to Paul McCartney practice bass licks in the corner while recording Wings at the Speed of Sound.
A direct benefit of being a band with three guitarists is that Sonic Highways is filled with exceptional guitar riffs. Some more profound than others, but there’s never a shortage. Also in abundance are the Foo Fighter’s almost trademark quarter step/half step pauses between transitions. As usual, Taylor Hawkins’ drums are intense and powerful on each track which is saying something being that maybe the hardest playing drummer in rock is the band’s rhythm guitarist and front man.
The Foo Fighters have proven that they are up to the task of being one of rocks biggest and most recognizable acts. How the band handles the criticism that comes with that title is yet to be seen, but it’s amazing how talent and work ethic seem to effectively counter negative criticism. After twenty years the Foo Fighters have demonstrated that have plenty of talent and work ethic going for them. This is further evidenced by the amount of risk and ambition involved in their latest effort, and the band is very successful in pulling it off.