Album Reviews

[binnie]

Everclear – Black is the New Black (2015)

After years of cocking about trying to make arty pop, it appears that Everclear have finally rediscovered the joy of blasting out grunge-inspired, foot-to-the-floor riff rock. The format on album no. 9 is very reminiscent of the band’s ‘90s hey-day: simple arrangements, wall of sound guitars, sugary hooks and bitter-sweet, walking-wounded-and-lost-in-the-world tales of frontman Art Alexakis’s horrendous childhood, addiction and various broken relationships (a pick ‘n’ mix of fuck-uppery, if you will). And it is a joyous trip. Opener ‘Sugar Noise’ is built around a sucker-punch riff and a kiss-of-life chorus, ‘Pretty Bomb’ is a big burst of ‘Bleach’-era Nirvana and ‘The Man Who Broke His Own Heart’ is up there with the very best alt.rock can offer, an instant Husker Du on Venice Beach burst of pop-rock brilliance. Some things grate a little – Alexakis has a tendency to drop into the self-help twaddle recovering addicts like to spout (‘Anything is Better Than This’) - but this is the heaviest Everclear have sounded in years, and they feel rejuvenated for it.

It’s not big, it’s not clever, but when something is this raw, honest and delivered with a knack for storytelling you can’t help but gravitate to it.

[binnie]

Avenged Sevenfold – The Stage (2016)

Avenged Sevenfold cemented their status as the biggest heavy band of their generation with ‘Hail To The King’ (2013), a huge commercial success which saw them play enormadomes the world over and headline the planet’s largest festivals. Success came at a price, however. For all its humability, ‘Hail…’ was a deeply dishonest record, a pick ‘n’ mix of all the best bits of rock’s biggest acts – Metallica, Megadeth, G’N’R, and so on – rolled into one vast pastiche and thrust on an unsuspecting generation of teens who didn’t really know any better. Yet simplicity sells, and you can imagine that when their record company learnt that Avenged were working on a new record they were hoping for ‘Hail….#2’. What they – and, frankly, no-one else – was expecting was a 70+ minute concept album about artificial intelligence which features zero obvious singles, songs of dazzling complexity which routinely straddle the 6 minute mark, and a 15 minute closer about the big bang complete with a monologue from physicist Neil Degrasse Tyson. Launching the album as a surprise release – with no ad campaign of pre-launch press – was probably the straw which broke the spread-sheet reading record exec’s back. No wonder they changed labels.

‘The Stage’, then, is Avenged demonstrating their willingness to be contrary. Critics and metal elitists bemoaned that ‘Hail…’ was a sell-out record, that a band who had made their name of on the back of genre-smashing, wilfully complex albums has simplified and copied in pursuit of the almighty dollar. ‘The Stage’ is a reaction to that: to some ears, it will be an OVER-reaction, for this is not an instantaneous, readily digestible burst of anthemic metal. It is, however, a very impressive, admirable album. And it is also an artistic statement, the sound of band with plenty of creative vim left to fire. The dial is most definitely – and defiantly – set to ‘Go Grand or Fuck it!’

The opening (and title) track is 8 minutes of retro Avenged Sevenfold. Big riffs, bouncing rhythms, testosterone vocals and widdly guitar harmonies vie for your attention across multiple sections of an epic song as we pass from the sublime to the ridiculous with more than a little pomp. It sounds like Helloween on acid. There is a lot of music here, but all is held together by the hooks and an unbridled sense of fun (something rare in today’s metal scene). Elsewhere we find crunching, riff-heavy slabs of thrash-derived metal all served up with M Shadows’s charismatic vocal harmonies (see the frankly pummelling ‘God Damn’, the frantic ‘Paradigm’ and the guitar hero worship of ‘Creating God’ – all are deserving of inclusion into the band’s set-list). The variety is also impressive. The ballad ‘Roman Sky’ is impossibly beautiful and – by Avenged’s standards, at least – surprisingly restrained; and ‘Sunny Disposition’ sees the band willing to experiment, sandwiching brass sections amidst their metallic bluster (it almost works). 15 minute closer ‘Exist’ is bigger than Trump’s ego and is really 3 songs in one: a ballad sandwiched between 2 bursts of unholy metallic bluster. Featuring some of the best guitar you will hear this year, and riffs that would make Hetfield or Mustaine proud, this is a damn fine piece of work from a damn fine band. There simply are no adjectives to describe something this wholly over the top and supremely melodramatic.

‘Exist’ also takes us to the heart of this album, too. Like it, everything here rewards multiple listens – there are no obvious radio-friendly unit-shifters and little that actively sticks in your head on first listen, such is the complexity of the arrangements. As with Avenged’s classic records – ‘Waking the Fallen’ and ‘City of Evil’ – less would most definitely have been more here. But it is rewarding to see metal’s commercially premier band striving once again to be its critically premier band. You can only hope that some of the new fans they won over last time out are prepared to be challenged into taking the ride. Fast, frenetic, ambitious and never short of fun, ‘The Stage’ has made Avenged Sevenfold interesting and vital once again.

[Mr. Vengeance]

Are we getting a Metallica review soon, Bin? Because this new album kicks ass, IMO!!!

[binnie]

From the vaults: Dearly Beheaded – Temptation (1996)

Don’t let the terrible band name put you off. Dearly Beheaded were a band which oozed potential and one which sadly adds to annals of groups who really should have seen more success and a larger audience. Released at a point just before Nu Metal was about to be huge, but after grunge had imploded and thrash had run out of ideas, ‘Temptation’ is the sound of a band experimenting with ultra-heavy, riff-worshipping metal is a vein similar too – but not derived from – ‘90s new boys Machine Head, Prong and Pepper Keenan-era Corrosion of Conformity. Produced by producer du jour Colin Richardson (Fear Factory, Machine Head) and mixed by Andy Sneap (now one of metal’s pre-eminent producers) the sound here still feels huge 20 year later. Fat guitar and a bottom end as tight as a nun’s chuff: marvellous stuff.

But it is the songs which really impress. Opener ‘Behind the Sun’ practically commands you to bang your head, such is the crunch of its riffage. Like Pantera or Machine Head, the hallmark DNA of Dearly Beheaded was clearly thrash, but it had been married to a weighty groove which made it simpler, more powerful and heavy in a classic way. Witness the sonic battery of the title track or ‘Between Night & Day’, which sounds like Corrosion of Conformity covering Sabbath. ‘Leaving them Behind’ feels an awful lot like the first Down record, propelled as it is by a wall of riffs which kick like a mule to the gut. Phil Stevens and Steve Owens were truly blessed by the Lords of The Riff – when combined with the muscular croon of Alex Creamer’s larynx (think John Bush), the aural assault it a mighty treat for the ears.

They could have been contenders. They should have been huge. But they were fucked by a scene which began chasing Korn and Manson clones. It is a cruel irony that ‘Temptation’ has aged better – and sounds a damn sight more vital – than any of the records made by bands who were deemed ‘forward thinking’ in the mid-90s. Worship the riff, hurt your neck and grin like a prisoner on day-release in a brothel.

[binnie]

Are we getting a Metallica review soon, Bin? Because this new album kicks ass, IMO!!!

Yes, I'm still digesting it - the riffs, oh sweet lord, the riffs!

[Terry]

It was a slower death for me until the cheese content got just too high that I stopped listening even glancing to see if there was any sprinkles there at all around the time of Nine Lives came out.

It's funny to read the Binnie review because much of this album is so wrapped up in my memories I can't be objective about it. If I hear a song like Dude Looks Like A Lady or Rag Doll, I don't think 'Is this a good song?' or 'Is there too much brass?'

I just think about being in black painted night clubs, the smell of tobacco with a hint of dope, dry ice, certain brands of beer like Red Stripe and most of all the feeling of wandering about in a haze on sticky floors. Angel becomes that cheap magic act video.

I haven't listened to it in many years but I would argue that album has some gold ignoring the big singles - only 2 songs are Desmond Child efforts plus the Beatles cover.

That leaves Simoriah, Hangman Jury, Permanent Vacation, St John even Girl Keeps Coming Apart. Also I had forgotten about 'The Movie'. That's more good songs than would find on any Motley Crue album.

Actually I'm away to listen to it now. I should make up a playlist stripping out all the stuff that made me stop listening to this era of Aerosmith...

I quite enjoyed the Pump album.

I thought Sweet Taste Of India and Hole In My Soul were good. I thought Jaded was a decent tune.

Nine Lives was the last Aerosmith album I bought and listened to a few times to see if something would jump out after repeated hearings. I've heard most of the rest of what they've put out over the last 20 years once.

All of that notwithstanding, they could just play tracks off of their first 5 albums in concert and I'd be fine with that. Probably not so much the rest of the audience, because admittedly they've had a lot of hit singles from Vacation forward.

[binnie]

Korn – The Serenity of Suffering (2016)

It is 22 years since Korn’s debut album. Let that sink in for a second: the poster-boys of ‘Nu’ metal – a sub-genre that, whatever your views, undoubtedly widened the vocabulary of heavy music – are now elderstatesmen. And yet, despite this being their 12th record, they don’t feel like it. They don’t have quite the respect or reverence lavished on bands of equivalent vintage or status. Perhaps because despite the multi-million selling status, they’ve always felt like outsiders. The Korn ‘brand’ is very distinct, and they still feel decidedly on the edges of metal despite their huge commercial successes. Some would say this makes them an awkward proposition – perhaps it is actually because theirs is a sound which is wholly unique to them.

Recent years have seen the band in buoyant form. Experimentation with dub-step on ‘The Path of Totality’ (2011) was a bold and creative move which showed the band still willing to test genre boundaries as they had done 2 decades earlier; and the return of original guitarist Brian ‘Head’ Welch for 2013s ‘Paradigm Shift’ was almost universally acclaimed as hailing a return to form. In many ways ‘Serenity…’ builds on this momentum: it is a collection of short, succinct songs high on melody, big on bottom end, and strong in its consistency; and, at just over 40 minutes, demonstrates that less is very much more. It is also Korn’s heaviest record since ‘Untouchables’ (2002): the electronic from ‘Paradigm Shift’ is still present, but plays a much less prominent role, replaced instead with the thudding bass and down-tuned riffage which is this band’s hallmark. The results are often dazzling: closer ‘Next In Line’ will be a live stomper, ‘Rotting In Vein’ bounces and booms with verve, and ‘Insane’ has the low end thud which only Korn can deliver. Some bands are just distinct: like Motorhead, you know a song is by Korn inside 4 bars.

And yet despite these virtues, ‘Serenity…’ is something of a hollow record. Producer Nick Raskulinecz pushed them to try and recover their distinctive ‘90s sound, with mixed results. This is by no means a pastiche or wilfully nostalgic record, but it does at times feel like a bunch of middle-aged men trying to act like their 21 year old selves and is replete with a whiff of the ridiculous which accompanies doing so. It is when the band branches out a little that the record feels most comfortable. Highs like ‘Black is The Soul’ – which combines heaviness with very Depeche Mode-esque melodies – and ‘Everything Falls Apart’ – a hugely affecting songs which injects melodies from the alternative ‘80s into Korn’s more usual sonic battery – are a credit to the band’s creativity and song-writing prowess. A quarter of a century in, and it feels like Korn still have much more to offer.

This is a very good record. With a little less looking in the rear view mirror, however, it could have been a great one.

[binnie]

Crowbar – The Serpent Only Lies (2016)

Crowbar don’t really do surprises. For three decades, Kirk Windstein’s band of not-so-merry men have been serving up ultra-heavy slabs of melancholy, Sabbath-inspired metal and on ‘The Serpent Only Lies’ – album no. 11 – they have served up yet more slabs of ultra-heavy, Sabbath-inspired metal. Riff after hulking riff lumbers the music into life in songs which are exercises of sonic excess in its purest form, the elemental parts of heavy metal welded together in a taught, blackened, macabre dance of world-weary souls battling their way through the world. This is the type of heavy you feel in your bowels. The type of heavy that is somatic. At their best, the songs here are remarkable: ‘Plasmic & Pure’ is the sound of the industrial revolution, and ‘Surviving the Abyss’ drips in melancholy beauty which could reduce the toughest of men to tears. ‘Serpent…’ may not be quite as consistent as Crowbar’s last two records – ‘Symmetry In Black’ (2014) and ‘Sever The Wicked Hand’ (2011) – but it is a testament to how unique the place in heavy music is which Crowbar have carved out.

None. Fuckin’. Heavier.

[binnie]

Metallica – Hardwired…..To Self-Destruct (2016)

This is the best Metallica album in 25 years. Focussed, furious, and packed with songs far better than anything a band 35 years into their career has any right to pen, ‘Hardwired….’ is a joy of record in which the grand-daddies of metal prove that they are more than capable of being relevant. Most of the sins of the recent past are absent: the production – carefully and unobtrusively handled by Greg Fiddleman – is superb, balancing a huge sound with Metallica’s inherent rawness; the mix is intelligent and serves the song’s dynamics rather than volume alone; and Lou Reed is nowhere in sight. ‘Death Magnetic’ (2008) was a glorious return to form after the ‘St. Anger’ (2003) debacle, a burst of thrash-inspired metal which reignited faith in Metallica in many leather-clad hearts. But for all its virtues – speed, power, aggression – ‘Death Magnetic’ felt a little bit contrived, the sound of a band trying too hard to be their 28 year old selves rather than actually making heavy music which came from within. There are no such concerns this time around – ‘Hardwired…’ is honest, and that is the source of its immediate, thudding impact. Moreover, where ‘Death Magnetic’ was a challenging listen, comprised of very long songs with multiple parts sometimes toppling over each other and failing to stick in the memory, ‘Hardwired…’ displays the thing which made this band stand out from all of the other big metal bands of the ‘80s: superb songs built of precise dynamics, balance, precision and poise. And the riffs? Oh, sweet lord, the riffs!

Indeed, 4 of these songs are up there with this band’s very best. Each is indebted to Metallica’s past without being constrained by it. The opening and title track is 3 minutes of punk-infused thrash: simple, crushingly heavy and full of the muscular heaviness you used to expect. ‘Atlas, Rise!’ is perhaps the best song on the record: combining a series of killer riffs, Hetfield’s best set of lyrics in years, soaring Maiden-esque melodies and a chorus which deserves to ignite stadiums, this is the power and the glory of heavy metal in 6 minutes. ‘Moth Into Flame’ is an exercise in precise dynamics, a killer, crunching riff, thrashy-dynamics and ‘Black-album’ nods to melody combine in a thudding blast of heavy power. Finally, album closer ‘Spit Out The Bone’ – which predicts humanity’s destruction by artificial intelligence – is 7 minutes of blistering thrash metal, an eargasm of riffs straight from the Hetfield-is-God playbook. You didn’t think Metallica still had this in them. You will be pleased that they still do: it is as good as anything thrash produced in its heyday.

The reason for the quality here, it seems, is focus. This is very much the Hetfield/Ulrich show: Rob Trujilo has 1 writing credit, Kirk Hammet has none. That focus is the reason that a series of truly great riffs have become truly great songs. The ear for power in simplicity – rather than cramming in every ideas as they did on ‘Death Magnetic’ – makes the record more immediate. ‘Now That We’re Dead’ is a case in point. A lumbering beast of a song which sits in that mid-paced crunch which Metallica used to excel in, the dynamics here are simple. The main riff could have been on an early Accept record, for instance, and creates space for the hooks to really sell the song as an anthem: this will kill live. The slooow ‘Dream No More’ – which is a cross between ‘The Thing That Should Not Be’ and ‘Sad But True’ with added Sabbath – is brutally heavily (its riffs could level cities), but it never veers from its purpose of crushing skulls. ‘Confusion’ features a riff which can rival anything Hetfield has done, and the menacing, brooding ‘Here Comes Revenge’ combines the blusier elements of the band’s ‘Load’ era with something darker, more metallic, and twisted. A slow burner it may be, but it is also one of the most interesting songs of the record.

There are negatives here. At 2 discs and 77 minutes, the album is too long. Less would most definitely have been more. Touching as the gesture is, the world did not need to hear ‘Murder One’, a 5 minutes plodding tribute to Lemmy (why not a furious, short, sharp burst like the man himself would have written?); and, although it is clever in places, ‘ManUNkind’ feels like just another mid-paced song which gets lost in the second disc and diminishes the whole by making it drag. But the negatives should be downplayed. There is 60 minutes of superb music here, and for the first time since 1991 Metallica have written tunes which demand to be included in their setlist. Many legendary bands have returned to form in the recent years. Maiden, Anthrax, Megadeth, Korn, Killswitch Engage, and Carcass have all penned superb albums. There is a case to be made that ‘Hardwired…’ is better than any of them and when the ‘Best Of’ lists for 2016 come around, you can expect to see it ranked very highly.

Metal. Up. Your. Ass. And.Then.Some.

[binnie]

Alter Bridge – Last Hero (2016)

On paper Alter Bridge have all the makings of a truly great rock band. A guitar hero (Mark Tremonti), check. A singer with pipes capable of levelling cities (Myles Kennedy), check. Stadium-ready choruses, check. Chops, check. A sound which contains the component DNA of hard rock but remains unique, check. So why, then, do we struggle to really LOVE this band? The problems lies in the sense that what they lack in out and out excitement – the rebellious joie de vive which fuels the shuffle in all great rock – they replace with an overkill of bombast. Every vocal line is squeezed for maximum earnestness, every fill played within an inch of its life, every song crammed with layers and layers of production to create something so huge that it overwhelms. For a 4 minute song this has impact: but on a 14 song, 66 minute album it is an absolutely exhausting display of over-sincerity which leaves your head spinning in a sea wailing musicianship and world-weary lyricism.

Alter Bridge have never made a bad record, and with this level of talent they probably never will. ‘…Hero’ contains some frankly superb moments – the riff for all ages on ‘My Champion’, the stadium-filler thrust of ‘Show Me a Leader’ and the hooks that kill in ‘Poison in Your Veins’ – and like all Alter Bridge albums you can’t fault the song-writing or the quantity of the quality on display here. But by God you wish they’d just loosen up, stop overthinking every last second, and have some more big, dumb, fun. Less is more fellas, less if definitely more……..

[binnie]

Uncle Acid – The Night Creeper (2016)

Some bands are just cool. You can’t put your finger on why, they just are. And despite being the brainchild of a man called Kevin – second only to Nigel on the ‘least cool names’ leader board – Uncle Acid are one of those bands. Cool drips from this record, it infects every particle of air it touches, and as the your breathe in that air you will become cooler. After two spins you’ll be a mack daddy, Tarratino villain, hip shaking, jive-talking, badass level cool mo fo. ‘The Night Creeper’ serves up proto-metal humping the living shit out of glam rock – think T. Rex covering Blue Cheer and you’re somewhere close. The macabre evil of the one is offset by the pop sensibilities of the other, and the result is something which is infinitely listenable and deeply, deeply enjoyable. ‘Waiting for Blood’ swings like vintage Sabbath and Kev’s spacey vocals sprinkle the darkness with a douse of star dust; ‘Murder Nights’ is mid-60s psychedelica propelled by a demonic guitar; and the likes of ‘Pusher Man’ and ‘Downtown’ force you to sit back and just do with it – think Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, The Band……..playing Sabbath and Stooges covers after dropping all of the available LSD in a 100 miles radius. Tales of pushers, murderers, back alleys and the delicate hopes on which hedonism rides, Uncle Acid serve up tunes with enough bluster, rhythm and viscous melodies to make your soul glow a luminous shade of black. Bloomin’ marvelous.

[binnie]

Testament – Brotherhood of the Snake (2016)

Since ‘The Gathering’ (1999) Testament have been on a run of truly great records. ‘Brotherhood….’ continues that run. Last time out – ‘The Dark Roots of Earth’ (2012) – the band served up a largely mid-paced record comprised of potent mixture of anthems and epics. Here, their sights are firmly set on speed and simplicity. And by God is it good. Plenty of bands can play fast and heavy. Few, however, can do so while crafting songs which are memorable. Testament have always been amongst the few and ‘Brotherhood…’ contains some damn fine burst of thrash metal elevated by hooks, quirks and character into damn fine songs. The title track is burst of blast beats and a guitar sound which proves that Testament are the kings of crunch; ‘Stronghold’ has a riff to end of riffs and is made for the mosh pit; ‘Centuries of Suffering’ is the sound of fire raining from the sky and deserves to be barked by baying crowds across the globe; and closer ‘The Number Game’ is a pure neck wrecker, militia-like thrash which is about as heavy as music can be. Best of all, however, is ‘Neptune’s Spear’: as good a metal song as you will hear this year, this is a mini epic which combines lashing of quality ideas without collapsing under the weight of its own complexity.

10 3-4 minute songs with no let up, ‘Brotherhood…’ is a furious metal record. Featuring a who’s who of thrash metal – drum lord Gene Hoglan and bass impresario Steve Di Gigorio joining long timers Eric Peterson, Alex Skolnick and Chuck Billy – the performances shine through and Andy Sneaps mix serves the individual as well the collective. Plenty of legends have released good thrash records this year (Anthrax, Megadeth, Sodom, Death Angel, Destruction) but Testament not only flatten them they prove themselves capable of living with any of metal’s younger lions, too.
Bang. Thy. Head.

[Mr. Vengeance]

Testament – Brotherhood of the Snake (2016)

Since ‘The Gathering’ (1999) Testament have been on a run of truly great records. ‘Brotherhood….’ continues that run. Last time out – ‘The Dark Roots of Earth’ (2012) – the band served up a largely mid-paced record comprised of potent mixture of anthems and epics. Here, their sights are firmly set on speed and simplicity. And by God is it good. Plenty of bands can play fast and heavy. Few, however, can do so while crafting songs which are memorable. Testament have always been amongst the few and ‘Brotherhood…’ contains some damn fine burst of thrash metal elevated by hooks, quirks and character into damn fine songs. The title track is burst of blast beats and a guitar sound which proves that Testament are the kings of crunch; ‘Stronghold’ has a riff to end of riffs and is made for the mosh pit; ‘Centuries of Suffering’ is the sound of fire raining from the sky and deserves to be barked by baying crowds across the globe; and closer ‘The Number Game’ is a pure neck wrecker, militia-like thrash which is about as heavy as music can be. Best of all, however, is ‘Neptune’s Spear’: as good a metal song as you will hear this year, this is a mini epic which combines lashing of quality ideas without collapsing under the weight of its own complexity.

10 3-4 minute songs with no let up, ‘Brotherhood…’ is a furious metal record. Featuring a who’s who of thrash metal – drum lord Gene Hoglan and bass impresario Steve Di Gigorio joining long timers Eric Peterson, Alex Skolnick and Chuck Billy – the performances shine through and Andy Sneaps mix serves the individual as well the collective. Plenty of legends have released good thrash records this year (Anthrax, Megadeth, Sodom, Death Angel, Destruction) but Testament not only flatten them they prove themselves capable of living with any of metal’s younger lions, too.
Bang. Thy. Head.

I'm only a few songs into it but it seems that Testament have another winner.

[Terry]

Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways (2014)

On paper, album number 8 from the Foo Fighters sounds intriguing. An out-and-out rock band explores the rich avenues of popular music in America by recording each of the 8 songs on its new album in a different pivotal musical city. Accompanied by a HBO documentary lavishly detailing the music of the cities in question from the street up, ‘Sonic Highways’ is very much an extension of Dave Grohl’s ‘Sound City’ documentary from several years ago. The documentaries are wonderful pieces – full of the scent of each city, packed with the enthusiasm which goes hand-in-hand with musical geekery, and resonating Grohl’s natural warmth, they were clearer labours of love and produced with affection and humility. But the album itself? It’s quite a mess.

And that is a real shame. In 2011 Foo Fighter’s last album, ‘Wasting Light’, was an absolute beast. Tune after tune of what the Foos do best: power pop belted out from the gut and made for the garage. With no filler, and few clichés, this was Grohl and company in the best Tom Petty, Cheap Trick, and Blondie tradition – hook-laden tunes which tear your heart out and give it back to you better. But ‘Sonic Highways’ reverts back to type – yet another half-baked Foo Fighters record made by a bunch of guys who know all too well that when the tour of the megadomes begins, they’ll only ever have to play a couple of these tunes to an audience who want to hear the hits anyway. The whole thing feels like a vanity project, an excuse to make a documentary.

So, anyone expecting the Foos to delve into the sonic depths of each of the cities in question – the Foos do country (Nashville), the Foos do blues (Chicago), the Foos do California rock (LA) – is going to be sorely disappointed. Sure, there are a host of guests on each track, but aside from solos by Joe Walsh and Gary Clark Jr you’ll be lucky to notice them because, ultimate, this is just another Foo Fighters record. That in itself is no bad thing, but the songs just don’t cut it – overlong where this band works best as a concise beast, and full of jams where they work best with traditional structures, ‘Sonic Highways’ is a frustratingly meandering trip at times. Sure, it has its moments – ‘Something For Nothing’ is a typical Foos belter, and ‘Congregation’ shows what the album could have been – but the amount of self-indulgence here is nauseating. Closer ‘I Am A River’ is longer than a Peter Jackson film, without any of the special effects.

Three years ago, Foo Fighters had a late career high. ‘Sonic Highways’ is such a disappointment. Those who like their rock unchallenging and built for the radio may take it or leave it, but those of us who know that this band can do so much better will be hugely disappointed.

I have a somewhat difficult relationship with the Foo Fighters.

I thought (and still do) the first two Foos albums were really good American hard-edged rock albums, with some tracks and moments on those albums that transcended to rock brilliance. The first album was Grohl top-to-bottom, and the second one was for the most part another Grohl album. I think part of the reason those two albums stood out at the time is due to the fact that by the time the grunge explosion was dying in terms of airplay and visibility, there weren't really many bands out there getting a high degree of exposure that were delivering really good American hard-edged rock music in the manner that the Foos/Grohl were.

I started checking out when the third album, There Is Nothing Left To Lose, was released. Mostly because by then there was a Foo Fighters songwriting template in place in terms of structure, and very little from There Is onward connected with me in the visceral way the first two Foos albums had. It's weird, because I've never been one of those fans who happened to get in on the ground floor of an up and coming band and then reflexively dislike them when they became popular solely because they became popular: as long as the music still connected with me, I could give a shit if masses of people who hadn't heard of them before were now listening to them. Oddly, with Foo Fighters, the bigger they got and the more by way of reverence that was directed toward Grohl, the less I was enjoying what the band were doing. Perhaps not so odd when I really think about it, because by the time the 1990s were coming to a close, I'd had my fill of being screamed at by Grohl in every other Foo chorus. Also, the thing that struck me about Grohl is the same thing I always felt about Eddie Vedder, which is they both give off this vibe of studied/practiced angst in their songwriting: the emotional content they try to put across never strikes me as 100% authentic. There's always this aura of contrivance there. It's nothing tangible I can put into words, rather I gut feeling I get at times when listening to them sing and the lyrics they write...that to varying degrees they are pretentiously faking it. And then there are the repeated instances with both Grohl and Vedder where they are surrounded by various rock icons who were looking to extend their careers or relevance by hooking onto Grohl's and Vedder's relevance with younger record buyers (back when people were still actually buying records), and I'm sitting there thinking that Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam were good bands who had some great moments, yet it seemed mildly embarrassing to see members of groups like Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, The Ramones or The Doors jamming/palling around with those guys. Simply put, neither the Foos or Pearl Jam were ever THAT good in my book. Neither band reached legendary status in my book, either.

I'd agree 100% that Wasting Light was a late career high, and was/is my favorite Foo album after the first 2. I mean, shit, the first listen I had of Rope knocked me back and had me nodding my head in approval. Sonic Highways was certainly a step away from what the Foos did best, and I don't think the Foos or Grohl really have the ability or the talent to take what they did best to another level as they get older. The best they can hope for is more of the same, only not quite as good. I tend to doubt the Foos are going to broaden the music as they age, and in the end will be very much of their time with a few albums that will prove to be lasting. Like, I'm not the hugest U2 fan out there, but that band was still managing to come up with stuff 25 years after their first album was released that reminded you of why they were great in the first place. Outside of Wasting Light, the Foos have been pretty slim pickins for me since 1997. They certainly don't have a consistently excellent body of work that earns them a place among the best rock bands of all time. I think it has more to do with them being one of the last rock bands standing than anything else.

[DONNIEP]

I remember back in '97, I think it was '97, the Foo Fighters played at City Fest in Charlotte. People actually threw bricks at the stage. I was there but I still have no idea why those idiots threw bricks at them.