Dave Grohls Effort Not Wasted on Wasting Light

Wasting Light, The new album from Foo Fighters is a departure from the sound that they are known for. The album brings a breath of fresh air to the band whose style had become stagnant and redundant. Foo fighters began in 1994 as a side project of former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. It was meant to be a one shot album and every instrument on the debut album was played by Grohl.

In 1995 the self titled “Foo Fighters” debuted and was an unexpected hit. In order to support the album Dave Grohl formed a live band. The original band consisted of Nate Mendel on bass, William Goldsmith on drums and his former Nirvana band mate Pat Smear on lead guitar. In 1997 Goldsmith was replaced by Taylor Hawkins, who remains a permanent member of the band. Pat Smear was replaced by Franz Stahl who in turn was replaced by Chris Shiflett, Smear recently rejoined the band.

The Foo Fighters’ 7th album is a cornucopia of musical variety and is possibly the best Album the band has made so far. I am not much of a Foo Fighters fan, but if they make more albums like this one I will be. The album be gins with the adrenaline pumping “Burning Bridge”, which is a throwback to the heyday of alternative rock. The song “rope” is a complete departure from their trademark sound. It sounds more like a Rush song, than a Foo fighters track. “White Limo” demonstrates Grohl’s heavy metal influence, with it’s high pitched screaming vocals and Squealing guitar riffs. The heavier moments of Wasting Light are contrasted by the lighter harmonic stylings of ” One Of These Days”. It is truly a beautiful song. The power ballad “I should have known” is reminiscent of the music of the late 1960’s.

I was very impressed when I first heard “Rope” on the radio, It hardly sounded like a Foo Fighters song at all. The album offered far more variety than any of their previous projects. It is imbued with the same contrast that made Nirvana a joy to listen to. It is nice to hear both soft and heavy music on the same album. This is why Wasting Light5 is my favorite album of 2011.


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