Foo Fighters Wasting Light Songs
Kum Verna
In a way, it's very hard for me to say bad things about the Foo Fighters. On a personal level, they were a gateway band who bridged the gap after Nirvana and led on to other discoveries. They were always great live, and Dave Grohl unnervingly likeable in the way only the extremely nice can be. But though their popularity grew year on year after The Colour And The Shape, the fruits of their labour became somewhat generic and predictable. Albums, although serviceable, with the odd highlight dotted about them, came and went.
So it is with Wasting Light. Although some wags have no doubt already christened it Wasting Time or Wasting Air, for the long term listeners, there's the same sound they've come to love through the years. And with Pat Smear back in the fold, Butch Vig producing and Krist Novoselic guesting, the Nirvana connections are back in full force. A back to basics approach has been emphasised in the run up to the album's release: it was recorded and mixed in Grohl's home studio, and there's a mini tour of garages for lucky American fans. Add to that the fact that the time elapsed since 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace would surely allow good material to build up, and a return to form would seem likely to be on the cards.
What a shame then, that Wasting Light is so straightforward and template driven. Even with a third prong to the guitar attack, the material on offer very rarely gives the players anything to really sink it into. 'Bridge Burning' is a fairly tame mid-tempo opener. Despite starting with a clever interlaced guitar sequence, soon enough we're into a song that could have come from any of their last three albums, and wouldn't have made the cut on the first two. 'Rope' is more of the same, all double tracked vocals and twisting guitars. Musically, it's more interesting, until again the chorus kicks in, and they're crushed by the Big Rock techniques that have served them so well in the past. At least here there's a sense that they're pushing themselves a bit in the middle eight. Bob Mould pops up on the next track, 'Dear Rosemary' and doesn't make it significantly more interesting. 'White Limo' is one of Grohl's better efforts. There's a genuine sense of urgency to it, his masked vocals and screeches menacing and effective, the band behind him finally hot rather than warm.
The following five tracks are literally filler. That isn't to say they aren't effective, well played, considered, put together. There's just no fire or intent behind on offer, and the contrast between them and 'White Limo' is stark. Things pick up for the Kurt Cobain inspired 'I Should Have Known', even if it doesn't really benefit from its Novoselic guest spot. The bass is higher in the mix to signal his presence, and that choice seems a little heavy handed on an otherwise touching and balanced slower song. 'Walk' is another closing number that fails to live up to earlier works.
So there you have it. Another Foo Fighters album with a smattering of good songs to fit into their stadium sets. It is exactly as you would have expected it to sound, and ultimately that isn't enough for anyone who doesn't rush out on the day of release to buy their albums. The Foo Fighters' concern isn't in gaining new fans by this point, though. Nor is it really in releasing albums that can match or surpass their prior work. It is in creating a string of near identical albums, stretching out to infinity from here on out, each less challenging than the one before. That's what career bands do, even if their intentions are to create something more ambitious and worthwhile. This album is not the exception to that rule.
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A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about how bands need to find new creative ways to market their CD's (Is the Rock CD Dying?). As the CD industry continues to decline, few artists have found effective ways to connect with their fans in a way to sell more CD's. One of the standouts is Taylor Swift. Jessica Gioglio recently wrote a blog post for Convince and Convert about Swift's use of Instagram to engage with her fans. Now it's the Foo Fighters turn as they look to creatively market their newest CD, Sonic Highways.
Foo Fighters were going to have a hard time topping their last album, Wasting Light. That album took them to new heights. They were everywhere...MTV (when they actually did something music-based), the Grammys...even a documentary on their history through the making of the album. So what did Dave Grohl come up with? A concept to record eight songs in eight cities (Chicago, Washington DC, Nashville, Austin, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Seattle and New York). Oh, and if that wasn't enough, he would also create a documentary highlighting the musical history of each city for an HBO series. Still not enough? (Yeah, we're a tough crowd...) Grohl used quotes from the interviews from the artists to craft the lyrics for each song.
The band spent a week in each city. They'd record the music during the day and, at night, Grohl would interview artists for the documentary. At the end of the week, he'd take the notes from the artists and work them into lyrics for the song they were recording. On the last day, he'd record the lyrics and they'd record the video for the song that ran at the end of each show. Grohl admitted in an interview with Rolling Stone (read it here) that it was a lot more work than he anticipated.
The series is incredibly well done and captivating. Some of the transitions between musical genres were a little choppy, but Grohl's conversational interview style put the artists at ease as they talked about their experiences. You learn about the bands that put these cities on the map, and you also get a glimpse of how Grohl and the Foo Fighters were influenced as well. To top it off, they also had a guest artist for each song. Not only does this bring additional interest in the songs for Foo Fighters fans, but it opens them up to fans of the guest artists (such as Gary Clark, Jr., Zac Brown, Rick Nielsen and Joe Walsh) who may not be current Foo Fighters fans. Getting them to listen to one song might get them to listen to another...and then, possibly liking it enough to buy the CD.
The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard Music chart with 190,000 sales. Overall, I like the CD, but it doesn't match the energy of Wasting Light. It's much more similar to the Sound City soundtrack...the documentary Grohl made about the Sound City studio and in which he brought artists in to record a song in 24 hours. The series very much helps the songs as I had a much stronger appreciation of each song after watching the shows. From seeing the recording and song writing process, as well as the collaboration with the guest artists, there are a little things I wouldn't have noticed had I not watched. It's a great enhancement for the CD with highlights in Something From Nothing, Feast and the Famine, Congregation and I am the River.
Grohl said that this experience has opened up a world of opportunities for the band. In the same Rolling Stone interview, and in true Dave Grohl fashion, he also said, "I'm always learning. You know I have no idea what I'm doing, right?" It's that self awareness and willingness to try things that make most of what Grohl does such a breath of fresh air. His curiosity and eagerness to learn shines through his projects and is perhaps what endears them to us.
What do you think of the CD and/or HBO series? If you haven't checked them out, I highly recommend it. What do you think about it as a marketing vehicle. Leave me your thoughts in the comments below or on social media. Thanks for reading and please share it with your friends.
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