Foo Fighters: Wasting Light

The Foo Fighters are a band that has made their way to legendary status throughout the years, putting out great hard rock albums ever since the day their self-titled album dropped in 1995. It was like a second coming of Nirvana at first when the single I’ll Stick Around came out. It turns out that it in fact had no Nirvana-esqeness about it, I’ll Stick Around was a tease to bring over Nirvana fans to the Foo’s. It was a great album by all means and many great albums followed, but they were no Nirvana.

I’m glad Dave Ghrol did form a band, post-Nirvana. I love Foo Fighters, their albums always have amazing quality, musicianship is tops, and lyrics are meaningful. I have every album they have put out, been to 2 of their concerts, and even used their song Miracle in my wedding. That being said, there is something about Foo Fighters I dislike as well. Three out of Five times one of their songs come up on my iPod, I will skip the song. Wasting light features old Foo pals Pat Smear and Krist Novoselic, possibly trying to bring back some of the magic of the past. Another note of hype is the fact that the album was recorded in Dave Ghrol’s garage on analog tapes, and they destroyed the master tape to give to the fans in every album copy. Semi-cool in its own right, but are they compensating for a crappy album?

Wasting Light is a mediocre album, all songs on the album are hard-rocking tastiness, they don’t necessarily flow well. Wasting Light seems like more of a B-sides and rarities album than a well put together Foo album, and add’s further to the ambiguity of the Foo Fighters (Ambiguous on whether they are a great band or not). Lets break it down:

Bridge Burning: Great starter song, gets you pumped to hear a great album. Amazing song.

Rope: First single, I love the song. Great lyrics. Song gets boring/ repetitive toward the end.

Dear Rosmary: Good song, slightly weird and annoying lyrics.

White Limo: Reminds me of a song on their self titled album, it is a speedy metal song that borders on punk with a muffled Grohl on the mic

Arlandria: My favorite song on the album, classic Foo Fighters. Rocks my face off.

These Days, Back & Forth, A Matter of Time, Miss the Misery, I Should Have Known, all blur together into a giant Foo Fighter blaa. They aren’t bad or good, they are just there on the album for filler.

Walk: Slower song, and I really like it. Good life-reflection lyrics and inspirational lyrics.

Now, if you get the iTunes version it comes with a few extras, Rope (Deadmau5 Mix) which is worth paying a few more shekels for, Better Off which is another great song, and Videos for White Limo, Walk, and Rope.

So, This is a Call, if you get my Foo Fighters reference: Help me figure out why they are a great band, one of my favorites really, and yet I haven’t put one of their CD’s in the car in over 3 or more years. Wasting Light is a decent album, however in a week I feel it will be another forgotten gem that sits to collect dust. I really want to like this album, however I just don’t think its going to happen, its no One By One, or Colour and the Shape, that is for certain.

Attention all Enter the Shell fans: If you have heard Wasting Light, please let us know what you think (Or check it out here on the Foo’s website).

Also check out this stuff from Enter the Shell:

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Album Review: the Invisible Hand
Artist of the Week: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Enter the Shell show: Imaginary Cities & Comedian Ralph Figureoa