Foo Fighters

However Right here We Are

Roswell/RCA

Jul 17, 2023
Internet Unique

By Ian Rushbury

When Dave Grohl entered Robert Lang Studios in Seattle, alone, in late 1995, he was working via one thing. The suicide of his Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain, unsurprisingly tipped Grohl into melancholy, and for months he struggled to even decide up an instrument. He turned down gives to affix Danzig and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, selecting to slowly get into an acceptable headspace to create. The ensuing album—the debut file by Foo Fighters, however in actuality, a Grohl solo album—served as each a calling card and a cathartic launch. Within the face of adversity, he had discovered his muse. Typically historical past repeats itself in horrible methods.

When Taylor Hawkins handed away in 2022, Grohl had misplaced the Yin to his Yang. Grohl was the ebullient, bigger than life, family-friendly rock star, whereas Hawkins was Mr. Rock and Roll, with all the luggage that title entails. To pile on the distress, Grohl misplaced his mom Virginia Hanlon Grohl later that very same yr. To take care of these losses, Grohl went again into the studio. This time a part of his grief was shouldered by his bandmates who’ve helped to make the ensuing album, However Right here We Are, a strong and persistently nice rock and roll file.

The shadows forged by the deaths of Taylor Hawkins and Virginia Grohl might have spun Foo Fighters right into a maudlin narcolepsy. As a substitute, the band have been galvanized into motion. Beginning with a name to arms. “Rescued” clatters into view like all the good Foo Fighters songs. “It got here in a flash / It got here out of nowhere / It occurred so quick / After which it was over.” Not often, if ever, has this band sounded so tight, collectively, and purposeful.

In fact, there may be introspection. In “The Glass,” Grohl sings “I had a imaginative and prescient of you, and similar to that/I used to be left to reside with out it.” The disappointment within the lyric is tempered by a strident and purposeful musical accompaniment and manages to be each poignant and uplifting. “Present Me How” is a revelation—a superbly delivered, mid-tempo tune that Todd Rundgren would have been proud to have written. Extra of those, please.

With However Right here We Are, Foo Fighters have entered one other section of their profession. The band that began as a conceit undertaking for a musician popping out of a malaise has blossomed right into a multi-faceted and versatile band. Typically stunning issues can develop in essentially the most inhospitable terrain. (www.foofighters.com)

Creator ranking: 8.5/10