There’s no such thing as a bad Foo Fighters record, and my love for
them runs pretty deep, so I was always going to like Concrete And Gold. Trying to
assess it objectively is hard, and, considering I’ve not played it all that
much, its place on this list – albeit quite low – probably stems in part from that
heady mix of nostalgia and love that is tied up, for me, with anything they
release. It’s been a very long time
since they put out a truly great record, and you have to go back to the 90s to
find a stone-cold classic (although they released a few of those that
decade). But, in the context of their
newer stuff, Concrete And Gold is a definite
improvement on its immediate predecessor, the career-low (so far) of 2014’s Sonic Highways; equally, it’s not as
strong as the album before that, the scuzzy back-to-basics of 2011’s Wasting Light. What it does have (and another reason it’s
found a place on this list) is one of my favourite stand-alone Foos tracks of the last decade, the remarkable
‘The Sky Is A Neighbourhood’. It’s
classic Foo Fighters, but with a
greater sense of scale. One of my top three
tracks of 2017 (more on the others to follow). Concrete And Gold is not a one trick pony either: there are some other hum-dingers here
too. The surprise lead-single ‘Run’ packs a great punch and the howl of ‘La Dee
Da’ would be entirely at home on Wasting
Light. The problem is that these
stand-outs (especially ‘The Sky Is A Neighbourhood’) act as a reminder that the Foos still can deliver stunning stuff, so when the likes of the drippy ‘Dirty
Water’ and the unremittingly dull ‘The Line’ come along they are all the more
frustrating. I’m looking forward to
seeing this band (yet again) next summer – they never produce anything less than a
wonderful show live – but if they could limit themselves only to playing the
best 4-5 tracks from this record and make a bit more room for the classics I’d be
grateful. All that said, I’ve still gleaned
a great deal of pleasure from Concrete
And Gold. As always. Thanks Dave.
sample track: The Sky Is A Neighbourhood