Foo Fighters "Concrete & Gold"

[Towelie]

Anyone on here have the album? Is it much cop? I didn't think much of Sonic Highways, so I'm a little reluctant to give it a go.

[ZoSoRose]

Its better than Sonic Highways. Sounds like a Foos album and a proper follow up to Wasted Light

[EvanG]

Yes, it's better than Sonic Highways,  it's a typical Foo Fighters record... nothing new, except they used a ''pop'' producer this time, so it sounds a bit different, but musically it's the same as every other Foo record.

[Nicklord]

I think that Run is their best song ever

[ChineseDemocracy2004]

4 hours ago, Towelie said:

Anyone on here have the album? Is it much cop? I didn't think much of Sonic Highways, so I'm a little reluctant to give it a go.

Yeah; Make It Right, Dirty Water, Sunday Rain & The Line are worth listening to.

[metallex78]

Sonic Highways is much much better than Concrete & Gold. The first half of Sonic Highways I consider some of Foos best work. 

Concrete & Gold has grown on me, though I’d probably rank it as their worst album. The songs just aren’t that great, aside from Run. And the pop production just muddies up the mix to my ears. It doesn’t sounds better or bigger, it makes it sound hazy and hard to hear instrumentation properly in some parts. 

[EvanG]

I never understood the love for Run... musically it's ok, but overall I think it's very mediocre, typical Foo Fighters melodies. 

They've been a band for over twenty years now, it's really time for them to start evolving musically instead of doing the same thing on every album, or else they will be the next AC/DC.

[ChineseDemocracy2004]

On ‎02‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 12:52 PM, metallex78 said:

Concrete & Gold has grown on me, though I’d probably rank it as their worst album. The songs just aren’t that great, aside from Run. It doesn’t sounds better or bigger, it makes it sound hazy and hard to hear instrumentation properly in some parts. 

I think the track Concrete & Gold is a weak album closer.

On ‎02‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 2:14 PM, EvanG said:

I never understood the love for Run... musically it's ok, but overall I think it's very mediocre, typical Foo Fighters melodies. 

They've been a band for over twenty years now, it's really time for them to start evolving musically instead of doing the same thing on every album, or else they will be the next AC/DC.

To me Run is another White Limo but Run has a better chorus.

[Towelie]

On ‎03‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 6:42 PM, ChineseDemocracy2004 said:

I think the track Concrete & Gold is a weak album closer.

To me Run is another White Limo but Run has a better chorus.

I love the title track - it's probably my second favourite on the album. Reminds me of Bowie.

I'm quite enjoying the album, more so than anything they've done since Echoes, Patience, Silence & Grace. Wasting Light had a great first half, but a load of filler on the second half, before closing with one of their best songs (Walk). So all in all, a patchy effort.

Sonic Highways felt a little underdeveloped in places. Something From Nothing, Congregation and Feast & The Famine were great tracks, but as a whole, I think its ambition outweighed its merit.

Concrete & Gold doesn't really have any weak tracks. The pick of the bunch being Dirty Water, Arrows, Make It Right, La De Da and the title track. Oh, and The Sky Is A Neighbourhood was a terrific single.

[Towelie]

On ‎02‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 12:52 PM, metallex78 said:

Sonic Highways is much much better than Concrete & Gold. The first half of Sonic Highways I consider some of Foos best work. 

Concrete & Gold has grown on me, though I’d probably rank it as their worst album. The songs just aren’t that great, aside from Run. And the pop production just muddies up the mix to my ears. It doesn’t sounds better or bigger, it makes it sound hazy and hard to hear instrumentation properly in some parts. 

I've actually been giving Sonic Highways a few spins since listening to the new album, and I think I slept on it a bit, as there are some genuinely great songs. I always liked Something From Nothing and I Am A River, but Congregation, What Did I Do/God As My Witness and Feast & A Famine are all brilliant.

[EvanG]

With the last albums the Foo Fighters have been trying to do something different each time. Wasted Light was recorded literally in Grohl's garage entirely with analogue equipment, for Sonic Highways he went to legendary studios across the country and turned the recording into a TV series, and with the latest album he went to Adele's producer. I wonder if these gimmicks are excuses for not evolving the Foo Fighers into a different direction, because musically every outcome is pretty much the same.

[Towelie]

6 hours ago, EvanG said:

With the last albums the Foo Fighters have been trying to do something different each time. Wasted Light was recorded literally in Grohl's garage entirely with analogue equipment, for Sonic Highways he went to legendary studios across the country and turned the recording into a TV series, and with the latest album he went to Adele's producer. I wonder if these gimmicks are excuses for not evolving the Foo Fighers into a different direction, because musically every outcome is pretty much the same.

I feel like that’s an unfair statement to make. The Foos do what they do, and they do it well. Who do they need to evolve for? They obviously like what they do, as do their many fans, so why should they switch musical directions just for the sake of “being different”? 

At least they’re productive, which is more than can be said for the sorry excuse of a band this website is dedicated to.

[EvanG]

2 hours ago, Towelie said:

I feel like that’s an unfair statement to make. The Foos do what they do, and they do it well. Who do they need to evolve for? They obviously like what they do, as do their many fans, so why should they switch musical directions just for the sake of “being different”? 

At least they’re productive, which is more than can be said for the sorry excuse of a band this website is dedicated to.

That's why I said ''I wonder''. Maybe this is all that Dave Grohl can do? They don't have to evolve at all, they can do whatever they want obviously and it's clear that their fans don't want them to change. Because on the one album they actually tried something a little bit different musically, the Echoes... album, most fans weren't too happy. Personally I would get bored if I would be in a band for more than twenty years and 9 albums in and all the albums are musically the same... but I'm not in the Foo Fighters, so god speed to them.

[Towelie]

51 minutes ago, EvanG said:

That's why I said ''I wonder''. Maybe this is all that Dave Grohl can do? They don't have to evolve at all, they can do whatever they want obviously and it's clear that their fans don't want them to change. Because on the one album they actually tried something a little bit different musically, the Echoes... album, most fans weren't too happy. Personally I would get bored if I would be in a band for more than twenty years and 9 albums in and all the albums are musically the same... but I'm not in the Foo Fighters, so god speed to them.

Funny you mention Echoes, as that has always been my favorite Foos album. I wasn't aware of any collective disappointment from fans about that album though.... maybe that passed me by? But I don't really see how Echoes is all that different musically from the rest of their stuff - it certainly never struck me as an album intending to reinvent the wheel. If any of their albums were a departure from their comfort zone, I would say it was Sonic Highways.

[EvanG]

17 minutes ago, Towelie said:

Funny you mention Echoes, as that has always been my favorite Foos album. I wasn't aware of any collective disappointment from fans about that album though.... maybe that passed me by? But I don't really see how Echoes is all that different musically from the rest of their stuff - it certainly never struck me as an album intending to reinvent the wheel. If any of their albums were a departure from their comfort zone, I would say it was Sonic Highways.

No, but it was a start to something different... at least I was expecting that album to open the doors to them finally evolving but instead they returned after Echoes with Wasting Light, not a bad album, but very typical Foo Fighters again. I used to frequent their forum and I don't think that album was as popular as the others. I really liked it, songs like Statues and Summer's End was them experimenting a tiny bit with piano and softer dynamics, but a lot of people on that forum didn't care for those kind of songs... they just want to hear another Everlong or All My Life. I wish they continued on that road instead of going back to heavy drums and guitars and the unmistakable Grohl scream in every song. I thought Sonic Highways was very Foo Fighters, just with some longer songs, but that's about it.

[metallex78]

Surprised to see that some of you don’t rate Wasting Light, that album to me is one of their greatest albums, start to finish.

If you’re not convinced, check out the full live performance of the album on the Foo Fighters YouTube channel. It’s awesome!

I also don’t really agree that they’ve put out the same album over and over either.

Yeah, there is a definite Foos sound, but it has evolved and gone in different directions, even if only slight variations here and there. 

The first album was very garage demo sounding and kinda thrash punky, like Nirvana, I guess. 

The second was a much more clean and polished sound, and a band effort, unlike the first album which was all Dave. But you can hear the evolution in their sound with the huge jump from This Is A Call to Everlong. 

Then the third was a mix of heavy (Stacked Actors) to some of their more mellow and laid back tunes. A strong effort still, and features some of my favourite tunes like Aurora.

One by One, was heavily Queens of the Stone Age influenced, I guess from Dave’s drumming stint with them. 

In Your Honor was them trying the double album thing. One heavy, one soft, and overall it was hit and miss. But the full second side of soft songs was a step out of their usual style. 

They followed this up with the live acoustic Skin & Bones album, following on from the softer second disc of In Your Honor.

Echoes to me was a step back into the Color & the Shape style. The Pretender was very much like Monkey Wrench, with some other departures like Statues featuring piano. 

Wasting Light was more along the lines of Echoes, but with a mix of their garage-y earlier sound, with the analog recording. 

Sonic Highways was an experiment in recording, going city to city to write songs influenced by each city and artists that reside there.

Then Concrete & Gold seems like another hit and miss album, but recorded with a pop producer. So it has a bit of a weird sound, not really suited to their radio rock style. But there were also some songs I wouldn’t expect to hear like Dirty Water, Sunday Rain.

So in looking back on all the albums, there has been some variations in what they do, to keep fans interested. But I wouldn’t expect them to drastically change what they do. They certainly have a formula, that works for them, that their fans love too. 

One thing I don’t think they’ve captured in the studio, is their great heavy live sound. Wasting Light came close, but they really improvise so much live on all their back catalogue, particularly between Dave and Taylor, that I’d love to hear that kind of vibe captured on new material. 

[ZoSoRose]

I like the poppiness. I really, really like The Sky is a Neighborhood

[EvanG]

7 hours ago, metallex78 said:

I also don’t really agree that they’ve put out the same album over and over either.

Every album of the Foo Fighters can be put in the same music genre. That's what I meant when I said that they haven't evolved a lot musically. Most bands that have been around for as long as the Foo Fighters have flirted with different genres, or changed drastically (Radiohead, David Bowie, RHCP, etc.). 

Again, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, I just wished they had the guts to do something really different and take some risks instead of delivering, more or less, the same thing every two/three years.

[metallex78]

Foo Fighters are a rock band, and I do think that they vary what they do within that genre. I wouldn’t expect them to put out an electronic dance album, nor would I want them too

[shotsfired cro]

On 15. 04. 2018. at 1:47 AM, Towelie said:

I love the title track - it's probably my second favourite on the album. Reminds me of Bowie.

I'm quite enjoying the album, more so than anything they've done since Echoes, Patience, Silence & Grace. Wasting Light had a great first half, but a load of filler on the second half, before closing with one of their best songs (Walk). So all in all, a patchy effort.

Sonic Highways felt a little underdeveloped in places. Something From Nothing, Congregation and Feast & The Famine were great tracks, but as a whole, I think its ambition outweighed its merit.

Concrete & Gold doesn't really have any weak tracks. The pick of the bunch being Dirty Water, Arrows, Make It Right, La De Da and the title track. Oh, and The Sky Is A Neighbourhood was a terrific single.

Guess it comes down to taste. I thought Wasting light had terrific ending, Should have known, Misery, Walk...To me that was their best album to date (and the best tour).

[EvanG]

9 hours ago, metallex78 said:

Foo Fighters are a rock band, and I do think that they vary what they do within that genre. I wouldn’t expect them to put out an electronic dance album, nor would I want them too

Hardly.

And yes, biggest part of their fanbase doesn't want them to experiment. They want the same kind of rock anthems with Grohl screaming every other verse on each record, even after almost ten records. That's probably also why this band remained popular... they always played it safe, never really went out of their comfort zone.

Besides, there's more that they could do than make an electronic dance record. I don't think anyone is waiting for that.

Edited April 19, 2018 by EvanG

[Towelie]

4 hours ago, EvanG said:

Hardly.

And yes, biggest part of their fanbase doesn't want them to experiment. They want the same kind of rock anthems with Grohl screaming every other verse on each record, even after almost ten records. That's probably also why this band remained popular... they always played it safe, never really went out of their comfort zone.

Besides, there's more that they could do than make an electronic dance record. I don't think anyone is waiting for that.

When bands who are firmly established in one specific genre step outside of their comfort zone you get records like St Anger and Chinese Democracy. Some artists/bands are good with dabbling in multiple genres, others are just good at one genre, but they do it well. The Foos fall into the latter category, I guess - and there's no shame in that. The shame is in bands like Guns N Roses who can't be bothered to release anything, ever.

Edited April 19, 2018 by Towelie

[EvanG]

4 hours ago, Towelie said:

When bands who are firmly established in one specific genre step outside of their comfort zone you get records like St Anger and Chinese Democracy. Some artists/bands are good with dabbling in multiple genres, others are just good at one genre, but they do it well. The Foos fall into the latter category, I guess - and there's no shame in that. The shame is in bands like Guns N Roses who can't be bothered to release anything, ever.

Oh, I agree about the last part.

I don't agree about the St Anger and CD reference. Most bands that have been around for over twenty years have evolved to some degree. Listen to their first and last record record and with most bands you hear a big difference. Foo Fighters not so much... the first and second album are musically really not that different from the last two. 

And of course, there's no shame in that, I never stated otherwise. It's just that I don't know if the Foo Fighters ever tried. I've read several interviews with Grohl over the last few years where he said that now is the time in their career to finally make a ''weird'' record, but that it always ends up sounding like a typical Foo Fighters record. I would just be curious to see them finally stepping out of their comfort zone. But maybe he isn't the kind of musician to evolve in that way? Not every musician is wired that way. And that's fine.

I think Metallica already evolved in the 90s with the Load albums... they stepped away a bit from the metal and started using more melody and incorporating alternative/bluesy/hardrock influences.

[metallex78]

You say that Foo Fighters haven’t evolved?

Listen to This Is A Call, then listen to Concrete and Gold.

Sure it’s not leaps and bounds, but two songs show the range the band has evolved, and I’ve given several other examples further above how they have mixed it up with what they do from album to album, but you seem to ignore all that.

[EvanG]

13 hours ago, metallex78 said:

You say that Foo Fighters haven’t evolved?

Listen to This Is A Call, then listen to Concrete and Gold.

Sure it’s not leaps and bounds, but two songs show the range the band has evolved, and I’ve given several other examples further above how they have mixed it up with what they do from album to album, but you seem to ignore all that.

This Is A Call is a powerpop song, I suppose that's how they call it; catchy melodies, heavy guitars and drums. And that's what they have been doing on all their records, haven't they?

Sure, they evolved to some degree, the first record was a demo tape played entirely by Grohl himself. But, as I've already said, compared to most other bands that have been around for as long as they have, they really haven't evolved a lot musically.