Smoother Edges That The Masses Can Easily Digest
Long gone are days of The Pretender and of the thought-provoking lyrics. Concrete and Gold is much more akin to a pop-rock album than to a grunge one: it is melodic, to say the least. At a first glance, this collection of songs has little in common with what originally made Foo Fighters famous. If it weren’t for the few guitar riffs that made is past post-production, we’d hesitate to call this rock at all.
Nevertheless, rock it is. A new, more digestible, and sincerely frightening shade of it. Times have changed and Foo Fighters couldn’t but hop on the bandwagon. Lyrics and meanings might no longer be as deep as they use to, but that doesn’t seem to weight the final results down.
The entire album flows extremely well and still manages to provide listeners with an hour or so of solid musical entertainment. Most of the songs seem to have been written for fans to easily sing along. This doesn’t feel like a release that wants to be a champion of modern music, but rather as a piece of art targeted towards cooperation.
Perhaps in an effort to bring even more people together, the band invited a long list of guest stars to their recording studio. Justin Timberlake lent his voice and Dave Koz brought his saxophone along. Even Paul McCartney was flown in from England to play drums! Deciding whether that was a solid plan is ultimately up to you. I personally enjoyed the expanded cast and their contribution; some might see it as a quick way to make a buck!
What About The Music?
From a more musical standpoint, Concrete and Gold is a balanced mix of different genres. As usual, Grohl and company drew much from the industry that they led for so long. There’s a touch of early Pink Floyd in here and hints to the work of giants such as Placebo and Freddie Mercury.
The mellow guitars, the soft voices, the sudden riffs, and the drawn-out bridges strengthen this album. Its peculiar structure allows it to seamlessly turn into a completely different beast. It is no longer grunge, no longer rock, but rather a product of its time.
In the end, Concrete and Gold should be approached without prejudices. You won’t be facing the arse-kicking stuff that we’d all grown accustomed to, but I would have no problem imagining a younger audience rocking out to it while attending one of the band’s concerts. Leave your memories at home, don your headphones, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy what this album has to offer!
