Foo Fighters are among the artists that chose to postpone their new material’s release, in this case ‘Medicine at Midnight’, originally scheduled for 2020, but finally concluded that with the return to ‘normality’ timetable constantly shifting, they might as well put out the record, even if promotional tours don’t seem to be happening any time soon.
I am hesitant to write a bad review about Foo Fighters, as they are one of the groups that create decent, simple, ‘meat and potatoes’, guitar-driven rock records, with a commitment that is rare and unexpected nowadays. However, after the great album that was 2011’s ‘Wasting Light’, they seem to be somewhat stuck. ‘Sonic Highways’ was remarkably interesting as a TV documentary, less so as an album, while 2017’s ‘Concrete and Gold’ also had a forgettable quality about it.
On ‘Medicine at Midnight’, Dave Grohl is sounding reserved, content to drive below the speed limit, while drummer extraordinaire Taylor Hawkins’ playing is also on the safe side. I do not believe it is a coincidence that the album’s best song is probably the melancholic, mostly acoustic ‘Waiting on a War’, inspired by a conversation Grohl had with his daughter, with closing track ‘Love Dies Young’ coming in at second place.
