Sonic Highways
(RCA)
When Foo Fighters announced the forthcoming release of its eighth studio album, Sonic Highways, the group also launched one of the most ambitious musical projects in recent memory: the album includes eight tracks recorded in eight different cities nationwide, with the whole process documented on film. Band leader Dave Grohl, building on his successful directorial debut film Sound City, is the architect of the project, once again pairing music and documentary, though on a much larger scale. The former Nirvana drummer partnered with HBO to create Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, a documentary series following the band’s travels.
Stop number one for the Foo Fighters was Chicago, which inspired Sonic Highways’ bruising opener “Something From Nothing.” Featuring Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen, the song evolves from a finger-picked intro to a near-metal blowout, the whole ride laced with references to blues heroes Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy.
Track two, “The Feast and the Famine,” is an homage to Grohl’s punk-influenced youth in and around Washington, D.C. The track uses stop-start riffs and Hawkins’ propulsive drumming to craft a soundscape that feels like a declarative rallying cry despite Grohl’s repeated questions, including, “Where is the monument to the dreams we forget?”
Of particular note is “What Did I Do?/ God As My Witness.” Split into two movements, the song transitions from a classic rock raver to a stately tempo and rising and falling chord progressions, then a majestic guitar solo.
Sonic Highways ends with “I Am a River,” recorded in New York City. Building off the closing notes of the preceding track, “Subterranean,” the song slowly intensifies around Grohl’s engaging vocal. Walls of guitar meet and climb higher with trebly notes vying to be heard over Hawkins’ drum assault. The ruckus is met with orchestral swells for the final minute, lending stringed grace to the title refrain.
