1. Wasting Light by rock band Foo Fighters. This album was released in April 12th 2011; its their seventh studio album, the band first since 2007s Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. Album Background o On this record front man Dave Grohl wanted to capture the essence of the band's earlier work, so the group recorded in Grohl's garage with only analog equipment o The recording sessions were supervised by producer Butch Vig, who also worked with Dave Grohl on Nirvanas Nevermind Pat Smear, who played with Dave in Nirvana is back playing guitar on this album; adding a third guitarist to the band, which gives this album another level of guitar layers and layering options that give the album an overall hard rock feel more on that in my final review later though. The promotion for this album included the documentary Back & Forth and a worldwide concert tour that included concerts played in fans' garages. After some rumbling that this album may be Foo Fighters last, Dave Grohl announced that the bands new album is complete and will be released sometime in 2014. Album Success Rope, the first single off this album, became only the second song ever to debut at number one on Billboard's Rock Songs chart Wasting Light went on to win five awards at the 2012 Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album. Track by Track Review: Since being recorded on analog tape this record has a slightly heavier and rawer, more natural sound as opposed to some of the bands other releases, it also has this back to the roots feel that can be heard throughout this album, starting with the first track.. 1. Bridge Burning This song really starts the album off with a bang. This song starts off with a single distorted riff opening that very quickly explodes through a virtual wall of guitars (created by the three guitarists) to create a guitar wrapped rocker, similar to The Pretender. The full band then joins the song to include some booming drums, sharp bass work and signature Dave Grohl screaming vocals, which seem to get lost in the music, to complete the song. 2. Rope This song was the first single off the album, and the first song I heard off this album. It starts out with an interesting delayed progressive rock inspired guitar riff intro that seems to build up and travel through the song, only to kind of tail off into a strumming effect towards the chorus, which is something that is new for the band. The peak of the song for me was actually near the end when emotion given off by Daves vocals seem to move though the band to create some particularly loud drumming (similar to Black Sabbath at points) and some very intense guitar riffs (similar to Led Zeppelin)the take hold of the listener. 3. Dear Rosemary - This song is one of my favorites off the album. Its an up tempo and upbeat song that starts out with a soft single acoustic sound riff that then exploded into an in face jam session. It features singer/songwriter Bob Mold on backing vocals, which I believe fits perfectly in with Dave loud and somewhat aggressive singing style that gives off a very personal, honest feel, especially on this song My favorite part of this song was the abrupt ending because it shows the true anger and pain that Dave is dealing with as it appears he has lost someone he cares about. 4. White Limo This song is a very upbeat, up temp thrash metal inspired song. It starts with a very fuzzy, distorted opening guitar riff that travels through the song dropping some really catchy, hot guitar leads that add an interesting layer to the song. The vocal technique that is used on this song is interestly different from the rest of the album; it sounds as if there was a distorted microphone used to give his voice a very muffled and weird sounding effect, that in sections dont sound anything like Dave Grohl as we know him. 5. Arlandria This song is probably my second favorite on the album. The tempo changes within this song really caught my attention; the song starts off fast and hard-rocking with a very abrupt opening, then slows down and becomes sort of stripped down song during the verses, with only one guitar - finally the song increases in tempo again during the main chorus, almost to the point of sounding like a different song, as it builds in a funky, fun anthem sounding 2. song, complete with some addicting hand clap sounding drums rhythms. Overall this song reminds me of Dear Rosemary, because it has a big sing-a-long ending. 6. These Days This song fits the classic Foo Fighters ballad, hard rock song mold. It reminds me a lot of the song Best Of You, not only because the lyrics sound like a type of self-reflection, both in Dave personal and music career but because this song has an extremely catchy stop-start feel towards the end of the song, where there is a pause and the main chorus crashes in again, this time sounding ten time louder. 7. Back & Forth This song is another upbeat song that features a hard yet catchy guitar and drum pairing that continue throughout the song and really set the tone for an interesting distortion idea that is used during the main chorus of the song. 8. A Matter of Time This song starts out with is distorted guitar opening and over interesting rhythm technique that is very similar to what the band did on Dear Rosemary or Rope. The song then builds into a very big screamy, catchy chorus that is again very easy to sing a long too. 9. Miss the Misery This song starts out with a really heavier guitar and distorted drum opening with some interesting guitar effects as the song continues to give it a slower-paced feel. The thing that really caught my attention were the vocal harmonies, where Dave is not really singing words, just signing some long, drawn out melodies and phrases that are very well placed. 10. I Should Have Known This song is one of the real standouts on the album. It features the use of a stringed instrument s, distorted vocal technique and tamed guitars give the song an up-tempo blues vibe, something that we rarely see from the band. I think the distortion used on the vocals really help spread the feeling of anger and passionate regret that Dave is singing with as he talks about his to past, most obviously about his Nirvana days and the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994. 11. Walk This song finishes off the album on a high note; This song changes tempo a couple times; It starts off fairy slow with a series of single guitar riffs, than it quickly picks up the pace when the full band comes crashes in with a catchy chorus and pounding drums to create both a catchy, inspiration track that spreads the message of never giving up as well as a classic Foo Fighters song that can really get the crowd going at a live concert. Words can only describe this song to a point; I would defiantly check this song out to experience its power. Favorite Tracks Bridge Burning, Rope, Arlandria, Back & Forth, I Should Have Known, Walk My Thoughts Before I get started on my overall review for this album I have to say, after going back and looking at the bands material and music videos that I realized yet again why this band is one of my favorites I really enjoyed the way the band creates music videos for their songs; Whether it be with Motorhead front Lenny Kilmister as a limo driver (White Limo), a heavily influenced parody of the 1993 movie Falling Down (Walk), or Dave playing a soap star (Long Road to Ruin) the Foo Fighters always seem come up with creative a music videos that are either serious or often to have an element of rocking humor to their videos that is missing from a lot of todays music and pop culture in general. From start to finish this album is a strong release.. There are three major things that I discovered while reviewing this album they are the band new found focus, the growth of the band, and the overall energy of the album. FOCUS - It seems that this album was written with a new found focus that was sort of missing on some of the bands earlier releases. The focus can be heard and seen on just about every track as every song seems to have its own specific place that makes the album work together smoothly; that focus means that there are no album fillers which is defiantly nice to see on a rock record in todays society. I know some reviewers have said that is album doesnt really have any real new diversity, I tend to disagree however.. GROWTH - To me Wasting Light is an album that goes back to the bands roots and then some; It does have a simple, raw and back to the hard rocking roots feel 3. while seeing the band taken some interesting chances with different vocal techniques, distortion methods,( on the drums, vocals, guitars) and tempo chances that seem to showcase how the band has really grown over the years. ENERGY This album seems to pack about 15 years of built up rough, Nirvana Nevermind esk energy into one album. Whether it be the crashing drums, hot guitar leads, the different vocals techniques, or the stadium anthems (like Walk) that get you moving; This album really does pack a punch. Sure it does have its less memorable moments, both vocally and musically, but overall I believe that there is enough material on this 48 minute record to satisfy everyone and keep the listener involved and interested, which is a hard thing to do these days. Upcoming reviews include: 1. AC/DC 2. Lorde 3. Avenged Sevenfold 4. The 1975 5. Imagine Dragons 6. Halestorm 7. Jet Gladstone 8. Jukebox The Ghost 9. Luke Bryan 10. Eric Church 11. Tom Petty 12. Sound City Soundtrack 13. Guns N Roses 14. Jimmy Eat World 15. Theory of A Deadman