Concrete and Gold, the ninth studio album from Foo Fighters, proudly wears its influences on its sleeves from the very start. Each new release by the Foos has attempted to refresh their sound and this is no exception, being produced by famed pop producer Greg Kurstin (Adele). Together with mixer Darrell Thorp (Radiohead), they have come up with a piece of work that Dave Grohl has described as “the biggest sounding Foo Fighters record ever… Motorhead’s version of Sgt. Pepper”. Pulling together strands and influences from an array of the finest classic rock bands of the ’70s, Grohl has again hit the jackpot with an album that still feels current and, above all, succeeds in sounding absolutely massive.

After the short and sweet ‘T-Shirt’, early single ‘Run’ now feels like a deliberate misdirection from the band, with its granite-heavy riffs and screamed vocals. What follows on the rest of the album is a collection of AOR-slanted sounds. ‘Make It Right’ begins like a slightly less sleazy AC/DC, while ‘The Sky Is A Neighborhood’ could come straight off The White Album. Further into the album, ‘La Dee Da’ transforms from MC5-style garage rock into something closer to punk and thrash metal than the Foos have ever been previously. While it's fun to play ‘spot-the-influence’, Kurstin’s shiny pop production instincts form a perfect accompaniment and stops it from lapsing into pure pastiche. For all the retro influences, it also shows the eye and instinct of a band with their finger on the pulse of current trends. Perhaps choosing IDLES to support them at The O2 wasn't such a curveball after all.

Ironically, it is the songs that sound the most like classic Foo Fighters, such as ‘Arrows’ and ‘The Line’, that are perhaps the least interesting, proving that Grohl’s instinct for a change in sound is correct. Concrete and Gold pulls off the trick of sounding nothing like they've done before, yet still managing to sound exactly like a Foo Fighters album. It also keeps two of the best tracks and biggest surprises back for late in the album. Drummer Taylor Hawkins takes the vocals on ‘Sunday Rain’, and brings along a breezy ‘Hotel California’-meets-Queen vibe. Replaced on drums on this track by none other than Sir Paul McCartney (one of a select few cameos, including Justin Timberlake, Alison Mosshart and Inara George), he reveals an assured vocal that begs for a solo spin-off during the next Foos hiatus.

Finally coming to the closing track which gave the album its title, an epic slow-burning finale from a band who have perfected them over the years. With a clear nod to Pink Floyd, and backing vocals from Boyz II Men singer Shawn Stockman, it is the perfect ending to another fine addition to the catalogue of one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Clearly made with a deep love and understanding of the entire gamut of rock history and all its genres, but also created with a mastery that only people who have been in the game for this long can achieve. Concrete and Gold is an album for the ages by a band who operate in the same upper echelons of rock as those who they have taken inspiration from here.

Jamie MacMillan

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