Concrete and Gold Review: Foo Fighters Polish Their Formula and Land in the Middle — 7.2/10

Foo Fighters have spent their career being the reliable rock band of record, and Concrete and Gold is them trying to break that mold without smashing it. The 2017 album, their ninth, is a loud, sprawling record that pairs the band’s signature stadium-sized hooks with a more expansive sonic palette. It is a record that wants to be both a statement and a crowd-pleaser, and it mostly lands somewhere between the two.

The band recorded the album with a producer known for pop work, and the result is a record that sounds bigger and glossier than anything they have done before. The ambition is clear from the first track, and the album does not let up until the final chord fades.

A Brief Intro and a Ferocious Single

The album opens with “T-Shirt,” a 1:22 burst of acoustic guitar and vocal harmony that feels less like a song and more like a throat-clearing. It is a brief, almost fragile intro that sets up the heavier material to come, and it works precisely because it does not overstay its welcome.

That statement is “Run,” the lead single and the album’s most immediate track. It starts with a clean, almost tense guitar line before detonating into a full-throttle punk-metal assault, with Dave Grohl screaming about running from something unnamed. The song is a reminder that, even at their most polished, the Foo Fighters can still summon genuine ferocity. It is the best track on the album, and it sets a high bar that the rest of the record does not always clear.

Middle Stretch Highlights

“Make It Right” follows, and it is a mid-tempo rocker that leans on a chugging riff and a chorus that feels designed for festival singalongs. It is solid, workmanlike Foo Fighters, but it lacks the spark of the record’s best moments.

“The Sky Is a Neighborhood” is where the album really finds its footing. It is a driving, anthemic track with a massive chorus that pits quiet verses against a soaring, gospel-tinged hook. The song is built around a simple, stomping beat and a chant-along melody that is instantly memorable. It is one of the band’s most accomplished singles in years.

“La Dee Da” is a heavier, more discordant number that riffs on a sludgy guitar line and a sneering vocal delivery. It is the closest the album comes to a genuine departure, with a tense, almost paranoid feel that sets it apart from the more straightforward rockers around it.

“Dirty Water” is the album’s most emotionally direct track, a ballad-adjacent rocker that builds from a gentle, picked guitar intro into a soaring, anthemic chorus. The song is about loss and resilience, and it features some of Grohl’s most restrained and effective vocal work on the record.

Back Half and the Long Songs

“Arrows” is a propulsive, mid-tempo track that rides a steady drum beat and a shimmering guitar line. It is competent and pleasant, but it never quite takes off, settling into a comfortable groove that does not demand much attention.

“Happy Ever After (Zero Hour)” is a moodier, more atmospheric piece that builds slowly from a sparse verse into a crashing chorus. The song has a cinematic quality, but it feels a little undercooked compared to the stronger material elsewhere on the record.

“Sunday Rain” is the longest track on the record at 6:11, and it is a loose, jam-oriented number. The song has a relaxed, almost summery feel, with a laid-back groove and a vocal melody that floats over the top. It is a pleasant diversion, but it lacks the focus of the album’s best moments, and it drags in its final stretch.

“The Line” is a straightforward rocker that picks the pace back up, with a driving riff and a chorus that feels built for radio. It is the most conventional song on the back half, and it is fine for what it is, but it does not offer much beyond the expected.

Title Track and Final Judgment

The album closes with its title track, “Concrete and Gold,” a slow-burning, epic number that builds from a sparse, piano-led intro into a massive, layered climax. The song is a summation of the album’s ambitions, combining the band’s heavy rock instincts with a more polished, produced sound.

Concrete and Gold is a good album, not a great one.

The record does not break new ground for the band, and it does not try to. Instead, it takes the Foo Fighters’ established sound and makes it bigger, cleaner and more expansive, adding textures and harmonies that give the songs a fresh sheen. The result is a record that is consistently listenable, with a handful of standout tracks that rank among the band’s best work.

The album’s weaknesses are the same ones that have dogged the band for years. There is a sameness to the mid-tempo rockers, and a few tracks feel like filler that pads out the running time. The band’s tendency toward the comfortable and the familiar means that the record never truly surprises, even when it is at its best.

But the highs are high enough to carry the record. “Run” and “The Sky Is a Neighborhood” are genuine highlights, and “Dirty Water” and “T-Shirt” show a willingness to experiment within the band’s limits. The production is crisp and powerful, and the band sounds confident and locked in throughout.

The critics were largely kind to the record, with Pitchfork calling it “a pretty good one” and The Guardian noting it “won’t frighten the horses, but provides enough fresh interest to keep the band ticking over.” AllMusic praised the “showy accents that accentuate the acumen of all six musicians.”

It is a fair assessment. Concrete and Gold is not a reinvention, and it is not a misstep. It is a confident, polished record from a band that knows exactly what it is and what its fans want. There are better Foo Fighters albums, and there are worse ones. This one sits comfortably in the middle, a solid addition to a catalog built on consistency.

The band does not need to prove anything at this point, and Concrete and Gold does not try to. It is a record that rewards repeated listens, even if it does not demand them.

2017 albums · album review · Dave Grohl · Foo Fighters · rock music