Foo Fighters have spent their career building a wall of guitars and drums, and Medicine at Midnight tears it down. The band’s ninth album is a deliberate pivot toward disco and dance music, and the results are mostly thrilling. This is not a side project or a novelty stunt; it is a full-scale reinvention of their sound, and it lands more often than it misses.
The record runs nine tracks and 36 minutes, a tight frame for a group that has leaned on length in the past. The songs move fast, and the band wastes no time getting to the point. This is a record about urgency, both musical and emotional, and it rarely lets up.
Making a Fire Opens the Door
“Making a Fire” opens the album with a slow-burn build that erupts into a chorus of pure adrenaline. It sets the tone immediately: this is a band that wants to move bodies, not just fill arenas. The track earns its runtime through patient restraint before it finally unleashes.
“Shame Shame” follows with a darker, more brooding pulse. It is the album’s first real curveball, a song that leans into a funk groove while still carrying the weight of its title. The tension between the two feels deliberate, not forced.
“Cloudspotter” is the first moment where the disco influence becomes impossible to ignore. The rhythm section locks into a steady, hypnotic pulse that carries the song from start to finish. It is the clearest statement of intent on the record, and it works.
Waiting on a War and Medicine at Midnight
“Waiting on a War” slows things down just enough to let the lyrics land. It is a tense, simmering track that builds slowly toward its peak, and it shows the band can still craft a narrative-driven rock song even when they are pushing against their own genre.
Then comes the title track, “Medicine at Midnight.” At just over three minutes, it is the shortest song on the record and the most immediate. It is pure, unadulterated fun, a dance-pop anthem that does not waste a second of its brief runtime. It is the album’s thesis statement in miniature.
“No Son of Mine” is where the record starts to show its seams. The song is not bad, but it feels like a holdover from a previous era, a rock riff that never quite commits to the new direction. It is the first moment the album feels like it is treading water.
Holding Poison Through Chasing Birds
“Holding Poison” is the album’s most ambitious track. It layers multiple rhythms on top of each other, creating a dense, propulsive sound that rewards repeat listens. It is the closest the record gets to a prog-rock experiment, and it succeeds because the band never loses the groove.
“Chasing Birds” is a lighter, more melodic entry. It is the most straightforwardly pop song on the record, and it works as a palate cleanser after the heavier material around it. It is not essential, but it is pleasant.
Love Dies Young Closes the Record
The closer, “Love Dies Young,” is a return to form in some ways. It is a slower, more reflective track that ends the album on a note of quiet melancholy. It is a strong way to end the record, even if it does not fully capture the energy that defined the rest of it.
The Verdict on Medicine at Midnight
The weaker moments on Medicine at Midnight are not failures so much as reminders that the band’s old instincts are still there. They are not the problem; they are just less interesting than the new ones. The album’s ambition is its greatest strength, and its occasional missteps are forgivable because the payoff is so strong.
The record is at its best when it commits fully to the disco influence, and at its weakest when it tries to split the difference. The two tracks that feel like they belong to a different album — “No Son of Mine” and “Chasing Birds” — are not failures, but they are the moments where the record’s identity wavers.
What Medicine at Midnight proves is that a band this established can still surprise its audience. The Foo Fighters have not abandoned their roots, but they have found a new language to speak in. That willingness to change is rare in a group this successful, and it is the reason this record works.
Key Facts Box
– Artist: Foo Fighters
– Album: Medicine at Midnight
– Release: 2021
– Tracks: 9
– Total runtime: 36 minutes
– Metacritic: 75/100
| Track | Length |
|---|---|
| Making a Fire | 4:15 |
| Shame Shame | 4:17 |
| Cloudspotter | 3:53 |
| Waiting on a War | 4:14 |
| Medicine at Midnight | 3:30 |
| No Son of Mine | 3:29 |
| Holding Poison | 4:24 |
| Chasing Birds | 4:12 |
| Love Dies Young | 4:22 |
Medicine at Midnight is a bold record that mostly delivers on its promise. It is not perfect, but it is consistently engaging, and it rewards attention. The Foo Fighters have made a record that sounds like nothing else they have done, and that is the highest compliment you can pay to a band this long-lived.
7.5 of 10.
- Making a Fire4:15
- Shame Shame4:17
- Cloudspotter3:53
- Waiting on a War4:14
- Medicine at Midnight3:30
- No Son of Mine3:29
- Holding Poison4:24
- Chasing Birds4:12
- Love Dies Young4:22
