Medicine At Midnight. Foo Fighters

When I see Dave Grohl on stage leading his band through another of the mega events they together headline, I can't help but wonder what would have happened had Kurt Cobain not shot his own head off. Grohl at 24 was the drummer of the greatest grunge band on earth, led by a self-destructive maniac. By then he had written his first songs, one of the them a b-side of one of the last Nirvana singles. Would he have remained the drummer of Nirvana, part of the inevitable downturn, delivering a few songs, if Kurt had let him or would he have left the band to pursue his own career? There's no answer except that he would have done so later and perhaps never have found the band he has now.

No, I'm not a big Foo Fighters fan. It's the kind of band that I do not warm to in general but am not averse to either. It has several great songs, 'Walk'!, and live they are impressive. Except don't expect me there. An occasional TV show is fine for me.

In 2021 a new album, the 10th, sees the light of day and I decided to take a listen. The impression is quite favourable. The music is diverse, often melodic, sometimes even odd, for Foo Fighters. There's enough that sounds familiar, but enough that doesn't (for me, the not Foo Fighters listener). What my ear is pointing me to, is the keen details that come through the music. The harmonies, the sounds, the woven in influences from other bands and genres. It makes for diverse listening and easy to listen to the album in one go, where no single early Foo Fighters album managed to get me to do just that. Then I gave up trying. So why now? Basically the interview with Taylor Hawkins in 'NRC' and a review I read. They announced experiments in sound.

Listening to Dave Grohl sing I always wonder how he manages to keep his voice in shape as he's always outshouting himself. That deep growl in his voice, sounds rather dangerous to me; for Grohl's vocal condition that is. 'Cloudspotter' is an example here. On Medicine At Midnight I actually hear him singing in a ballad. 'Chasing Birds' may even come as a shock to the real fan. WTF? To me it's another way of expression. Dave Grohl's 'Blackbird', 'She's Leaving Home' or John Lennon's 'Woman', because The Beatles do come to mind listening to 'Chasing Birds'. 'Chasing Birds' may well be a homage to Lennon. It's not the only The Beatles reference on this album I'm hearing as well.

Another feature is the danceable rhythms on the album. I have to say I really like 'Love Dies Young'. The hurtling rhythm propels the song forward, faster than my feet can run. The song has a great melody and is layered. There are several sounds that are obvious and less pronounced in the song. The result is a fun song and one to truly listen to. When the female harmonies set in, the music is even expanded further. It could well be me, but I am contemplating buying my first Foo Fighters album this far into the album. An urge I never had before.

The power that is the strength of the band is not absent. Dave Grohl is one of the great power drummers and Taylor Hawkins has to fill them shoes; and does. There's so much power going into his playing. It leaves the band left with only one option: play with just as much gusto. On record it is possible to mix other details to more or less prominence, live there's no such option. This is the strength of Foo Fighters on stage. In the studio there are other rules and dynamics and Medicine At Midnight shows that the band masters them all. A ballad based on an acoustic guitar and strings, 'Waiting On A War' finds its place this way, but hang to that ending. If ever a song exploded. This is extremely well done. Rock on!

As a fan of some bands that are around for decades I know how hard it can be to follow the band. Sometimes it is simply too much to ask, especially when an album is mediocre at best. As I said, I'm not a Foo Fighters fan, at best an innocent bystander. With Medicine At Midnight the band may surprise many a fan with some of the songs. What I hear is a band that is fully inspired, rocks out, loud and experiments. Several of these songs are good, a few even triumphs. I can't but conclude I'm pleasantly surprised.

Wo.

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