Albums to watch

Sonic Highways

Foo Fighters

Sonic Highways

Album No.8 from Dave Grohl's alt.rock veterans, with each track recorded in a different U.S. city

ADM rating[?]

6.4

Label
Columbia
UK Release date
10/11/2014
US Release date
11/11/2014
  1. 9.0 |   The Quietus

    The most ambitious, artistically satisfying record yet produced by the Foo Fighters. It is the group's undisputed masterpiece, an epic meditation on the history of American music
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  2. 8.0 |   The Music

    45 minutes of angry, crucial rock’n’roll. Digest it in full. It’s a life-affirming road trip
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  3. 8.0 |   Q

    Dave Grohl’s men map out a thrilling way forward. Print edition only

  4. 8.0 |   Mojo

    A ridiculous and sublime love letter to Rock that sums up the whole Sonic Highways project. Print edition only

  5. 8.0 |   Uncut

    It’s a muscular behemoth that impresses. Print edition only

  6. 8.0 |   DIY

    Each song on the record stands as its own vignette – its own Foos-tinged ode to the city they were staying in at the time - but together, the tracks very much make a whole
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  7. 8.0 |   Time Out

    Commands you to rock out, stadium-style, around your living room
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  8. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    These songs are some of the band's most ambitious moments yet
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  9. 7.0 |   NME

    While the journey isn't quite as as spectacular as you'd hope, the destination is reassuringly familiar: Foo Fighters making fist-pumping rock'n'roll
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  10. 7.0 |   Entertainment.ie

    There may be few risks taken, and the band's adaptation of each city's sound on various tracks (blues/jazz = New Orleans, punk = Washington D.C., etc.) is a little too subtle in some cases
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  11. 7.0 |   FasterLouder

    The production is slick and tight, bringing out the best of the band’s relatively straightforward songwriting...this is an album full of classic Foo Fighters
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  12. 7.0 |   Paste Magazine

    Demands respect for its impressive collaborations and creative conceptualization and production
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  13. 7.0 |   All Music

    Even if there's a lingering predictability in the paths the Foo Fighters follow on Sonic Highways, they nevertheless know how to make this familiar journey pleasurable
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  14. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    Head-nodding, finger-tapping, knee jittering rock
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  15. 6.7 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    Everything musical seems startlingly familiar
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  16. 6.7 |   A.V. Club

    Gussied up as an overzealous musical odyssey, Sonic Highways is an arena-ready album in scope, with an ostentatious name to boot
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  17. 6.0 |   The Observer

    Robust, full-throttle pop-rock, rather overstuffed with identikit stadium anthems, but largely redeemed by the force of Dave Grohl’s personality
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  18. 6.0 |   musicOMH

    Foo Fighters have probably had their day, but they’re still capable of chucking out the odd thrilling track
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  19. 6.0 |   The Arts Desk

    Better to forget about the concept, and enjoy the band’s familiar amphetamine-shot sound
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  20. 6.0 |   State

    It takes far too long for Sonic Highways to actually gain any sort of pace and although the concept in general is quite remarkable, the ultimate outcome could be better
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  21. 5.6 |   Pitchfork

    A glorified homework assignment — educational, perhaps, but laboriously procedural
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  22. 5.5 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Feels a little lightweight; we see flashes of their best and thumping evidence of them at their worst, but ultimately, Foo Fighters still feel no closer to making a late-era classic
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  23. 5.0 |   No Ripcord

    The high points and overall cohesion of the record is punctuated all too bluntly by a couple of tracks written in cruise control
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  24. 5.0 |   Exclaim

    An attempt to channel a different musical energy, but it's one that Grohl does a far better job capturing with his camera crew
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  25. 5.0 |   Clash

    The sound of a band stuck on rewind
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  26. 5.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    The band are seemingly eternal, free-flowing and somewhat pure but delve too far for too long, and you'll be left feeling cold from an effort that's ultimately a bit wet
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  27. 4.2 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Foo Fighters wanted to make things new again, but something was lost along the way — their identity
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  28. 4.0 |   The Guardian

    Somewhere in the mix, the great diversity of American rock music lost out to the trademark, blustery Foo Fighters sound
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  29. 4.0 |   Beardfood

    A grab bag of recycled riffs and choruses that lean lazily and finish poorly
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Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways

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  • 1. Something From Nothing £0.99
  • 2. The Feast and The Famine £0.99
  • 3. Congregation £0.99
  • 4. What Did I Do?/God As My Witness £0.99
  • 5. Outside £0.99
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