The Foos return with a harder edge for their latest release - but struggle to keep up the high quality pop melody count.
The seventh studio album from the Dave Grohl-fronted rock titans has a certain cosy familiarity to its laser-guided riffs and throat-shredding vocals.
Even with Nevermind producer Butch Vig at the controls, even without acoustic guitars or touching ballads, these 11 slabs of rockness all exude a chart-friendly warmth.
Grohl the pop-metal Messiah battles valiantly - the brusque guitars of opener Bridge Burning and the cut-and-thrust riffage of Rope are exhilarating, and A Matter Of Time and Walk, with its repeated ‘I never wanna die’ mantra, are great moments - but none nail a classic tune.
Take 1997’s The Colour And The Shape, chip off some melodic verve and add some Queens Of The Stone Age guitar lust, and you’re in Wasting Light’s ball park. Enjoy.
4 stars
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