Yes, I promise there is an album cover above this review. But that is not the most remarkable thing about ‘But Here We Are’. It is the first Foo Fighters album released after the unexpected death of drummer Taylor Hawkins. This could have cast a dark shadow over the album, but somehow, the overall atmosphere on ‘But Here We Are’ is rather hopeful. It is also the most typical Foo Fighters album since 2011’s ‘Wasting Light’, which I still consider their best work. The album is full of Dave Grohl’s trademark loud guitar pop songs, without sounding like he is going through the motions.

After the more experimental albums ‘Concrete and Gold’ (2017) and ‘Medicine at Midnight’ (2021), it was quite the surprise to me that ‘But Here We Are’ sounds so textbook Foo Fighters. Before Hawkins’ death, Grohl had expressed interest in making a prog rock album. Not much of that ambition has remained, though there are still traces of that in the awesome ten-minute album highlight ‘The Teacher’, which just keeps on building on a bunch of excellent riffs. Most of the remaining tracks are simple, but effective songs with stadium rock hooks so big you can see them from space.

It was a smart move to open the album with the single ‘Rescued’ and ‘Under You’. Those songs would not have been out of place on the likes of ‘The Colour and the Shape’ (1997) and ‘There Is Nothing Left to Lose’ (1999). They are melodic rockers that just beg to be sung along without being too obvious. On the calmer side of the spectrum, the likes of ‘The Glass’ and ‘Beyond Me’ are typical Foo Fighters ballads in the sense that they are power ballads with actual power. The moving closer ‘Rest’ also culminates in that, though its strong structure requires it to take longer to get there.

Just calling ‘But Here We Are’ a typical Foo Fighters album would be selling it short, however. Some of the more experimental moments – like the aforementioned ‘The Teacher’ – make the album better than it would be otherwise. ‘Show Me How’ is a dreamy pop song that finds the middle grond between post-punk and indie atmospherically, while ‘Hearing Voices’ is a true highlight in how it blends an expertly layered guitar arrangement with a brooding, but not too dark atmosphere. ‘Nothing At All’ kicks ass by blending the Foo Fighters sound with the R&B grooves heard on ‘Medicine at Midnight’.

While it is easy to get bogged down in the circumstances under which ‘But Here We Are’ has been created, the fact is that you don’t need to know about any of that to enjoy this music. It is easily one of the best albums the band has created to date and the fact that the production sounds lively and organic makes it even better. I would even say that the Foo Fighters are one of the very few bands in existence today that understand how to make stadium rock without sounding hollow. Easily their best album since ‘Wasting Light’.

Recommended tracks: ‘The Teacher’, ‘Hearing voices’, ‘Rescued’, ‘Nothing At All’