â??I wanted it to be the biggest sounding Foo Fighters record ever. To make a gigantic rock record but with Greg Kurstinâ??s sense of melody and arrangementâ?¦ Motorheadâ??s version of Sgt. Pepperâ?¦ or something like that.â?ť So speaks Dave Grohl of the mission statement made manifest in Foo Fightersâ?? ninth epic, the aptly titled Concrete and Gold.
Just as Foo Fightersâ?? anthem of the summer â??Runâ?ť â??opens as a dreamy, slow burner thenâ?¦ quickly turns heavy as thunderâ?ť (BILLBOARD) with its â??huge triumphant chorusâ?ť (STEREOGUM), Concrete and Gold marries some of the most insanely heavy FF riffs ever with lush harmonic complexities courtesy of a first time team-up with producer Greg Kurstin (Adele, Sia, Pink). This unlikely alliance came about through a bizarre sequence of surprise musical obsessions and chance encounters: Listening to the radio during a drive roughly four years ago, Grohl first heard â??Again and Againâ?ť by Kurstinâ??s band The Bird & The Beeâ??â??It blew my mindâ?¦ it was so much more sophisticated than anything Iâ??d ever heard and I became obsessed.â?ť Some months later, Grohl would randomly spot and fanboy out over â??the guy from The Bird & The Bee!â?ť a.k.a. Greg Kurstin. The two became fast friends over common musical loves with Grohl learning that his new favorite band had been on hiatus due to Kurstinâ??s workload as a producer.
While Foo Fighters recorded and released Sonic Highways, broke some bones and packed stadiums and arenas on one of the top five grossing tours of 2015, and gifted fans with the St. Cecilia EP, "Greg was becoming one of the biggest producers in the world,â?ť Grohl recalls. With the writing and recording of the next Foo Fighters album on the horizon, Grohl was eager as always to find fresh challenges for the band: â??So I think maybe Greg is the guy that we ask to be our producer because heâ??s never made a heavy rock record before and weâ??ve never worked with a pop producer.â?ť Darrel Thorp (Beck, Radiohead) was soon enlisted to mix and engineer. This collective secretly booked into Hollywoodâ??s esteemed EastWest studios to consummate this marriage of extremes... or as Grohl puts it: â??Our noise and Gregâ??s big brain and all of his sophisticated arrangements and composition.â?ť
Months, sounds and stories and so many guitars later, the 11-Grammy-winning, 25+ million-record-selling, last great American stadium rock band had completed its most ambitious album ever. -
Limited double vinyl LP pressing in gatefold sleeve including digital download. 2017 release from Dave Grohl and his Foos, their first studio album in three years. "I wanted it to be the biggest sounding Foo Fighters record ever. To make a gigantic rock record but with Greg Kurstin's sense of melody and arrangement... Motorhead's version of Sgt. Pepper... or something like that." So speaks Grohl of the mission statement made manifest in Foo Fighters' ninth epic, the aptly-titled Concrete and Gold. The album was written and performed by Foo Fighters, produced by Greg Kurstin and Foo Fighters, and mixed by Darrell Thorp. Initial writing sessions only involved Grohl, who continued being in seclusion from the band, although he initially struggled, feeling "out of practice" and "creatively atrophied" due to his longer than usual break from music. After twelve or thirteen rough ideas were mapped out, he ran them by the band, who shared Grohl's belief that he was on the right track with the material.