ALBUM REVIEWS
Foo Fighters Concrete and Gold Roswell/RCA Records
When it was learned the Foo Fighters had turned to a polished pop producer for their next album — a hitmaker for Sia, no less — you could be forgiven for fearing the band was shedding its hard-charging skin. After listening to Concrete and Gold, it’s clear that’s a bunch of fooey.
Greg Kurstin, a member of the indie-pop duo the Bird and the Bee who produced Adele’s Hello and Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You), has pushed the band into some harder places over the 11 tracks. The Foos can’t stop rocking, despite an uncredited appearance by Justin Timberlake.
Take the outstanding Run, which starts with smouldering chords and soft vocals before building into an apex of thrash metal with Dave Grohl impressively reaching deep into his throat. This is thrilling, heroic rock, and even harder than the blistering, Grammy-winning single White Limo from 2011.
Make It Right finds the Foos doing their best ’70s stomping rock impersonation and it goes down well (JT offers background harmonizing). La Dee Da is a jolt of glam rock with distorted vocals and nihilistic lyrics.
The band takes a step toward more Kings of Leon-like arena rock with The Line and Sunday Rain — featuring, bizarrely, Paul McCartney on drums. The single, The Sky Is a Neighborhood, is a strained reach for a radio hit. But we shouldn’t have worried about a total pop sound: With the Foos, you simply can’t get anything but full-throttle rock. It’s messy, but it’s definitely not pop.
Yusuf/Cat Stevens The Laughing Apple Verve Decca
The artist now known as Yusuf did more than borrow from his own catalogue for his latest album. He also reunited with the producer and acoustic guitarist who worked on his seminal hits from the 1970s, resulting in a new album that sounds like old Cat Stevens with even more light and wisdom than before.
The Laughing Apple blends reimagined songs from 1967 with new compositions and newly completed 50-year-old unfinished tracks.
Yet with Alun Davies’ sparkling guitars and Paul Samwell Smith’s crisp production, the 11 songs sound like a cohesive set of tunes that always belonged together, and carry through themes of so much of Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ music: love and the joy of childhood.
Two new tracks stand out for their instant timelessness. See What Love Did to Me, the bright and cheery single, extols the lifechanging power of love. It also boasts the most rocking bridge on the album.
You Can Do (Whatever)! is reminiscent of the beloved hit Wild World, in both tone and message.
“You can ride a tiger or walk the dog,” he sings. “Anything you wish can be true.”