Sonic Highways

ROSWELL/RCA, 2014

‘Avoid’ is an overly harsh instruction for an album that is, at worst, a 5/10, but Sonic Highways is much easier to admire than to adore. A companion piece to the HBO TV series of the same name, Grohl’s ‘love letter to the history of American music’, the album was compromised due to the concept: that each of its eight tracks would be written and recorded in a different US city, inspired by the history and musical heritage of its birthplace. A brilliant idea for a documentary, and one beautifully executed. On record the reverential nature of the songs is undeniably heartfelt, but it’s all a bit earnest and dull.