Jump to content

Sonic Highways

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Sonic4fan (talk | contribs) at 02:14, 25 November 2014 (Added the newest single). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about the album. For the companion television series, see Foo Fighters Sonic Highways.
Untitled

Sonic Highways is the eighth studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters, released on November 10, 2014, through RCA Records.[1] As part of a companion HBO television series, Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways,[2][3] the band recorded eight songs for the album, each in a different US city: Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.[4] It is available on CD, vinyl, and as a digital download.[5] The album's lead single "Something from Nothing" was released on October 16, 2014.

Background and writing

Despite initially announcing a break after supporting Wasting Light, Grohl later stated in January 2013 that the band had started writing material for an eighth studio album.[6] On February 20, 2013, at the Brit Awards, Grohl said he was flying back to America the following day to start work on the next album.[7] In an August 2013 interview with XFM, Grohl announced that their next album has been slated for a 2014 release, saying:

"Well, I’ll tell you, we have been in our studio writing and in the past few weeks we’ve written an album and we are going to make this album in a way that no-one’s ever done before and we’re pretty excited about it... It’s a little ways off – it’s not ready to happen right now – but I think next year is going to be a really big year for the Foo Fighters, without question."[8]

According to lead guitarist Chris Shiflett, Grohl would finish the lyrics just before recording his vocals, the last part of each song. This time the compositions would drift away from "love letters and confused relationships" to deal with the feelings Grohl had regarding each city during production.[9]

Recording

Further information: Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways

On September 6, 2013, lead guitarist Chris Shiflett posted a photo to his Instagram account that had indicated 13 songs were being recorded for the album.[10] Keyboardist Rami Jaffee has recorded parts for three songs, one of which is entitled "In The Way."[11] Butch Vig, who produced the band's prior album, Wasting Light, confirmed he produced Sonic Highways as well.[12][13] On July 30, 2014, Vig revealed that the band had finished recording and mixing the new album and it is slated to be released a month after the Sonic Highways TV series.[14] In an August 2014 press release Grohl spoke about the album, saying: "This album is instantly recognizable as a Foo Fighters record, but there's something deeper and more musical to it. I think that these cities and these people influenced us to stretch out and explore new territory, without losing our ‘sound’."[1]

Packaging

The artwork for the album has a cityscape amalgamating landmarks of every town used for production - Seattle's Space Needle, the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles - and a recurring motif of the number eight, marking both the Foo Fighters' eighth album and infinity (∞).[1] The vinyl pressings of the album are packaged in nine different covers, depicting each of the eight cities and the "Forever" building shaped like the infinity symbol.[4] Although most retailers will not guarantee which cover the purchaser receives, when pre-ordering the album from the band's official web site an album cover can be selected.[5][15]

Promotion

On January 16, 2014, a picture was posted to the Foo Fighters Facebook page with several master tapes, some labeled "LP 8".[16] On May 15, 2014, it was announced that the band's eighth album would be released in November 2014 and that the Foo Fighters would commemorate the album and their 20th anniversary with an HBO TV series directed by Dave Grohl entitled Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways.[17] On August 11, 2014, it was announced that the album would be titled Sonic Highways and released on November 10, 2014.[18]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic68/100[19]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[20]
The A.V. ClubB–[21]
Chicago Tribune[22]
Consequence of SoundC–[23]
Entertainment WeeklyB[24]
The Guardian[25]
The Observer[26]
NME7/10[27]
Pitchfork Media5.6/10[28]
Rolling Stone[1]
ROCK N' STUFF[29]

Metacritic assigns a "weighted average" rating out of 100 to selected independent ratings and reviews from mainstream critics, and the album has received a Metascore of a 68, based on 28 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[19] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic says the album "celebrates not the coiled fury of underground rock exploding into the mainstream, the way the '90s-happy Wasting Light did, but rather the classic rock that unites the U.S. from coast to coast."[20] Philip Cosores at Consequence of Sound stated "the album plays out more like a bonus feature, something that can enhance the series’ enjoyment or simply further inform the experience".[23] Patrick Doyle from Rolling Stone noted that some of the album's songs are among "the band's most ambitious moments yet".[1] Stuart Berman of Pitchfork Media was more critical of the album, stating "Foo Fighters completely demystify their own creative process, effectively turning the Sonic Highways project into a glorified homework assignment—educational, perhaps, but laboriously procedural."[28]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, with sales of 190,000 copies in the United States.[30] In Canada, the album debuted at number three on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 25,000 copies.[31]

Track listing

Sonic Highways
No.TitleGuestLength
1."Something from Nothing" (Chicago, IL)Rick Nielsen4:49
2."The Feast and the Famine" (Arlington, VA)Pete Stahl & Skeeter Thompson of Scream3:49
3."Congregation" (Nashville, TN)Zac Brown5:12
4."What Did I Do? / God As My Witness" (Austin, TX)Gary Clark, Jr.5:44
5."Outside" (Los Angeles, CA)Joe Walsh5:15
6."In the Clear" (New Orleans, LA)Preservation Hall Jazz Band4:04
7."Subterranean" (Seattle, WA)Ben Gibbard6:08
8."I Am a River" (New York, NY)Tony Visconti, Kristeen Young7:09
Total length:42:03

Personnel

Foo Fighters
Additional musicians

Charts

Singles charts

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications
Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications
US
[57] 		US
Air
[58] 		US
Alt
[59] 		US
Main
[60] 		US
Rock
[61] 		AUS
[62] 		AUT
[63] 		BEL
[64] 		CAN
[65] 		GER
[66] 		JPN
[67] 		NLD
[68] 		NZ
[69] 		PT
[70] 		UK
[71] 		UK
Rock
[72]
"Something from Nothing" 2014 —[A] 94 3 1 8 53 75 42 63 100 63 57 32 45 73 1
"The Feast and the Famine" — — — — 37 — — — — — — — — 27 — 4
"Congregation" — — — — 33 — 73 — — 97 — — — 38 — 4
"What Did I Do? / God As My Witness" — — — — 37 — — — — — — — — 33 — 6
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
  • A ^ "Something from Nothing" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100 but peaked on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at number 1.[73]

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label
United States[5] November 10, 2014
RCA

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Grow, Kory (11 August 2014). "Foo Fighters Name New Album 'Sonic Highways,' Reveal Track List". RollingStone.com. Retrieved 11 August 2014. Cite error: The named reference "RollingStone" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Foo Fighters premiere new single "Something From Nothing" — listen". Consequence of Sound. October 16, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  3. ^ Camp, Zoe; Phillips, Amy (October 16, 2014). "Foo Fighters Release "Something From Nothing" From New Album Sonic Highways". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Foo Fighters Announce 'Sonic Highways' Track List, Share Artwork billboard.com. Retrieved 11 August, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "Sonic Highways: Foo Fighters: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Dave Grohl Says Foo Fighters 'Have A Plan' For Their Next Album". MTV.com. 2013-01-23. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  7. ^ "Dave Grohl: 'Foo Fighters to begin work on new album this week' | News". Nme.Com. 2013-02-21. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  8. ^ "Foo Fighters Finish Writing New Album". Loudwire.com. 2013-08-19. Retrieved 2014-08-12.
  9. ^ Peixoto, Mariana (2014-09-27). "Guitarrista do Foo Fighters fala sobre novo disco em entrevista exclusiva". Estado de Minas (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2014-10-18.
  10. ^ Sarah Smith (6 November 2013). "You'll never believe what Foo Fighters take on tour". Faster Louder. Faster Louder Pty Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  11. ^ "Equipment photograph". Distilleryimage7.s3.amazonaws.com. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  12. ^ Darren Levin (26 August 2013). "Butch Vig teams up with Foo Fighters for "KILLER new songs"". Faster Louder. Faster Louder Pty Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  13. ^ Rosen, Craig. "The 10 Most Anticipated Albums of 2014". Yahoo. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  14. ^ Stolman, Elissa (July 30, 2014). "Foo Fighters Finish Eighth Album". spin.com. Spin. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  15. ^ "'Sonic Highways' vinyl preorder". FooFighters.com. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  16. ^ "Foo Fighters - Tijdlijnfoto's". Facebook. 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  17. ^ "Foo Fighters To Commemorate Eighth Album & 20th Anniversary With HBO Series Documenting Eight-City Recording Odyssey". FooFighters.com. Retrieved 2014-05-15.
  18. ^ "Twitter / foofighters: Sonic Highways. Out Worldwide". Twitter. Retrieved 2014-08-12.
  19. ^ a b Metacritic. "Critic Reviews for Sonic Highways". CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  20. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Sonic Highways - Foo Fighters - Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved November 16, 2014. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  21. ^ Warwick, Kevin (November 11, 2014). "Foo Fighters aim for the moon but come up a bit short on Sonic Highways". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  22. ^ Kot, Greg (November 7, 2014). "Foo Fighters 'Sonic Highways' doesn't lead to anywhere new". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
  23. ^ a b Cosores, Philip (November 7, 2014). "Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  24. ^ Ryan, Kyle (November 7, 2014). "Sonic Highways Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  25. ^ Jonze, Tim (November 7, 2014). "Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways review – a high-concept tour with middling music". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  26. ^ Carnwath, Ally (November 9, 2014). "Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways review – familiar full-throttle pop-rock". The Obserer. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  27. ^ Nicolson, Barry (November 5, 2014). "Foo Fighters – 'Sonic Highways'". NME. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
  28. ^ a b Berman, Stuart (November 10, 2014). "Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  29. ^ Ross, André (November 9, 2014). "FOO FIGHTERS, RESENA DE SONIC HIGHWAYS". Rock N' Stuff. ROCK N' STUFF. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  30. ^ "Taylor Swift's '1989' No. 1 for Third Week on Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  31. ^ Cross, Alan (19 November 2014). "Weekly Music Sales Report and Analysis: 19 November 2014". ajournalofmusicalthings.com. ajournalofmusicalthings. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  32. ^ "Foo Fighters HBO doc puts Preservation Hall on national stage". 21 August 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  33. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  34. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  35. ^ "Ultratop.be – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  36. ^ "Ultratop.be – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  37. ^ "Foo Fighters Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  38. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  39. ^ "Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  40. ^ "Lescharts.com – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  41. ^ "Officialcharts.de – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  42. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2014. 46. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  43. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 46, 2014". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  44. ^ "Artisti - Classifica settimanale WK 46 (dal 10-11-2014 al 16-11-2014)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  45. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  46. ^ "Charts.nz – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  47. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  48. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  49. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  50. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  51. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  52. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  53. ^ "Foo Fighters Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  54. ^ "ARIA Albums Chart - 24/11/2014". Australian Recording Industry Association. November 22, 2014. Archived from the original on November 22, 2014. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  55. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  56. ^ "British album certifications – Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 14, 2014. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Sonic Highways in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  57. ^ "Foo Fighters Album & Song Chart History – Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  58. ^
  59. ^ "Foo Fighters Album & Song Chart History – Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  60. ^ Foo Fighters - Mainstream Rock Songs chart history billboard.com. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
  61. ^ "Foo Fighters Album & Song Chart History – Rock Songs". Billboard. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  62. ^
  63. ^ "Discographie Foo Fighters" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 2014-11-15.
  64. ^ Discography Foo Fighters". Ultratop Belgian Charts. Retrieved 2014-11-15.
  65. ^ "Foo Fighters - Billboard Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
  66. ^ charts.de. "Foo Fighters Chart History in Germany". www.officialcharts.de. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  67. ^ Billboard. "Foo Fighters Chart History - Japan Hot 100". Retrieved 15 November 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |artist= ignored (|others= suggested) (help)
  68. ^ "Discografie Foo Fighters" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved February 14, 2008.
  69. ^ "Discography Foo Fighters". New Zealand charts online. Retrieved February 14, 2008.
  70. ^
  71. ^
  72. ^
  73. ^ Foo Fighters - Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart history billboard.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sonic_Highways&oldid=635325805"