Released: 2021

Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop Rock

The Musiquarium’s Medicine at Midnight Review Score: 5 out of 10

After the releases of Sonic Highways and Concrete and Gold, Foo Fighters were due for a comeback. Those last two albums weren’t bad, but they were far from the heights of their last great album Wasting Light, which was already a decade old by 2021; Dave Grohl & company were in danger of being past their prime.

In the recent Foo Fighters film, Studio 666 (which is actually quite underrated), the band is trying to find inspiration for album number ten, which leads to them writing and recording in a haunted house, where Dave Grohl eventually becomes possessed and starts killing his bandmates. You’d think that this premise would lead to one of the band’s most aggressive or experimental albums, but instead, we got a milquetoast dance rock album that has as much intensity as a bowl of corn flakes.

Making a Fire features Dave Grohl’s daughter Violet and is as likely to start a fire as a bucket of water is — this is by far the worst Foos opener yet. Cloudspotter is a funky rocker that feels more like a midlife crisis than something you’d want to boogie to. Waiting on a War is a schmaltzy, overproduced ballad. Shame, Shame and No Son Of Mine are two of the better songs here, but still light years away from any of the band’s best songs.

Medicine at Midnight is Foo Fighters’ worst album yet and a forgettable attempt at doing something new. It feels like Dave Grohl has absolutely nothing to say other than “let’s whip up an album as an excuse to tour” — he has it all and when life is too perfect, there’s not much to inspire one’s art. After the premise set up by Studio 666, this was an even greater disappointment than I could have foreseen.

Trivia: Medicine at Midnight won Best Rock Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Foo Fighters on Discogs.

Back to the 2021 Album Reviews Guide or the Foo Fighters Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard