The New Oldies: #6 Album of the Year 2023: Foo Fighters – But Here We Are

Something seems to be missing these days. It seems that record companies, radio stations, and streaming services are pushing some the great established musicians to the background. As a result these veteran artists are not getting the attention they deserve. Enter the Top 10 Album Countdown: The New Oldies. The main point is simple – to make this list you must have at least 20 years of producing established music. The album by the artist must have been released between November 1st, 2022 and October 31st, 2023.

#6 Foo Fighters – But Here We Are

Coming in at Number 6 on the 2023 New Oldies Countdown is the Foo Fighters with But Here We Are. This is the 11th studio album by the band, but it is the first album by the band since the tragic death of drummer Taylor Hawkins back in 2022.

The Foo Fighters were very direct when they announced But Here We Are. The band described this album as “brutally honest and emotionally raw response to everything Foo Fighters endured over the last year”. For frontman Dave Grohl, this period was also difficult because he lost his mother over the past year. Grohl is no stranger to tragic as he had to deal with losing his frontman in Nirvana, Kurt Cobain in the 1990s – and I feel this plays into the album as well. The album is a testament how music can heal during times like this

For this album, the Foo Fighters have brought in Josh Freese to be the new drummer. Freese does an amazing job on the drumming, and this is no easy task as he is following an absolute legend in Hawkins. His drumming fits into that raw emotional response. The opening track Rescued is quite appropriate, because it talks about moving on and needing a rescue from the tragic events of the past year. Tracks such as Under You underscore this is not an easy thing to do as you hear this in the words “Think I’m getting over it;There’s no getting over it.” There are plenty of great tracks and future classics are present on this album including the title track, The Glass, The Teacher, and Nothing at All.

This is a fantastic effort by the Foo Fighters, and while the Foo Fighters may never forget the emotional events of the past couple of years, they have plenty of good music ahead of them.