Back in 1994, the former Nirvana drummer created the first Foo Fighters album while he was mourning the death of Kurt Cobain, the first move in a career comprised of constant motion. Grief wasn t central to 1995 s Foo Fighters. Loss and sorrow flow through the album s imagery, culminating in the cascading closer Rest, whose refrain of you can rest now/you will be safe now is easy to interpret as a message to Hawkins. Grohl doesn t dwell in the darkness; he faces his bereavement directly, with as clear an eye as he can muster. The candor in the lyrics is matched by the immediacy of the music. Working once again with producer Greg Kurstin, who first came aboard for 2017 s Concrete and Gold, Foo Fighters naturally don t indulge in the disco dabbling that marked Medicine at Midnight, but they don t shy away from their burgeoning prog instincts, letting them reach full flower on The Teacher, a ten-minute mini-suite that collapses in a wave of white noise. These are arty accents on an album that embraces the Foos arena rock instincts so closely, it sometimes recalls the brawniness of The Colour and the Shape. While the former is expected from Grohl, it s the latter that makes the album compelling. Stephen Thomas Erlewine.