Foo Fighters, Sonic Highways

Progarchist Rating: 9/10 ♫♫♫♫♪

This album is pure rock and roll at its finest. You won’t find anything prog here other than the epic orchestrated finale to “I Am a River,” but then again the musicianship and songwriting is operating at such a high level that it is hard to deny it the moniker of “prog,” if by such you mean simply something like: “excellence in all its many forms.” Enjoy the adrenaline-fueled journey here, through eight glorious tracks, and pick your favorites. I am partial to the album opener, “Something From Nothing,” perhaps because the title is a nice echo of Rush, and also because there is even a little riff within it that makes me think of Rush’s “Stick It Out,” but in fact the track hits its stride when it gets its very own groove on. Listen to it and you’ll know what I mean. Other favorites are the resplendent “Congregation” and the heartening “God as My Witness” and the acrobatically nimble “In the Clear.” With rock like this, you can become a believer. Classic at birth, the lost art of the rock album is born again.