When a band has a key member die, which sadly is all too common in rock n’ roll, there are a few different approaches. Some bands take the “business-as-usual” approach, almost acting as if the loss never happened; some completely stop, reckoning they can’t go on without said member. When Foo Fighters’ beloved drummer Taylor Hawkins devastatingly passed away in 2022, speculation was rampant as to how they could process a loss that gigantic. In the end, they took a road less traveled and wrote this entire album based on the themes of grief, loss and perseverance in the face of unspeakable tragedy. The results are astounding.
But Here We Are is a phenomenal record for many reasons—most importantly, for its vulnerability. I’ve seen bands release albums after a member dies and never even come close to broaching the subject, but on here, Dave Grohl goes as deep as he possibly can. Every word of every song deals with the emotions that grief brings, in heartbreaking detail. Grohl, who also lost his mother shortly after Hawkins’ death, puts his heart on his sleeve so explicitly on this album, in a way that’s simultaneously hard to listen to (I have cried every time I’ve listened to this album) and incredibly cathartic. It’s a real gift to all the fans who loved Taylor, to write something so gut-wrenching and emotional for us all to grieve to.
Musically, this album also shows the Foos in their best form. For many records before this, the band have dealt in musical concepts, whether it’s In Your Honor’s “half acoustic/half electric double album,” Sonic Highways’ “record in eight different cities with each song referencing the musical landscape of the city it’s recorded in,” or Medicine At Midnight’s “let’s do a dance rock album.” It often works for them, but can sometimes hem an album in a little.
Maybe because of the subject matter of this album, the music feels a little less combed over, and is more about serving the song. If the song needs to be a stadium anthem, it can be. If they need a 10-minute prog epic, it’s allowed. An acoustic-guitar ballad? Go for it! This approach gives the songs a lot more breathing room, allowing for them to be what they want to be, and not what the concept of the record needs them to be.
There’s one final detail on this album that always gets me, and whether it’s subconscious or not I don’t know, but there’s a “missing man” arrangement move that the band implement on a host of tracks (“The Glass,” “The Teacher” and, most emotionally, on “Beyond Me”), wherein the 5 members play a song at full blast, really laying into their instruments, without any drums on the track. In their absence, you can feel Hawkins’ presence deeply, and the ferocity in which the band attack the songs almost makes it feel like you could hear his parts.
But Here We Are is a beautiful, raw tribute to an incredible drummer and musician, and is possibly the best Foo Fighters album of them all.