Sonic Highways is the eighth studio album by Foo Fighters, released in November 2014 on RCA/Roswell Records and produced by Butch Vig. Each of the eight tracks was recorded in a different American city (Chicago, Washington D.C., Nashville, Austin, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Seattle, New York) with local musicians and local cultural figures contributing to the recording, accompanied by an HBO documentary series of the same name directed by Grohl. Grohl wrote all material; the album's concept, drawing on the specific musical heritage and cultural context of each city, was more ambitious as a documentary project than as a standalone musical statement, with critics noting that the thematic framework occasionally overwhelmed the song content. 'Something from Nothing' and 'Outside' were the principal singles; the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 130,000 first-week sales and has been certified platinum in the United States. Sonic Highways represents Grohl's most explicit engagement with American music history as a thematic subject and the band's closest approach to documentary-rock territory in the tradition of Springsteen's Nebraska or Cash's Ride This Train.
Track Listing & Credits
| # | Title | Lyricist(s) | Composer(s) | Producer(s) | Performers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Something from Nothing | Dave Grohl | Dave Grohl | Butch Vig, Foo Fighters |
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| 2 | The Feast and the Famine | Dave Grohl | Dave Grohl | Butch Vig, Foo Fighters |
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| 3 | Congregation | Dave Grohl | Dave Grohl | Butch Vig, Foo Fighters |
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| 4 | What Did I Do?/God as My Witness | Dave Grohl | Dave Grohl | Butch Vig, Foo Fighters |
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| 5 | Outside | Dave Grohl | Dave Grohl | Butch Vig, Foo Fighters |
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| 6 | In the Clear | Dave Grohl | Dave Grohl | Butch Vig, Foo Fighters |
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| 7 | Subterranean | Dave Grohl | Dave Grohl | Butch Vig, Foo Fighters |
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| 8 | I Am a River | Dave Grohl | Dave Grohl | Butch Vig, Foo Fighters |
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Data note: Track credits compiled from Wikipedia and Discogs; should be verified against original liner notes. Each song was written and recorded in a different American city. Notable guests: Bad Brains on 'The Feast and the Famine'; Zac Brown on 'Congregation'; Joe Walsh on 'Outside'; Preservation Hall Jazz Band on 'In the Clear'.