WATCH: Foo Fighters on Sonic Highways

10 November 2014, 06:00 | Updated: 11 May 2017, 16:41

Dave Grohl and his men take a musical tour of the US and come up with songs that reflect a nation.

Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways album artwork For their eighth studio album, Dave Grohl has taken Foo Fighters out onto the streets of America. Over the course of several months, the band has soaked up influences, got a feeling for the local culture and written and recorded songs that reflected eight major cities: Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Seattle and Washington DC.

Grohl explained to Radio X that bands are the product of their environment, particularly the classic UK groups he group up loving: "If you think about Birmingham, everyone’s like 'Oh, it’s an industrial city’ and then you get Black Sabbath. I don’t know if Black Sabbath could have come from anywhere else. It makes sense that this band comes from that place."

But those expecting a musical travelogue pulling in styles from around the country, don't panic. This is still a Foo Fighters record that embraces the slick blend of post-grunge anthems and classic 70s rock that Grohl has been employing since 1995's self-titled debut.

The first taster, Something From Nothing, opens the album with an assured air and plenty of patented Foos riffage. And these are BIG songs, which the finale, I Am A River, clocking in at over seven minutes.