Medicine at Midnight

After releasing their ninth studio album, Concrete and Gold, in 2017, and touring extensively behind it through much of 2018, the Foo Fighters announced they would be taking a break in October 2018, with frontman Dave Grohl stating that although they needed a rest, he already had some initial ideas for the band's next album. The break would last for less than a year, as by August 2019, drummer Taylor Hawkins reported that Grohl had already been demoing material by himself, and that the rest of the members planned to start contributing shortly thereafter. The band collectively started recording for the album in October 2019. The following month, Grohl described the band as being "right in the middle" of the recording process, and that the album was sounding "fucking weird". The album was recorded in a large, old house from the 1940s in Encino, Los Angeles. Grohl recalled: Grohl noted that they captured unexplainable footage on video, but due to a non-disclosure agreement with the house's owner, who was attempting to sell the property, the footage cannot be shown. The experiences would end serving as inspiration for a comedy horror film starring the Foo Fighters, Studio 666. Contrary to the Concrete and Gold sessions, which frequently ended in nights of large cookouts, drinking, and parties, the sessions were wrapped up as quickly as possible. ==Composition and themes==

Writers described the album's sound as alternative rock, hard rock, Hawkins described the album as being more "pop-oriented" than prior releases, different from their usual post-grunge sound. He also noted the use of a drum loop on the album, another atypical trait for the band. Grohl stated, "Some of those songs, the best ones happen in 45 minutes. Then there's other songs — there's a riff on the new record I’ve been working on for 25 years. The first time I demoed it was in my basement in Seattle." Grohl stated that the album's overall style was inspired by the Foo Fighters' "love of rock bands that make these upbeat, up-tempo, almost danceable records". ==Release and promotion==

In February 2020, the band announced "The Van Tour 2020", a 25th-anniversary tour where the band would perform in all of the same cities as the band had twenty-five years prior in their first North American tour, only in larger venues. While the tour was originally scheduled to run in April and May 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the band to delay the tour to October and December of the same year. In May 2020, the band announced that they had indefinitely delayed the album, while the band figures out how to promote and sell the album after the pandemic. While the initial delay was due to the pandemic and the band's inability to tour in support of it, Grohl later decided to release it during the pandemic anyhow, upon realizing its ability to be heard and lift people's spirits outweighed their desire to tour in support of it. Anticipation remained high for the album; Kerrang! placed the album atop of their "15 Albums Still to Look Forward to in 2020" list. Promotions picked back up again in November of the same year. The band announced they would perform on the November 7 episode of Saturday Night Live. Treading up to the performance, they started teasing new music snippets of a song on their social media platforms. On November 7, the band released the first single, "Shame Shame". On January 1, 2021, the band released the second single of the album, "No Son of Mine". On January 14, the band released the third single, "Waiting on a War". In the United States, Medicine at Midnight debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 album chart which was earned by 70,000 equivalent album units, 64,000 of which were album sales, making it the top-selling album of the week. ==Critical reception==

Medicine at Midnight received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the release received an average score of 75, based on 22 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ==Commercial performance==

In the United States, Medicine at Midnight debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart with 70,000 album-equivalent units, which consisted 64,000 pure album copies. In United Kingdom, Medicine at Midnight debuted at number one on the UK Albums chart with 42,500 album-equivalent units sold. ==Track listing==

Personnel taken from Medicine at Midnight liner notes. Foo Fighters • Dave Grohl – vocals, guitar • Taylor Hawkins – drums • Nate Mendel – bass • Chris Shiflett – guitar • Pat Smear – guitar • Rami Jaffee – keyboards Additional musicians • Barbara Gruska – backing vocals • Samantha Sidley – backing vocals • Laura Mace – backing vocals • Inara George – backing vocals • Violet Grohl – backing vocals • Omar Hakim – percussion • Greg Kurstin – keyboard on "Love Dies Young", string arrangements on "Shame Shame" and "Waiting on a War" • Songa Lee – violin on "Shame Shame" and "Waiting on a War" • Charlie Bisharat – violin on "Shame Shame" and "Waiting on a War" • Alma Fernandez – viola on "Shame Shame" and "Waiting on a War" • Jacob Braun – cello on "Shame Shame" Technical • Greg Kurstin – production • Foo Fighters – production • Alex Pasco – production assistant • Darrell Thorp – engineer • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing engineer • Matt Wolach – mixing assistant • Randy Merrill – mastering engineer • Kel Lauren – graphic designer (album cover) ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==