Is the new Foo Fighters album any good? Should you rush out to get concert tickets for the band’s new tour? Here’s what I think.
There are records that all the world wants to be released, but nobody really wants to listen to. “Your Favorite Toy,” Foo Fighters’ 2026 album is of that kind.
Sure, you want a happy ending for Dave Grohl’s band. But the more it goes on, the more you get late-career chapters that mimic earlier ones.
No, it’s not like this is a bad album. There’s nothing inherently atrocious about this. For the most part, this is what you’d expect from a Foo Fighters record. On most songs, the buyer receives just what they paid for.
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But maybe that’s the problem. As one post-grunge song rolls into another, you have to ask yourself if the world might nust just have enough Dave Grohl songs.
Don’t feel guilty for asking yourself this! It’s irrelevant whether Grohl is, indeed or not, a great guy. Foo Fighters is a fantastic band which, after all, has a tendency for… sameness.
“Your Favorite Toy” was meant to be Dave Grohl’s redemption record. While getting into gossip is unbecoming of this writer, it’s fair to say that Foo Fighters’ stature is intrinsically tied to Grohl’s reputation, one that has taken a beating in recent years.
“Your Favorite Toy” is billed as a punk album. Is it? Sure! The album cover and Grohl’s introductory screams on the opening track “Caught In The Echo” let you know, loud and clear, that this is an angry, back-to-basics record.
On the other hand, the marketing can be a little deceiving. The artwork for the record resembles punk-rock fanzines and DIY releases. Foo Fighters is a stadium band. Meanwhile, the sound of the first songs on the record is meant to resemble late 1980s hardcore punk. However, the production is often exceedingly glossy.
And while the production is not much of a problem, the highly-touted new drummer is playing the parts intended for him, and Grohl is screaming his heart out, the tunes mostly aren’t memorable.
The understated “Window,” with its 80s radio pop feel, is the best track in my opinion. The single, “Asking for a Friend,” uses familiar drama-rock tactics and also works well.
However, the opening salvo of tracks like “Echo,” “Of All People,” or the title track sounds like over-produced punk-rock. It’s not for a lack of energy or conviction that the songs don’t quite work. It’s because they don’t quite jump out.
On the other hand, “Your Favorite Toy” is far from a trainwreck. The album’s biggest problem is the fact that it’ll get you to ask: “When was the last time that the Foo Fighters were really good anyway?”
