record reviews

Pink Floyd

Album: “The Endless River” (Columbia Records)

Grade: A-

Never was an album more aptly named than “The Endless River,” the new — and seemingly final — release from Pink Floyd. It flows unstoppably, and while some listeners may feel it meanders on too long, it’s very easy to get swept along by it.

Though this is the band’s first studio album in two decades, much of the material was recorded in 1993 and 1994, during sessions for “The Division Bell.”

Both the compositions and their titles allude to all the water that has passed under the bridge in the course of Pink Floyd’s long career. The opening track, “Things Left Unsaid,” sets the tone: It’s a woozy wash of Wright’s keyboards, haunting horn sounds and Gilmour’s guitar that feels elegiac.

On it rolls from there, sometimes a tranquil wash, sometimes churned into rapids by Gilmour’s piercing guitar and Nick Mason’s thundering drums, for 18 tracks — four sides of vinyl if you opt for the old-fashioned format.

What’s on display is not so much songwriting as chemistry. This band had something, a magic, and you can hear it throughout “The Endless River.”

—Jill Lawless, Associated Press

Foo Fighters

Album: “Sonic Highways” (RCA Records)

Grade: A

Twenty years into their career as one of the leading rock bands in the world, Foo Fighters continue to find ways to challenge both themselves and their listeners.

On “Sonic Highways,” a companion to the similarly named HBO television series, the Dave Grohl-fronted band, with assistance from producer Butch Vig, tasked itself with touching down in eight U.S. cities, exploring each town’s music history, and then writing and recording a song in that city influenced by what they discovered, often accompanied by a native son or daughter.

To its credit, the band avoids gimmickry. For example, in New Orleans, it recorded the mid-tempo “In The Clear” with the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band, but no one will mistake the tune for a typical Crescent City brass band parade. Instead, each city’s elements are incorporated into the Foo Fighters’ sound.

—Melinda Newman, Associated Press

Garth Brooks

Album: “Man Against Machine” (RCA Nashville)

Grade: A-

As would be expected, Garth Brooks strives for an epic statement on his re-entry into full-time recording, after a 13-year hiatus.

Unlike most modern male country stars, Brooks looks beyond partying and celebrating rural life on “Man Against Machine.” Like U2 or Bruce Springsteen, Brooks positions himself as a cultural figurehead who speaks for, and to, the common man.

Brooks represents the middle class who work too many hours and devote their earnings to getting by in a society that’s “rotten to the core,” as he states in the title song, which pits a desperate man making a stand against an Orwellian power structure.

The album shows the influence of country rockers Jason Aldean and Eric Church in its heavy guitars and dark-hued themes. But he doesn’t go for auto-tuned vocals, rhythm loops or rapping. The songs are weighty and wordy, taking up where his albums “Scarecrow” and “In the Life of Chris Gaines” left off.

Some tunes could benefit from the editing that defines the best country songwriting. However, the unabashed sentiment of “Mom,” the cowboy swing of “Rodeo and Juliet” and the jaunty “Wrong About You” suggest the possibilities of country music today just as Brooks’ classics did in the 1990s.

—Michael McCall, Associated Press