The best, the best, the best, the best of them

Dave Grohl and the rest of the Foo Fighters tend to stick with what they are good at, but if they ever deviated from their tried-and-true formula, it was on 2007’s “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.” On that record, their classic rollicking sound was interspersed with slower songs that effectively killed the momentum from their classic choruses and made the entire recording a choppy, start-and-stop affair. “Wasting Light,” the band’s first album after a two-year hiatus, is a return to form.

Opener “Bridge Burning” is vintage Foo Fighters. Featuring punchy electric guitar that builds into a massive wall of sound once other instruments join in, the song is a smartly energetic beginning to the album, clearly stating that the band is back to what it does best.

Recorded entirely on analog equipment in Grohl’s garage, the record retains a rough-around-the-edges feel to it that fits much better than the acoustic “Skin and Bones” live album the band released in 2006. While that slowed the group’s classic sound down to a whimpering crawl, the analog recording leads to a raw sense of momentum on the album, particularly in Grohl’s vocals, which are spot-on throughout.

In fact, “Arlandria” may be his single best vocal performance in a song to date as his voice runs the spectrum from smooth and soulful to guttural and determined. It helps, of course, that the song is perfectly punctuated by the powerful drumming of Taylor Hawkins, which manages to rise to the top amid the cascade of guitars. Such is the case in most of the album’s songs, and Hawkins continues to stake his claim as one of the top drummers in rock music today.

“Wasting Light” is remarkable for its consistency, particularly when compared to the band’s last effort. “Arlandria” remains the standout, but nearly every song calls to mind elements of Foo Fighters classics. Only the meandering “I Should Have Known” could possibly be called filler; the rest of the album begs to be played live, and for an album recorded in a garage, it would translate beautifully to a giant stadium.