Review: Dave Grohl’s High-Drama 23-Minute Instrumental

Inspired by seeing his kids learn music, Dave Grohl challenged himself, channeling his inner schoolboy and recording this 23-minute instrumental. “[Music] is a lifelong obsession – but at the end of the day, just like any kid, the reward is just to play,” he says in the attendant documentary. The result of Grohl’s learning process is a driving, multi-movement rocker in the vein of the songs he writes for the Foo Fighters; the lack of vocals, though, allows for a little more dramatic ebb and flow, with vibraphones chiming in a quieter section and piano accompanying some gentle headbanging. A few proggy, funky moments rise up here and there, but “Play” is most impressive when Grohl hits on a wailing melody and wrings it out. The track’s video manages to fit several Grohls on the screen at one time, which conjures the uncanny effect of them looking at their mirror-image others for approval. They shouldn’t be so worried; the song works.