Wasting Light
by Foo Fighters

Wasting Light by Foo Fighters
Year: 2011
Release date: 2011-04-08
Overall rank: 645th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 791 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 2011 (10th)
Award Top 100 albums of the 2010s (91st)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (645th)

Listen on Spotify SPOTIFY
Product Details
Availability

eBay
eBay
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light [New CD]
Condition: Brand New


eBay
eBay
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light | 45RPM 2LP | 2011 Roswell Records
Condition: New


eBay
eBay
Foo Fighters CD Lot of 4 (5 discs) - Wasting Light, One By One, Colour & Echoes
Condition: Good


  My favourite store:  

Foo Fighters bestography

Wasting Light is ranked 2nd best out of 18 albums by Foo Fighters on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Foo Fighters is The Colour And The Shape which is ranked number 367 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 4,527.

Foo Fighters album bestography « Higher ranked (367th)
The Colour And The Shape
This album (645th)
Wasting Light
Lower ranked (789th) »
Foo Fighters

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Listen to Wasting Light on YouTube

Loading content from YouTube...

Wasting Light track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

Sort Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments
2.
Track pick (870 - 200 votes)
Average Rating: 87 (200 votes)Comments: View 2
6.
Track pick (850 - 175 votes)
Average Rating: 85 (175 votes)Comments: View 1
11.
Track pick (870 - 220 votes)
Average Rating: 87 (220 votes)Comments: View 1

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Wasting Light rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 645th | 2010s rank: 91st | 2011 rank: 10th

Wasting Light collection

Wasting Light ratings

Average Rating: 
76/100 (from 791 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 791 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
90/100
 
40 hours ago Nifcake  Ratings distribution  4085/100
 
100/100
 
05/19/2026 07:51 marcoshb  Ratings distribution  4375/100
 
75/100
 
05/12/2026 17:45 Jakor  Ratings distribution  5,43470/100
 
80/100
 
05/04/2026 17:15 gmessian  Ratings distribution  38560/100
 
100/100
 
04/28/2026 23:05 Devilwoac  Ratings distribution  1,30097/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 4% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.5/100, a mean average of 75.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.0.

Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating

Wasting Light comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 55 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
75/100
From 05/14/2025 09:51 | #308991
Shortlisted for album of the year at the Grammys in 2012. The winner was 21 by Adele
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 03/19/2025 20:46 | #308120
The right mix of different styles and tempo's to give it enough variety to keep it solid from start to finish. Consistent. One of the better Foo albums.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 08/21/2023 00:51 | #298766
Amazing, energy filling, guitar blazing & making-you-yelling album from the great Foo Fighters.

The rawness has never been rawer for this band than on this album.
Wasting light is a story of love for the rock music genre.
Full of absolute bangers to repeat back at Dave, and gritty riffs to blast your hear, this album is a must for any fan of the band.
The overall sound quality of the mix is also quite insane.
The added layer of the 3rd guitar from returning member Pat Smear, as well as the collaboration with legendary producer Butch Vig, make a noticeable impact.
* Children, hear me now.
Dear Rosemary is by far, and i mean faaaaar, the most UNDERATED song from the Foo Fighters

The flaws in my own listening experiences of this album are so very few and far between that they become completely outweighted by the insane originality and passion poured into the 11 tracks.
It is that great.

5/5
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 01/17/2023 17:57 | #293016
Foo Fighters finest moment where everything just seems to click. The writing is catchy though lyrically it can lack on occasion. At times they seriously rock out like a 90s hard rock band and it’s superb. Feels like an ode to the rock music that they enjoyed growing up.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 09/28/2022 22:07 | #290030
O grande álbum da banda! Alcançaram o máximo de reconhecimento.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 03/22/2022 20:27 | #283239
Album Rating: 74.55
(820/11)

1.Bridge Burning - 77
2.Rope - 71
3.Dear Rosemary - 70
4.White Limo - 74
5.Arlandria - 84
6.These Days - 72
7.Back & Forth - 56
8.A Matter Of Time - 69
9.Miss The Misery - 71
10.I Should Have Known - 92
11.Walk - 84
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
50/100
From 01/30/2022 11:27 | #280302
Very consistent album, there are no weak tracks. My highlights are Rope, Miss The Misery and Bridge Burning.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/03/2021 14:28 | #275759
Some of the Foo's best material! The entire album isn't perfect, but the vintage sound carries on.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 08/16/2021 03:30 | #272561
It's OKAY.......
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 05/28/2020 17:05 | #252416
One of the best from the Foo's!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for Wasting Light

Anonymous
Let us know what you think of this album by adding a comment or assigning a rating below.
The top comments are featured on our aggregated charts!
Log in or register to assign a rating or leave a comment for this album.
Best Albums of 2011
1. Bon Iver, Bon Iver by Bon Iver
2. Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes
3. Let England Shake by PJ Harvey
4. The Smile Sessions by The Beach Boys
5. The King Of Limbs by Radiohead
6. El Camino by The Black Keys
7. Kaputt by Destroyer
8. Hurry Up, We're Dreaming by M83
9. 21 by Adele
10. Wasting Light by Foo Fighters