November 7, 2025
Better Noise Music
If there’s one thing working in the music industry has taught me, it’s not to judge a band by their cover. Point in question: Finger Eleven.
For some reason, I had them pegged as a wishy-washy, ballad-loving radio radio-friendly band. Why? I have no idea, but I did. That was until I had the opportunity to interview the band for their new album, Last Night On Earth and got the chance to listen to the unreleased album for a bit of research before speaking with them.
These guys grabbed me from the very start of opening track, Adrenaline, as a steady beat ushers in some tasty guitar from James Black with a driving, infectious underlying groove that oozes class from all directions. When frontman Scott Anderson joins in the party with a forceful bout of vocals, Finger Eleven come out swinging, and swinging hard.
There’s a fair bit going on here with tempo changes and quicker moments clouding the clarity, but none of it detracts from the obvious intent with which Finger Eleven have approached their first album in a decade. This could easily be delivered as a radio-friendly, straight-out rock number, but you get the impression Finger Eleven have no intention of playing things safe on this album, which can only be a good thing.
Blue Sky Mystery features a guest appearance from Richard Patrick of Filter fame, and even before the opening notes fill the air, you get the feeling this is going to be a cracker. And from the opening swirls of guitar, which are soon joined by pulsating drums, Finger Eleven are on the money.
These guys know how to structure and deliver a tune, breaking free from the usual constraints of normality to chop and change at will without upsetting the balance of the song. Blue Sky Mystery is no different, chugging along in one direction before changing tack by either a cavalcade of drum rolls or a vocal interference or maybe a guitar run. Whatever it is, they manage to keep things fresh and interesting in what has become an increasingly formulaic genre.
And Patrick fucken rocks.
Cold Concrete starts amid fuzzy guitar tones that have an almost psychedelic feel. Anderson sings a touch within himself to add to the majesty before the tempo quickens and the vocals take on a more regular pattern that transforms Cold Concrete into a ballad of sorts and then a high-end rock track as the guitars dictate each sonic irregularity.
It almost sounds like there’s a touch of electronics going on here in the background, but this is very much a track for guitarists Rick Jackett and James Black to hold centre court, and it’s no surprise that the albums first guitar solo rears its beautiful head momentarily before Cold Concrete doubles down on itself once more into a more ambient, deliberate number that trails off into the distance and leads us into the next song Lock Me Up.
The acoustic strains of guitar lay the groundwork here, inviting Anderson to ease into proceedings with an almost withdrawn and emotive delivery. Now this is more what I thought Finger Eleven sounded like, but the fact it has taken four songs to get to this point proves the band are not reliant on songs like this.
The pace quickens slightly as the track progresses, elevating it into meatier rock territory without fully escaping the sense of sorrow that gave birth to Lock Me Up. Another guitar solo adds a tougher dimension to the song before trailing off into the void of the abyss from which Lock Me Up spread its wings, coming to a close with the electric counterpart to the acoustic beginning in a nice touch of light and shade.
The title track, Last Night On Earth meanders to life with an almost country twang that sits effortlessly below the vocals that are tempered and delivered with purpose. This sounds more like a vocal-led ballad, and as the acoustic guitar washes over the top, I’m pretty sure I am right. This is the kind of song that is sung around a campfire or at a party when the guitar comes out early in the morning, except I doubt you would be able to add the beautifully orchestrated string section that adds to the mournful tone of the song. Not a bad track, but I am hoping The Mountain pumps things up a bit.
Which it does courtesy of a thumping bass drum that is soon joined by a chunky guitar riff that combine to ensure Finger Eleven are back on the rock train. Although there is nothing entirely new about the style of rock played by Finger Eleven, there is something fresh in the delivery that comes from being a band for more than 30 years and having all but one band member there from the start.
These guys know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and obviously lean on the strengths more often than not to offer up a sound that, while having been done by many over the years, is still one undeniably their own.
Perfect Effigy stutters to life on the back of a fading guitar riff that repeats into itself before Anderson steps to the plate and gives the song a life of its own. This is a meat-and-potatoes rock number, sprinkled with enough moments of disparity to elevate it from that title and into a league of its own. Much of this is on the back of subtle timing changes and interplay between guitar, vocals and drums that ensures no track ever feels overdone.
Perfect Effigy rolls back and forth, with Black‘s snarling guitar work offering a sense of the unknown that reverberates in and around itself until the track suddenly snaps to a close, leaving an underlying sense of WTF did I just listen to? (in a good way).
Wall Dogs opens with what sounds like the soft strains of an untuned piano before gathering focus and easing into a softer number awash with haunting guitar. It is a testament to the overall appeal of Finger Eleven that I found myself interested in a song that I would have normally left in my rearview mirror by now, but their songs have been interesting enough that I actually want to hear where they take this one.
Which, as it turns out, is not far from where it started, but it was still a journey worth taking.
Laughing At The Storm has a slightly funky opening passage that quickly settles into more of a shuffle as the music loops back on itself briefly before easing back even more into a soft tale of struggle and longing. The pace alternates between these two offerings, stuttering back and forth with only the pre-chorus acting as a brief moment of intensity that doesn’t amount to much until the halfway point, where things hasten rapidly without deviating too far from the structure of the song.
It almost has the sonic feel of a storm with the differing tides of emotion, with what could be construed as the thunder part of the storm blowing in towards the end of Laughing At The Storm to add but one more layer to the track.
Body And Mind almost sounds like a country song from the opening guitar strains, but that soon dissipates as Anderson becomes the focal point, singing with a softer mannerism that glides over the top of a light string arrangement. This is a gentle, seductive track that acts as a vehicle for Anderson‘s obvious vocal talents, and the restraint shown by his bandmates here is almost as impressive as any of their balls-out stuff elsewhere on the album.
Finishing with a Filterless version of Blue Sky Mystery, Last Night On Earth is proof – if any was needed – that great music is timeless and the focus should be more on quality rather than quantity when it comes to releasing material. But in saying that, let’s hope Finger Eleven don’t take another decade to give us their next album…
