Wasting Light is the seventh studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters. It was released on April 12, 2011 on RCA Records, and is the first album to feature rhythm guitarist Pat Smear since The Colour and the Shape (1997), making the band a five piece with the album. Wishing to capture the essence of the group's earlier work and avoid the artificiality of digital recording, frontman Dave Grohl arranged for the band to record in his garage in Encino, California using only analog equipment. The sessions were supervised by producer Butch Vig, with whom Grohl had worked on Nirvana's Nevermind. Since the old equipment did not allow for many mistakes to be corrected in post-production, the band spent three weeks rehearsing the songs, and Vig had to relearn outdated editing techniques. The b