Your Favorite Toy

Your Favorite Toy was recorded at Dave Grohl's home studio, with further recording done at the band's Studio 606 facility in Los Angeles. It was co-produced by the band and engineer Oliver Roman,^[4] making this record the first not to be co-produced by Greg Kurstin since Sonic Highways in 2014. The record follows But Here We Are (2023), which was created in the aftermath of drummer Taylor Hawkins' death and featured Dave Grohl performing the drum parts himself.

During 2024 and 2025 the band worked on new material, eventually shaping a set of louder, more energetic songs after the creation of the title track.^[3] Grohl had demoed over fifty songs, with initial influences including Massive Attack, Pink Floyd and Bad Brains, amongst others: "One night, I was lying in bed, listening to [all the demos] and, randomly, there were ten in a row on the playlist that were really reminiscent of the music we grew up listening to. I thought, 'Oh my God, this is the energy'."^[6]

The album marks the first Foo Fighters studio album with drummer Ilan Rubin, who joined the group after touring line-up changes following Hawkins' death.^[5] Grohl and Rubin recorded the rhythm tracks live, without a click track, which the other members then overdubbed their parts onto.^[7] At 36:26, it is the band's shortest album, beating Medicine at Midnight by 9 seconds.

The album and title track were originally titled For Good, after the same chorus lyric – "someone threw away your favorite toy for good" – but Grohl changed it after the announcement of the movie Wicked: For Good to avoid similarities.^[8]

Early reports describe the album as a return to a high-energy rock sound, with uptempo songs reminiscent of the band's earlier work while continuing the melodic alternative rock style established across their discography.^{[5][failed verification]}

Several short extracts of tracks from the album were released in early February 2026 to the band's social media pages as teasers.^[9][10][11] The band's website was updated on February 12 with several longer snippets.^[12] The title track, "Your Favorite Toy", premiered on February 19, 2026.^[13] The band announced a world tour beginning in mid-2026 in support of the album.^[4]

During the album's release week on April 29, the band announced two secret club shows in the New York City area: at Irving Plaza on April 30 and Starland Ballroom on May 2, with respective capacities of 1,200 and 2,500 people.^[14][15]

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	74/100[16]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Arts Desk	[17]
Clash	8/10[18]
Classic Rock	[19]
Consequence	B[20]
The Independent	[21]
Kerrang!	4/5[22]
Mojo	[23]
musicOMH	[24]
Rolling Stone	[1]

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Upon its release, Your Favorite Toy was well received by most music critics. At Metacritic, the album has an average score of 74 out of 100 based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[16] Pitchfork opined that "Dave Grohl faces the backlash with the leanest, meanest Foo Fighters album in 30 years", adding that "Fueled by an uncaged-animal energy and caked in speaker-crackling distortion, Your Favorite Toy has Grohl reassuming a position he occupied 30-odd years ago, mugging for the fisheye lens and screaming himself hoarse".^[25] Meanwhile, Rolling Stone stated that "The long-running rock band's 12th album is some of the most powerful music it's made".^[1] In the same spirit, Classic Rock wrote, "There's a real sense of rejuvenation and rebirth to the record, whichever twists it takes."^[19] NME even compared it to their early albums, stating, "Your Favorite Toy is a few more tracks of that depth away from being the most vital Foo Fighters record since 1997's The Colour and the Shape".^[26]

Some reviewers were not as impressed with the album. Media outlets such as The A.V. Club have criticized the fact that "The music is never offensively bad, but it's far from convincingly inspired".^[27] PopMatters were similarly critical: "Nobody's expecting Leonard Cohen-esque parables from the man, nor should they. Taking all of that to one side, the words on 'Amen, Caveman' are dire; a collection of badly-expressed babble more becoming of an adolescent rather than a Grammy-winning artist."^[28]

Credits adapted from Your Favorite Toy liner notes,^[29] except where noted.

Foo Fighters

• Dave Grohl – guitar, vocals
• Pat Smear – guitar
• Chris Shiflett – guitar
• Nate Mendel – bass guitar
• Rami Jaffee – piano, keyboards, theremin on "Spit Shine"^[30]
• Ilan Rubin – drums

Additional musician

• Harper Grohl – backing vocals on "Your Favorite Toy"^[31]

Production

• Foo Fighters – production
• Oliver Roman – production, engineering
• Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
• Randy Merrill – mastering
• Bob Demaa – mastering assistant^[32]
• Morning Breath Inc. – art direction and design