Freshly released on 7 November is Finger Eleven’s long-awaited eighth studio album, “Last Night On Earth”, via Better Noise Music Records. This is Finger Eleven’s first release of any new music whatsoever in over a decade, and is also the first work released under their new label.
The first single to release from the new album was “Adrenaline” back in 2024, followed up by the 1 August 2025 release of “Blue Sky Mystery”, featuring Richard Patrick of Filter. The singles have released to a brilliant reception from fans. Notably, Scott Anderson (Vocalist) has highlighted that the chorus for “Blue Sky Mystery” is heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, with the band working hard to ensure that iconic sound remained throughout the song’s evolution.
If you’re not familiar with Finger Eleven, then not to worry; here’s everything you need to know. Finger Eleven are a Canadian alternative rock and metal band, hailing from Burlington, Ontario. Forming in 1990 and gaining mainstream attention in the 2000s through their highly successful “The Greyest of Blue Skies” album, Finger Eleven have consistently ranked among Canada’s best-selling artists, with success also seen in the US charts. Their self-titled fourth album, “Finger Eleven”, achieved gold status in the United States and platinum in Canada.
Finger Eleven are:
- Scott Anderson (Vocals)
- James Black (Lead Guitar, backing Vocals)
- Rick Jackett (Rhythm Guitar)
- Sean Anderson (Bass)
- Steve Molella (Drums)
Track-by-Track
1. Adrenaline
The album opener is the 2024 single release “Adrenaline”, which opens up the album with a catchy, beat-heavy intro that reminded us slightly of the galloping distorted rhythm of Pink Floyd’s “One of These Days”. There is a progressive feeling to much of the rest of this track too, with the chorus giving us echoes of the Genesis and Marillion brand of prog rock. The naming of this track is apt, as the steady pacing and gradual build-up into the crescendo around two-thirds of the way through gives the sense of increasing adrenaline. It’s a strong opener and not at all what we expected.
2. Blue Sky Mystery (feat. Richard Patrick)
The second track is called “Blue Sky Mystery” and features Richard Patrick of the US Industrial band Filter. This track almost has a country feel to it, especially in the vocal style, and we found this to be an overall feel-good song. We could definitely find the Black Sabbath inspiration in this track though, with the bass-heavy distortion and deep percussion reminiscent of their classic “Iron Man” in places. The way that the vocals have been mixed around halfway through hits hard, as the sound comes so close to that of the late legend Ozzy Osbourne – a really poignant moment that fans will feel as deeply as we did.
3. Cold Concrete
Third track, “Cold Concrete”, is more of an alternative guitar-led track which is a touch closer to what we were expecting from this album. Fans of Royal Blood will find a lot to enjoy here; we found really strong resemblances to their hit track “Figure It Out”, while more old-school listeners might hear nods to Led Zeppelin’s “Communication Breakdown” in some of the guitar work. We found “Cold Concrete” to be so upbeat and high-energy that we had to give it a few listens through to be able to write about it!
4. Lock Me Up
The fourth and fifth tracks slow the pace down, offering a totally different sound than that seen in the first three tracks (recognising, of course, the variety already displayed there). The fourth track is called “Lock Me Up”, which comes across as a bit of an indie ballad, packed with plucked acoustic/electric strings and an emotive chorus. Lyrics including “So lock me up inside your head” highlight this as a romantic track, although it’s not at all short on power either.
5. Last Night On Earth
Fifth is the album title track, “Last Night On Earth”. This is an interesting choice for the title track of a rock album – normally it’s something heavy, powerful, and anthemic. “Last Night On Earth” is a calm, romantic, tender track that wouldn’t feel out of place as a lullaby. We can totally understand why the band has chosen this as the title track though, as it’s absolutely beautiful and it really touches you deeply when you start to think about all the things you’d want to say, think, or do if you only had one night left.
6. The Mountain
The sixth track is called “The Mountain”, which hits the listener like a slap in the face after the previous two slower tracks. “The Mountain” is a drum-led track, with a seriously hard-hitting and satisfying beat throughout which listeners will be hard-pressed not to fist pump, stomp, and headbang along to. It’s upbeat and gives the listener this feeling of a sudden surge of power thanks to the thumping rhythm. If you need motivation to get working, pop this track on and you’ll be flying!
7. Perfect Effigy
Seventh up is “Perfect Effigy”. Back with another well-worked prog-rock-inspired intro, the style of this track is so reminiscent of Phil Collins’ “I Don’t Care Anymore”. The lyrics are just as passionate, with the instrumentals fading in and out to really place a focus on Anderson’s vocal performance, emphasised throughout by crisp and assertive drumming. The scratching guitar solo towards the end is another highlight, and another nod to Collins, who also mastered the art of bringing tracks to atmospheric crescendos.
8. Wall Dogs
The eighth track is called “Wall Dogs”, which features a slow piano intro soon followed by tender vocals, ethereal guitar sounds, and gentle snare drums. “Wall Dogs” is another soft ballad that holds the same rhythm throughout; a slight rise in tempo and volume midway through helps convey the emotion in the lyrics, giving the listener the sense of a slowly increasing intensity in feeling before a gentle fade away into silence. For us, this track brought a powerful presence to this album, showing that Finger Eleven are just as proficient in giving out raw emotion as they are in producing power anthems.
9. Laughing at the Storm
The ninth track, called “Laughing at the Storm”, gave us seriously strong vibes of Placebo’s “Pure Morning” in the intro. The infectious intro, which continues to accompany the verses throughout the track, gives way to a slow burner of a chorus which is almost entirely vocal-led. Listening to this track is like sitting on a beach listening to the sea coming and going in waves. For us, the highlight had to be the immaculate guitar solo that closes this track off – it’s a longing cry coming from the guitars; a sound often associated with legendary Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, who is clearly an inspiration to Finger Eleven. The fact that we’re even making this comparison is testament to Black’s guitar prowess – the guitar performance in this track is flawless.
10. Body and Mind
We can’t help but make one final Pink Floyd comparison when it comes to the tenth track, “Body and Mind”. Another slower track, generally vocally-led but accompanied throughout by largely gently plucked guitar strings, we found the sound of this track to be really quite special. The vocals come across as voices in harmony, reminiscent of the signature vocal sound provided by Roger Waters and David Gilmour on so many iconic Floyd tracks. With the slower intro, gradual ramping up of intensity, and the soft, almost whispered vocals in harmony, our mind instantly jumped to “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 1”.
11. Blue Sky Mystery (Album Version)
The album closer is a slightly different rendition of “Blue Sky Mystery”, with the key difference being that this is a Finger Eleven original, without featuring Filter. We don’t often see two versions of the same song presented on one album, but it’ll be interesting for fans to pick up and appreciate the differences across each version.
We really did enjoy listening to “Last Night On Earth”. Although it doesn’t push any boundaries, it does bring a huge amount of variety across each and every track, with constant changes in style and influence. It’s an interesting listen, then, and a genuinely solid record for new and old fans alike.
As we’ve mentioned, it delivers on both power and emotion, with a clear theme around new beginnings and moving through emotional conflict throughout. We especially enjoyed picking out all the different inspirations and influences from some of our favourite artists that run right through the veins of this record. This isn’t anything to criticise Finger Eleven over; quite the opposite in fact. It’s clear that Finger Eleven are passionate about the music they love, and have gone to great lengths to produce an album that keeps their favourite sounds alive and that they can love themselves. It stays genuine throughout, which is a rare trait.
All in all, we had a great time with this album; we’re glad Finger Eleven are back and are looking forward to hearing more.