Who is Foo Fighters

Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

1. The Pretender
2. Let It Die
3. Erase/Replace
4. Long Road To Ruin
5. Come Alive
6. Stranger Things Have Happened
7. Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)
8. Summer s End
9. Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners
10. Statues
11. But, Honestly
12. Home

This isn't a perfect album, or even the best Foo Fighters album in my opinion, but it is a damn good rock album. The Foo Fighters usually change things up from album to album. Some people like the balls out rock, while others like them when they lean toward pop, and still others like the acoustic Foos. This album has a little of everything. So if you like Dave screaming his voice out, then there is a song or two for you. A number of really catchy songs, I really enjoyed the album all the way through. The only exception was the last track "Home", which is just Dave and a piano. That one kind of dragged for me. Other than that, terrific classic rock album. - Ron (Jersey)

Perhaps we've all accepted the cold, hard fact that the Foo Fighters' best days are behind them. Afterall, their last two albums -- 2005's "In Your Honor" and 2002's "One By One" -- were a bit lopsided, unimaginitive and appeared to be incomplete. Despite the fact that they haven't completely lost their knack for making great music, as those albums contain some real nuggets, it has become apparent that they may never recapture the magic of the beloved sophmore album, "The Colour And The Shape," or even 1999's slightly underrated "There Is Nothing Left To Lose." Maybe Dave Grohl and company have come to realize this as well, and that's why they reteamed with Gil Norton (who produced "The Colour And The Shape") and have crafted their broadest and most "classic" album since the turn of the century: "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace."

Opening with "The Pretender," which is possibly their most instantly gratifying single since "Monkey Wrench," Foo Fighters get this album off to a rocking start, engaging the listener and getting them primed for what is perhaps the most experimental of their material. One can't help but notice the classic rock influence on the album, and it's quite obvious that while making the album, they wanted something that will live on past it's time. An album that future generations can discover and relate to. On that end, they succeed. Thankfully, the band pries it's sound wide open enough that portions of the album, such as "Stranger Things Have Happened," "Statues" and "Home," fall under the Foo umbrella, yet sound unlike anything the band has done before, making this perhaps the farthest reaching album of their career, appealing to fans both young and old. It's unfortunate, then, that the band can't help but slip into autopilot as they sometimes do, and in turn, songs like "Erase/Replace" and -- gotta love this song title -- "Cheer Up Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)" are just standard b-side tunes that don't do much to help the album. But for the most part, the album is a smashing success. It retains the core Foo sound while broadening it's range and crafting some timeless tunes. For sure, this is the album that "In Your Honor" could have been, had they not chosen to seperate the two different styles on two different discs.

While not being quite the perfect album or the massive creative comeback, it's definitely the best thing they have done in a good long while. Those expecting the arena-rock of Foo Fighters' past might be disappointed to find a more mature sound, but anyone willing to give it a few solid spins will see it's brilliance. - Mr. Censored (Maine)

Amazon Price: $8.99 (as of 12/22/2009)