deepthroat101's Full Review: Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace by Foo Fighters
For 2007, the Foo Fighters had initially planned to take time off from touring to rest up, unwind, and start penning a few songs for a future album. That plan was shelved when it dawned on vocalist Dave Grohl that he was fast approaching forty years old, and since time was a wastin', he kicked off a flurry of writing and recording between March and June to get an album out by the end of the year. The result is Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace.
ESPG is a big improvement over the Foo Fighters' most recent albums, One By One (2002) and In Your Honor (2005). Neither of the Foo’s previous two albums amounted to much of anything. While a few of the singles were capable of getting the blood pumping, most of the other songs were uninspired and dreary mid tempo cuts that felt more like Nirvana b-sides. In Your Honor was a chronically feeble album from start to finish. The 2-disc effort lacked punch during the ‘rock’ moments while the acoustic disc felt like a prolonged sleeping aid.
So, after two woefully inadequate releases, it was high time for the Foo Fighters to step up.
Did they succeed? Yes and no.
What they managed to do right was cook up a number of good old fashioned straight-ahead rockers. The Pretender fires on all cylinders from the get go. Grohl breaks out a searing roar during the towering chorus and the churning guitars provide a strong backbone for Grohl to unleash his anger. Let It Die is arguably the best Foo Fighters song to date. It begins with Grohl whispering over a soft acoustic guitar and the tempo gradually increases until the electric guitars come barreling in. The closing segment features Grohl screaming “Why’d you have to go and let this die!” in a full-throated wail. Take a bow. This is the best rock song of 2007.
Elsewhere, Long Road to Ruin takes a more traditional path but still hits its mark. It has a more radio-friendly attitude, but don’t let that scare you: its still a superb cut, packed with snappy percussion and an addictive chorus. Come Alive is the kind of song that encompasses the best of the Foo Fighters’ rock and acoustic elements. If the songs on In Your Honor had been executed properly, this song would have been the final product. Grohl once again lays a solid foundation of stirring acoustic guitars that holds everything together until the song ratchets up the intensity in the second half. The same formula epitomizes But, Honestly, which is propelled forward by booming guitars and a slick solo to close it out.
At other times, the Foo Fighters revert back to the band that did very little right on One By One and In Your Honor. The lumbering, drowsy ballads like Statues and Home come and go without making any sort of lasting impression. Stranger Things Have Happened and Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners offer skillful guitar playing from Grohl, but in each case, the vapid pace undermines the entire effort. Erase/Replace opens on a rousing note with a crisp drum-guitar interchange but falters thanks to a truly bizarre bridge and a poorly conceived chorus that never finds its footing.
All in all, Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace still finds the Foo Fighters searching to unearth their true potential, but it is worlds better than their last two albums. When Grohl & Co. focus their attention on writing purebred rockers that go for the jugular, they regularly accomplish what they set out to do. It’s during the album’s softer moments that things start to unravel, with a lot of listless songs that never break free from their tranquil beginnings. Taken as a whole, the Foo Fighters have made significant strides on Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace and simultaneously redeemed themselves for past failings, even if they still leave you wanting more.
Always a rock and roll force to be reckoned with, the Foo Fighters unleash yet another milestone recording with Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace. A ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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