Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
One of the intriguing questions presented by the early death of Kurt Cobain, and an unanswerable one, is if he had lived, would Dave Grohl ever been able to emerge as the artistic presence he now is? Would he have remained as Nirvana's drummer only, or would he have eventually found a voice as a writer and singer in the band, as a sort of McCartney to Cobain's Lennon? Cobain did die, though, and Grohl formed Foo Fighters, and we'll never know.
When I picked up this album, I realized I have all six of Foo Fighters studio albums. I like their music a great deal, but I haven't much passion for them lately. I think their second album, The Colour and the Shape, is their best effort, but all of their records are admirable, as is their latest, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, which I've listened to several times over the past two weeks.
What Grohl and Foo Fighters do so effectively is mix testosterone-laden power rock with sentimentality without sounding like Spinal Tap. The music kicks ass but has a heart, but doesn't get too mushy. They also have some catchy hooks and have pop songs, ballads and just straight ahead metal. When I can get a disc and be happy if I like three songs, I like all the songs on this one.
The Foo Fighters' sound is evident in the opening track, The Pretender, which starts off slow and then kicks in power chords. Other favorites are the extremely catchy Long Road to Ruin and Summer's End, the ballsy Erase/Replace, and a pastiche of Appalachian bluegrass, The Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners. But the best tracks are those that appeal to the sensitive teen within all of us--Let It Die, Come Alive, Statues, and the closing track, the somber ballad Home.
Foo Fighters are a good, reliable rock band that aren't flashy, play their instruments well, and write earnest if not brilliant lyrics. If someone stopped me on the street and asked me who my favorite current rock acts are, they probably wouldn't come to mind immediately, though.
When I picked up this album, I realized I have all six of Foo Fighters studio albums. I like their music a great deal, but I haven't much passion for them lately. I think their second album, The Colour and the Shape, is their best effort, but all of their records are admirable, as is their latest, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, which I've listened to several times over the past two weeks.
What Grohl and Foo Fighters do so effectively is mix testosterone-laden power rock with sentimentality without sounding like Spinal Tap. The music kicks ass but has a heart, but doesn't get too mushy. They also have some catchy hooks and have pop songs, ballads and just straight ahead metal. When I can get a disc and be happy if I like three songs, I like all the songs on this one.
The Foo Fighters' sound is evident in the opening track, The Pretender, which starts off slow and then kicks in power chords. Other favorites are the extremely catchy Long Road to Ruin and Summer's End, the ballsy Erase/Replace, and a pastiche of Appalachian bluegrass, The Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners. But the best tracks are those that appeal to the sensitive teen within all of us--Let It Die, Come Alive, Statues, and the closing track, the somber ballad Home.
Foo Fighters are a good, reliable rock band that aren't flashy, play their instruments well, and write earnest if not brilliant lyrics. If someone stopped me on the street and asked me who my favorite current rock acts are, they probably wouldn't come to mind immediately, though.
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