Foo Fighters 'Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace' CD

Dave Grohls sixth album fronting post-grunge rockers Foo Fighters finds him softening his game somewhat, although not in the manner of 2005s In Your Honour, which countered the Foos stadium metal moves with a second disc of acoustic songs. Rather, Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace sees Grohl taking cues from his beloved Led Zeppelin, penning a record that incorporates muscular rock shapes with piano ballads ("Statues"), picked acoustic moments ("Come Alive") and free-wheeling, classic-tinged jams like "Summers End"--a song about romantic dalliances in the "sweet Virginia countryside". While its undoubtedly a mature sort of record for the Foo Fighters, however, thats not to say that their edge has been blunted. With the band reunited with producer Gil Norton, whose skill for quiet/loud dynamics did a lot for 1997s The Colour and the Shape, tracks like "The Pretender" and "Erase/Replace" are muscular, dynamic rockers that balance subtle, atmospheric moments with epic bursts of rage. The track "Cheer up Boys (Your Make-Up Is Running)", meanwhile, feels like a jibe at the emo hordes whove tried, but failed, to dislodge Grohls crown. Its the sound of a band growing into middle age gracefully.

Track List. . .

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

13. Once & For All (demo)