Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

Foo fi, ho hum

You have to wonder if the Dave Grohl of 1995 would recognise today’s Foo Fighters; the gap between the subtle, twinkly-eyed grunge-pop of their debut and the million-selling corporate rock beast they’ve become yawns wide. Somewhere along the way, as if processed through a rock refinery, their formerly well-balanced sound separated into three basic song types. Firstly, the steel-toe-capped-riff-stamping-on-the-human-face-forever sort, such as first single The Pretender, bludgeoning your brain with relentless ferocity and over-busy production. Secondly, earnest, overwrought ballads such as Stranger Things Have Happened, which showcase Grohl’s actually fine voice much better, but drown in endless acoustic strumming. Lastly, but sadly less often of late, there are chart-devouring pop punk numbers like Long Road To Ruin. Sometime around 2002’s One By One, while also drumming for Queens Of The Stone Age, Grohl felt the need to prove that he wasn’t just the smiley nice guy of drivetime radio, and tunes were replaced with screams. Problem is, Foo Fighters are much, much better at smiley radio rock than anything else. By far the best moments come when Grohl drops the guard-dog snarling and indulges his Paul McCartney side, as on Home. Hopefully come album number seven, he’ll realise that nice guys don’t always finish last.

SonyBMG | 8869715500

Reviewed by Emily Mackay
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