Dave Grohl is quite simply the man, and at this point I am not sure many would disagree. He was the drummer for one of the most iconic bands ever, then somehow morphed into one of rock’s top front men. He’s also drummed on records by Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal, Cat Power and Nine Inch Nails, put together a thrash metal side-project with Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister and portrayed the devil in “Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny.” The newest release from his band, the Foo Fighters, only confirms his status as a rock icon.
“Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace” is the band’s sixth album, and seems the next logical step in the band’s discography. In 2005, Foo Fighters released the double album “In Your Honor,” which showcased the band’s heavy rockers on one disc and acoustic side on the other. On “Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace,” the band combines both sensibilities into an amalgamation of ‘70s arena rock-inspired power.
The album opens with “The Pretender,” which has already found massive success on modern rock radio. The song begins with a very Led Zeppelin-like acoustic intro, and then morphs into a typical Foo Fighters fist-pumping rocker that somehow manages to make the melody from Sesame Street’s “One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other” seem cool.
The band continues its acoustic intro then rock formula for the first five tracks, until the completely acoustic “Stranger Things Have Happened.” Grohl and his guitar are the only thing present in this song, and while it’s decent enough, it kills the groove and momentum the band had developed in the first half of the record.
Next up is a typical rocker with a supremely awesome song title, “Cheer up Boys (Your Makeup Is Running).” This song would not have been out of place on 1996’s “The Colour and Shape.” “Summer’s End” is a southern rock stomp that bleeds into “Ballad of the Beaconsfield Minors,” a bluegrassy instrumental number that Grohl wrote after meeting a survivor of a 2006 mine collapse in Tasmania. The album closes with “Home,” which is very reminiscent of “Madman Across The Water”-era Elton John.
With “Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace,” the Foo Fighters have created an eclectic record that wears its influence on its sleeve. There isn’t anything new here, but sometimes that’s okay.
