Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
 

There is no doubt that the Foo Fighters are one of the artists that have shaped the current generation of music, and are future rock legends. 2005’s “In Your Honor” was an above average modern rock album, but was somewhat a letdown after all the hype that had surrounded it. Foo Fighters’ latest offering, 2007’s “Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace sees the band sticking to the old formula that has worked for them time after time, while also taking their music to a whole new level, testing the boundaries of their musical ability.

The Pretender - A made-for-radio masterpiece that has all the makings of a hit single. A great showcase of the band’s ability, especially Chris Shiflett. 8/10

Let it Die - A beautiful song with amazing lyrics and another brilliant display of Shiflett’s playing ability. The song is built up from a melodic acoustic progression, into a massive heavy rock anthem. This is without a doubt one of the best songs on the album. 7.5/10

Erase/Replace - Easily the best song on “Echoes”, and possibly one of the best they have ever written. The song is so simple, yet so catchy and just pure brilliance. 10/10

Long Road To Ruin - A good listen, but it doesn’t have the “wow factor” that many of the other tracks had, though Hawkins manages to make this track slightly memorable with some pretty cool drumbeats, and the guitar solo, although very short, is quite good as well. 6/10

Come Alive - A nice, easy listening track, but there’s too many similarities to “Let it Die” for it to be called a standout. 6/10

Stranger Things Have Happened – Another great track. The lyrics are some of the best I’ve heard. 7/10

Cheer Up, Boys – Worst track on the album. It just isn’t catchy, and not good technically either. Seems more like a B-side. 3/10

Summer’s End – A laid back track with surf-rock style guitar. It’s a really nice song. 7.5/10

Ballad of The Beaconsfield miners – A brilliant display of the ability of both Grohl and Shiflett. The story behind the song is very touching as well. 9/10

Statues – Another awesome song. Slow with a thick instrumental texture, and some powerful lyrics. 9.5/10

But, Honestly – The awesome guitar riffs, beats and vocal melody is tarnished by almost transparent bass lines that might as well not even be there. 7/10

Home – AMAZING! Absolute brilliance. This is one of the most amazing songs I have ever heard. The piano melody is beautiful and Grohl’s voice somehow manages to be extremely soft, but at the same time awesomely powerful. The violin is also really nice. 10/10

Tracks to hear:
The Pretender
Erase/Replace
Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners
Statues
Home

Tracks to skip:
Cheer Up, Boys
Long Road To Ruin
Come Alive

Overall Rating: 8/10

Can't say the Foo Fighters are anything more than generic modern rock, but nice review. Although it's pretty ridiculous to call them future rock legends...

I love the Foo Fighters as much as the next guy, but they havnt shaped $hit, and they are certainly not testing any boundaries. To say so would be ill informed and naive.


edit: I would edit that post or delete it so your first one isnt a total blunder.

The Foo Fighters are pretty good... but yeah... I would have to agree, there are many other bands that are more deserving of that kind of a title. I mean... there good but give it a rest.

Can't say I agree at all with your views, especially your choices of tracks to skip considering they're some of the best. Also, track by track reviews are amateur, sure you should review it chronologically if you plan to do any length larger than a few paragraphs, but not giving individual song ratings.

Also I'd rather Foo Fighters be the future rock legends considering everything else on the mainstream charts.

And why is it amateur...? Because professional reviewers do NOT do it?

No, professional reviewers do it as well and each time I read a song-by-song I shudder because albums are not about the songs, they're about the album as a whole.

Amateurism aside reviews that discuss the albums as a whole are much more interesting to read than song by song because they're a good deal less repetitive especially when we're talking about a band like the Foo Fighters who are hardly Primal Scream.

I'll review it as I do next week sometime if I can be arsed and we'll see.

I think track-by-tracks can be good as well, as long as you give some kind of overview and illustrate the continuity between tracks. It depends also on what you're reviewing - some albums just simply don't have enough going on to justify a track-by-track.