The Cold Cut

One of my recent acquisitions was the latest album by Foo Fighters, named Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. Honestly, I was expecting it to be a bit samey/turgid like many of their previous offerings (aka a few standout tracks but on the whole disappointing). In short, I was badly mistaken- this album is by far their best to date, and has you wondering where the real Dave Grohl has been since the days of Nirvana.

A couple of weeks back I gave in to the constant nudging of my friend Joe and listened to the first single off this album, The Pretender. If you haven't heard it, listen up (and download it below)- its a heart-attack inducing whirlwind of a song, all heavy guitar riffs and soft interludes- sounds weird, but trust me, it works. Having a brilliant video can't have done any harm either: heavily played on MTV, the song features the band facing off against a parade of riot police with some extra-special CGI magic to cap it off (watch it on youtube; you wont be disappointed). But back to the album- The Pretender opens in theatrical fashion, and for the next few songs it doesn't let up. Next comes Let It Die, another song which walks the line between a heartfelt ballad and heavy metal classic to great success. Followed up by the well crafted duo that is Erase/Replace and Long Road To Ruin, these first 4 songs set the initial tone for the album, one which is smashed a few songs later by the acoustic Stranger Things Have Happened, harking back to the band's overlong In Your Honour days. From this point on, various styles find their way onto the album, most obviously on the guitar duel (minus vocals) that is The Ballad Of The Beaconfield Miners, about the collapse of a mine in Australia last year.

The only negative thing I have to so say about this album is the fact that the second half of the album is a little rock-less, but when you put this into the context of the first few songs (all intense) you feel you can forgive them for it. On the whole, this is by far their best album to date, combining classic rock characteristics with more sentimental elements into a series of different songs which together produce an album of perfect length; not something you often get with the Foo Fighters- up until now its definitely been the 'bigger is better' mentality, which is unfortunately not the case with music. I was a bit worried after the excessively lengthy and poor In Your Honour, but Echoes, Patience, Silence & Grace has restored my faith in the Foo Fighters as one of America's great no-nonsense rock bands.

Foo Fighters- The Pretender
Foo Fighters- Let It Die
Foo Fighters- Long Road To Ruin
Foo Fighters- Stranger Things Have Happened