Foo Fighters
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
(RCA)
News that the Foo Fighters had recruited Colour and the Shape producer Gil Norton for the band's follow-up to 2005's unfocused and bloated double-header In Your Honor was a reassuring step back in the right direction.
Norton's 1997 effort with the band successfully distilled all the best elements of Grohl's music, balancing the thrust and acceleration of the Foo's signature riffs with the balladry the former Nirvana drummer has succumbed to in his later years. While Grohl has found a mellow touch, he is keen to keep it separate from his rock on Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, which is both furious and melodic in equal turns.
Grohl's improved writing and Norton's production come together in a perfect storm which broadens and deepens the band's sound with increasingly complex arrangements.
