Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

by

Foo Fighters

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In the mid-90's, I saw the Foo Fighters on the "Color and Shape" tour. At the time, I was particularly discouraged by the state of live music. I genuinely felt that the time for drums and guitars had ended, and that I should "gird my loins" for the next wave of musical expression, as previously exemplified by early `90s bands such as EMF and Jesus Jones.

Attending this show singlehandedly reinvigorated my belief in rock and roll. Eloquently enough, nearly a decade later I still find the Foos engaging. The Foo Fighters are a band that has inexplicably stood the test of time in the same way that U2 and Peter Gabriel did in the early 90s. While their reinvention may not be as obvious as their predecessors, it still situates them as one of the great and longlasting bands in the increasingly fickle musical landscape of today.

The beauty in the new Foo album lies in the way in which it navigates dynamics, songwriting, and energy. Even in its mellower moments, the "Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace" brims with a subdued tension that is only relieved by explosive energy. The way in which Grohl and his cohorts navigate the dichotomy between soothing lullaby and devastating intensity within song form (in the micro) and the overall album (in the macro) expresses a compositional maturity that belies the "rock" format within which they are categorized

For the careful listener, "Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace" is driven by subtle melodic polyphony. We're not talking counterpoint here, but the interplay between bass and lead vocal on "Erase/Replace" and rhythm guitar and vocal on "The Pretender" exhibit a certain compositional depth. To get much more complex would question the Foo's status as "rock" music.

And undeniably, The Foo Fighters' new album is, to its core, rock music. Who would have thought that, out of the ashes of the band that defined the `90s, a band that defines "rock" music through the strength of their vision would continue to be both relevant and eloquent? Perhaps the one criticism that can be leveled is their use of repetition and dynamic build-up for climax. Several songs on the album use this technique. However, there are also songs that are just loud, and others that are just, well, less loud (read: guitars are not distorted). Overall, it creates a relatively diverse acoustic environment.

The lowdown: Here's where melody, songwriting, and raw energy meet. I have had this album in my car for almost a month now, and I'm to the point of feeling guilty about removing it. I seem to enjoy it every time.

It's all been done before. This album is "One by One" part 2, literally. Except this album has a ton of slow songs. Dave Grohl all of a sudden insists on making ballads, yet they're all completely terrible. Doesn't he realize his voice isn't suited for slower songs? He's got a voice that needs to either be singing melodic mid-range songs, or hard rocking songs. Nothing inbetween. This album completely misfires on every level. It's completely unlistenable for the most part. "Erase, Replace" and "The Pretender" are really the only 'good' songs on the CD, and they're not all that great. Terribly disappointing album for a big Foo fan.