SOUNDTRACK: FOO FIGHTERS-Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007).
It would seem that after recording the split acoustic and rocking In Your Honor and then touring a lot of acoustic music that the Foos were ready to make an album that combined both of these dynamics into one disc. For many of the songs it means acoustic openings and super heavy end sections. But some, particularity at the end of the album are completely acoustic.
Of course having said that, the album opens with a great heavy classic Grohl song, “The Pretender.” A fantastic opener with the great chorus of “what if I say you’re not like the others.” The next song, “Let It Die” opens with a real acoustic opening–not just mellow electric guitars but full on acoustic guitars (which Grohl has clearly become quite proficient at). The switch to the really heavy chorus (not until almost 3 minutes into the song) is pretty intense–they pack everything into one song.
“Erase/Replace” is another great song–there’s an interesting twisting riff and an awesome chorus. There’s some very nice contrasting with the smoother sections and even a cool guitar solo (there’s not too many solos in early Foos songs). “Long Road to Ruin” is one of my favorite Foo Fighters songs–the chorus pushes all my yes buttons with the way it speeds up and has and the staccato stops in the middle of the chorus. Fantastic.
“Come Alive” is another song with a slow mellow acoustic opening. It builds slowly over 5 minutes to a noisy end. “Stranger Things Have Happened” is the first fully acoustic song on the album that stays acoustic–there’s nothing heavy in it. It’s got a classic Unplugged type of feel with two acoustic guitars playing off of each other, and a soloing section that has several pause click click resume moments.
“Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)” has a great riff and very poppy verses. It sounds like earlier Foo Fighters songs and reminds me of Cheap Trick with the “stop, stop” backing vocals. There’s also several different sections which hearkens back to earlier songs.
And from this point on the album mellows out but in different ways. “Summer’s End” has a folky jam band feel (even though it’s not acoustic. It’s got a such a wonderful chorus. It’s the first of three songs to feature Grohl on piano! Taylor Hawkins plays piano on it too. “Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners” is a 2 minute instrumental written by Grohl. There’s some lovely finger picking in the song and you can hear that Grohl has really developed his guitar playing. Kaki King plays rhythm guitar on this song which is surprising as she is such a much better guitarist than he is.
“Statues” is a piano ballad (played by Grohl). It feels totally classic rock, with the sound of the opening guitar solo and the chord progression. “But, Honestly” is fast acoustic song. The melody and backing vocals remind me a lot of Bob Mould’s style of song writing. The song feels like it’s just going to stay in a mellow vein, but this song really ramps up at around 3 minutes with some simple but cool riffing and a big growling end.
The final song, Home,” is a pretty piano ballad (Grohl on piano and vocals) with strings. It’s almost cheesy but avoid that trap. It doesn’t have a big chorus, and is rather understated. It also provides the album with its title.
This is a really complex album that works to all of the band’s strengths and even lets them explore different styles a bit. Guests on the album include Rami Jaffee and Drew Hester from the live shows as well as Pat Smear (who is a sometimes member of the band, but only plays on one song here).
[READ: January 26, 2015] The Rise of Aurora West
I really enjoyed Paul Pope’s Battling Boy, but I didn’t really like the art work. So here’s the second book in the series with a different artist (and no color)–perfect!
I enjoy this David Rubin’s art a lot more because of his much cleaner page–it’s far easier to understand what’s happening here. But at the same time I don’t really like the way he renders faces. For instance, on the very first page, the bottom right image of Aurora–it’s really hard to tell what she is thinking in that image–is she angry or what (and her face seems kind of oddly misshapen). And that is fairly consistent throughout–the eyes are too big or something? I found it distracting but it didn’t really hinder my enjoyment of this story.
This story looks at the early life of Aurora West, the daughter of Acropolis superhero Haggard West (so Battling Boy does not appear in it at all). (more…)
We ordered tickets for Belle and Sebastian months and months ago (probably back in April before Sarah’s birthday). We had no idea a) they would be playing in Philly as well and b) who the opening act would be.
I Just Read About That... 