Foo Fighters
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

THE REVIEW

"When Nirvana broke up, I really didn't know what to do. Our lives and world were turned upside down. It's hard to imagine playing again after such events. It was really tough, I've always written and recorded songs by myself, but I didn't want to play them in front of anyone".

One can certainly discuss Mr. Dave Grohl; drummer of one of the most beloved bands of the '90s, Nirvana, and, after the tragedy of Cobain's death, frontman of one of the most appreciated rock bands on the planet, the Foo Fighters. We said one can discuss him, but certainly not deny the evidence of the facts; in a positive or negative way (depending on tastes and points of view), he made it for the second time. This time on his own.

Getting rid of past ghosts is one of the most difficult challenges that life forces you to face. Dave doesn't play drums in the Foo's, at least not live (only occasionally, for some pieces like "Cold Day In The Sun"); his drummer's soul is always behind "those" skins, serving Kurt's anguished screams. But he has never publicly admitted it until now. He does it for the first time in this new, beautiful album.

"Let It Die", the focal song of the new work, talks for the first time (after thirteen years of a practically solo career) about Kurt, Nirvana, those cursed days. The piece is an escalation of anger, but never resigned; when you expect an eternal ballad, the tones rise and the guitars start to scratch, Dave's singing (who has never been a great singer but let's say he now handles it more than well) becomes a scream and the piece closes right when it's about to explode definitively. Excellent and abundant the first extract "The Pretender", chosen both to anticipate the album and to open it; perfect work on the guitars, pleasant yet not predictable chorus, ultimately one of their best singles since the incomparable "Everlong". Also convincing are the melodies of "Long Road To Ruin", a candidate for future radio glory.

Die-hard fans need not be scared: the classic Grohl outbursts are not missing, just listen to the bursts of energy like "Erase/Replace" or "Cheer Up Boys, Your Makeup Is Running" (a not-so-subtle jab at the "colleagues" of the emo scene?). Nor are the legacies of the acoustic experience made with the second CD of "In Your Honor" or the live "Skin And Bones", like the acoustic "Stranger Things Have Happened" or the splendid and very unique instrumental "The Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners" (which contains the only collaboration of the album, with Kaki King) and the ashcroftian "Statues". Beautiful and interesting is also the closure, entrusted to a piano and voice "Home" with vague "jazzy" flavors.

Beautiful album, this "Echoes...", which smoothens the uncertainties and exaggerations of the previous "In Your Honor", and re-proposes the good Foo's still in good shape. Decisive is the return to production of Gil Norton (Pixies), already at the "helm" for the monstrous "The Colour And The Shape".

Let It Live.