Foo Fighters Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace

ECHOES, SILENCE, PATIENCE & GRACE, the Foo Fighters' sixth effort, upholds the band's allegiance to melody-heavy post-grunge power pop driven by roaring guitars and Dave Grohl's fine songwriting. The Foos are aided by super-producer Gil Norton this time out (Norton also helped craft the group's second, and arguably best, album, THE COLOR AND THE SHAPE). The result is a polished yet powerful outing that proves the Foos have earned their status as one of alternative rock's most reliable acts. But while tunes like "The Pretender" pack a hard-rock wallop, the real surprises on ECHOES are the softer songs. The breezy, folky "Summer's End," for example, is a standout, as is Grohl's solo acoustic performance on "Stranger Things Have Happened." This isn't to say the Foo Fighters have mellowed--the album contains as much amplified snarl as any of their others--but here the quieter moments rival the rockers, revealing a band whose intimate, earnest moments are as convincing as their head-banging ones.

• Format: Vinyl
• Genre: Pop
• Released: 9/25/2007