Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace add another creative success to Dave Grohl’s illustrious career. While he was drumming for Nirvana, Dave Grohl was recording original songs at home that never received public release. Those tapes would become the foundation of Foo Fighters, the band he formed in 1995, after the death of Kurt Cobain. Like Nirvana, Foo Fighters melded loud, heavy guitars with pretty melodies and mixed punk sensibilities with a sharp sense of pop songwriting. The original lineup met in Seattle and consisted of Nate Mendel on bass, Dave Grohl on guitar and vocals, Pat Smear on rhythm guitar and William Goldsmith on drums. During the bands long twelve year run, the lineup has changed many times as a revolving door of rhythm guitarists opens and closes. For Echoes Chris Shiflett provides this service. As with many Foo Fighter albums the sound possesses a fusion of grunge and punk, and the album fields rousing riffs, freewheeling rhythms, and aggressive vocals. This is accented by soft, Poignant sounds. As the album starts to spin the first track and arguably best track, “Pretender,” opens with a “Stairway” esque intro and explodes into the listeners ear until its passionate conclusion. While the flow of the album’s middle section displays the only weakness, which is the monotonous sound that is a bit labored. This falls just short of that signature invigorating Foo Fighter’s sound. This resonance is broken on the seventh track “Cheer Up Boys” which features a tight, nimble ensemble reminiscent of early Foo Fighters records. These songs are followed by “Summer’s End” a tune with a strong melodic groove as hazy as an August afternoon in Carbondale. “Statues” carries this same groove but adds a colorful twist with Grohl’s soulful piano playing mixed with a cohesive sound of acoustic and electric guitar. To close Grohl features a number titled “Home.” This is a bittersweet ballad that invokes memories of comforting places, fond memories and times alone in deep thought.
Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace allows the Foo Fighters strength to shine through despite the fact that these strengths are weighed down by the album’s weaknesses. Give it a chance and you will find a deep reflective treasure buried inside.
