Dave Grohl was the drummer of Nirvana till Cobain's strange death in 1994. Grohl wrote songs without showing them to the band, as he was afraid to spoil the style of the glorious grunge command. In 1995, in about six months after the collapse of Nirvana, Grohl started recording his songs, playing each instrument himself. Dave titled the project Foo Fighters and released the debut self-titled album. Grohl did not want the band to be one-man project and started forming the collective. Predictably, the first candidate was another ex-Nirvana Kris Novoselic. But both musicians had to acknowledge that in this case people would perceive Foo Fighters as Nirvana's reincarnation - a cheap and blameworhty step. So Grohl said good-bye to the idea, found the needed number of musicians and went on working. Since that moment the band recorded four more albums, two of which won Grammy. In 2007 the frontman of Foo Fighters announced the release of their new disc Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace in not a merely new work of Foo Fighters, it is a qualitatively new album. It differs strongly from everything Grohl wrote before. It becomes clear from the very first track The Pretender, which begins in a light and calm manner and then suddenly birsts into the enegetic and even agressive riffs with Grohl practically shouting into the microphone. The same conception is welcomed by the band in the following brilliant single Let It Die. Erase/Replace is recorded on the opposing scheme: it begins with hard riffs and loud vocals and becomes less loud, though no less tence, closer to the end. Poweful rock tracks Stranger Things Have Happen and Summers End are the other disc's attractions. Though the album has a couple of quieter moments. Among them are The Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners, an acoustic guitar duet of Grohl and guest virtuoso Kaki King, and the acoustic album closer Home.
After the previous work by Grohl In Your Honour all critics wondered, what would Foo Fighters undertake to overdo their last success. After the release of The Pretender in August, the public got the clear answer - Foo Fighters only become better each year, like expensive wine. Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace is excellent, though different from the previous albums. Some say that the reason is in the work with producer Gil Norton, who helped to make The Colour And the Shape record double-platinum in 1997. Some say that the frontman changed under the influćnce of some events and it affected positively the music of the last creation. One thing is beyond argument: Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace is the most diverse in regard of style and experimental band's work. This disc will be undoubtedly appreciated by the devoted Foo Fighters fans and will attract the attention of the new audience to this outstanding American rock collective.
