Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace and similar items

In 1997, Foo Fighters teamed with alt-rock production cornerstone Gil Norton to make their best album, The Colour and the Shape. Ten years later, they've regrouped with Norton for a disc that's more sophisticated and diverse, if a tad less rockin'. The curveballs include "Stranger Things Have Happened," a solo soul-searcher where leader Dave Grohl's accompanied by just his acoustic guitar and a ticking metronome, and "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners," an acoustic guitar duet for Grohl and guest virtuoso Kaki King. Plus "Summers End" tickles the Foos' classic-rock fetish with a dead-on Crosby, Stills, Nash Young arrangement. There's still enough of the intense, snarling power-pop that's Foo Fighters' longtime forte. "The Pretender," "Erase/Replace," and "Long Road to Ruin" combine sheer thrust, zeal, and melody like no other group currently on the charts. Yet the finale, "Home," makes its clear that this is a changed band--or, at least, that Grohl's a changed man. With only his piano for company, Grohl's pleading voice reveals fragile layers of insecurity and loneliness as he sings "all I want is to be home." Seems this rock roll road warrior's mellowed some, albeit without compromising Foo Fighters' vitality. --Ted Drozdowski Product Description Always a rock and roll force to be reckoned with, Foo Fighters unleash yet another milestone recording with their sixth studio album, ECHOES SLIENCE, PATIENCE AND GRACE. a tour de force highlighting the strengths of a band that has sold 15 million records and inspired fabid fandom worldwide, the new album produced by Gil Norton (Pixies, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional), marking the first time the band worked with the legendary producer since the new-classic, recently re-issued 1997 album THE COLOUR AND THE SHAPE. This album is the next giant leap for a band that has made a career out of pushing the boundaries of rock.