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.
