Foo Fighters

The Foo Fighters have succeeded on gut-busting songs, where angst and irony sit alongside warrior riffs and throaty screams. While they gravitate towards this Fooest of qualities with teeth-clenching uppers "The Pretender" and "Cheer Up, Boys," they also refresh their heavy palette with a few nods to '70s-era Steely Dan and Eric Clapton. But it's their softer side here that reigns, with acoustic gems "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners," featuring arpeggio goddess Kaki King, and the pensive "Stranger Things Have Happened." Is there a Foos Unplugged in the future? Let's hope so.

This is an anthology of strong new songs by a great bunch of bands, all calling themselves
Foo Fighters. You get the speed-of-light Foos in "The Pretender," the glam-candy Fighters in
"Long Road to Ruin," the Southern-rock stompers who butt in with "Summers End" and the
goth folkies on "Stranger Things Have Happened." Singer-guitarist and ex-Nirvana drummer
Dave Grohl used to spread this variety across whole albums -- the one-man powe... More >