![]() ![]() The retro vibes flow over into "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners," which begins with swirling acoustic licks and lets them unravel with joyous intentions for a full 2-minutes and 32-seconds of instrumental bliss bringing to mind vintage Zeppelin acousticism and other nuggets of like-minded musicality from the past. The jagged guitar worms its way well into Grohl's smoky vocals and the chorus only confirms the Neil Young (maybe it's more CSN&Y or Buffalo Springfield now that I think about it) intonations. With "Summer's End," the band goes for a ragged classic rock motif that features shades of Neil Young/Crazy Horse grunge. The chorus is damn infectious, though, and the track flip-flops between being pop rock genericism and barroom slickness. From this introspective moment the group shifts into overdrive on "Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)." The crunching guitars at the outset belie a more MOR pop vocalistic vibe that kicks in. "Stranger Things Have Happened" is the type of track that lays everything bare and expertly showcases Grohl's captivating persona, a richly nuanced acoustic ditty that is both raw and emotional in all the right ways rustically beautiful to the core, from the picked notes to the rough-around-the-edges/cigarette tainted vocals, this is Foo at their finest (even though it's basically Grohl on the solo with a little help from Shiflett). In this way the latter part of the song is easily the most captivating. The heart of this track is when he dips into the repetition of "come alive, come alive, come alive." and the band kicks up the intensity a notch or two. That said, it serves to showcase the breadth of Grohl's singing voice, how he is able to contain the growling circumstance and unleash something just this side of serene. It's beautiful, but also slick and somewhat saccharine. Grohl goes for drifting melancholy on "Come Alive," a track that revolves around acoustic guitar and soft spoken vocals. Ditto for "Long Road to Ruin," which dispenses with the aggression in favor of MOR-styled Alternarock mainstream ability that places it firmly in the same vein as say a more edgy Bon Jovi ditty. Other than that there's not much to separate it from the standard Foo fare we've heard before. Side-winding guitars lead you into "Erase/Replace," which makes no bones about its aggressive stance, relying on Taylor Hawkin's impulsively cascading drums to lend support to Grohl's growling timbre. After the rush of the opening track Grohl and company slow things down for the introspective "Let It Die," which masks some aggressive malcontent at the core. After the excess of the group's last effort, 2005's double disc In Your Honor, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace comes as something of a streamlined reprieve, clocking in with what seems a paltry 13 tracks total. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |