Foo Fighters - In Your Honor

ALBUM REVIEW

Although it took a tragedy to bring Dave Grohl fully to the fore, I've always been glad that he was given his own band. He doesn't make music that will change the world, but he does know how to rock. He does often end up with the "Foo Fighter" sound, which is dangerous. I hope that he continues to experiment, and go for more with each album.

Right off the bat, he gets points for this release simply because it's a double album. No one does these anymore, and I respect him for it. He even had the kitschy verve to go with the Mc DLT strategy, with one hot and one cool disc.

The first disc has him plugged in, while the second is a hushed acoustic sampling. As a whole, this is a good album if you like the Foo Fighters. It may even be a good buy for those who've never really bought any of their albums. I will admit that the acoustic disc is far superior.

For now, let's start with the 1st disc, the rockin' one.

The disc starts off well, with the title track "In Your Honor". There are waves of guitar that are pounded on the shore of thundering drums. I can hear the emotion in Dave's voice here, and it's one of the things that I enjoy in his songs that I really enjoy. This is a song about selfless sacrifice, and it strikes a cord with me particularly right there.

"No Way Back" is a good example of a "foo speed" song. This is the groove that you've heard before if you've ever bought one of their albums. The cadence, the vocals, the guitar are all the same routine. It's not a bad trick, per se, if you're a one-trick pony, but it just doesn't do much for me. I have always preferred the Foo Fighter songs that are a little more on the odd end of the spectrum, and this is just a little too middle of the road for me.

Ah, the 1st single of the album. This is normally the most hand-crafted and over-produced, catchy groove they can throw at you. "Best of You" is really pretty raw, and not just because Senor Grohl is really giving his vocal chords a good twanging. This is a very powerful song, both sonically and lyrically, and it's actually my favorite of the first platter.

"DOA" could easily be the second single released from this album. It's not quite as formulaic as it could be, and it's got an exceptionally melodic chorus. It serves as a nice chaser.

With a name like "Hell", you'd think that you'd be getting something dark. This song just sort of fills up space to me. If it's supposed to be angry, then I'm really not feeling it.

If you've read any of my previous reviews, then you know that I have a distinct distaste for the current crop of "pop punk" bands that have glutted the marketplace of late. "The Last Song" sounds dangerously close to one of those songs, and I really can't condone the similarity.

The next track is a bit slower than the rest, and it benefits from it. That, coupled with a stuttering beat marching along to tether the angst makes "Free Me" much better than the last track.

Although I'm sure that they've played plenty of dive bars in their time, "Resolve" sounds like it should come blaring out of a swinging door with a porthole window of some smoky hole in the wall. I'm not saying it's country & western, but it's definitely got boots on.

I enjoy the blues. I love them for what they represent on their own, as well as their imminent influence on all of rock music. If you're going to do a blues song with the title "The Deepest Blues Are Black" then you should be B.B. King, Buddy Guy, or John Lee Hooker. This song just doesn't cut it. Not even if you sharpened it all day.

Determined not to let the first album end on a downer, we're given "End Over End" to do the happy-head-bob to. It's got a nice sunny California vibe to it, almost like something from the Byrds, minus the 12-string.

Now, let's move on to the unplugged 2nd disc.

The first song sounds like Dave's trying to serenade someone who's already half asleep. His voice is barely above a whisper, as though he wants the dreamer to hear them, but not be wakened. It's really a wonderful change of pace, and mood, and delivery, and I like it a lot.

"What If I Do" is a straightforward ballad, with pretty good lyrics. It's something you would hear in a coffee shop near your house. I wonder if they have those fresh cran-muffins in today?

The next track has two things going for it. The first is that it's a simple, stripped-down arrangement of a sentimental love song. The second is that John Paul Jones plays piano on it.
That's makes "Miracle" a pretty good one-two punch in my book.

I guess that "Resolve" from the first disc wasn't enough of a sojourn through the dusty trail, because "Another Round" is coming straight from folk/country on Tom Petty Lane.

If you're going to "borrow" a riff from something, make it a good something. In this case, we have something that's awfully close to "King of Pain" by The Police running through the Foo's "Friend of a Friend". It's actually it's own song, and that riff is just the backdrop. What helps to seal the coolness here is that yet again we have John Paul Jones, this time on the mandolin.

"Over and Out" is a quiet, brooding anti-love song. Not really a stand-out track here by any stretch of the imagination.

"On The Mend" continues the lesser patch of this album by sounding the most like one of their regular formula songs just slowed down for effect. This is the only song on this disc that really feels that way to me, so I guess that's a good thing.

I didn't recognize the female backing vocal on "Virginia Moon" right away. It's such a nice song, with the pair of vocals, and the soft strumming guitar gently rolling along. The next time I was near a computer, I wanted to track down whose haunting tones those were. There was good reason for me to enjoy the ride, since it turns out that Norah Jones stopped by to help out on this song. It's not quite my favorite song on here, but it's one of the best.

I suppose that Dave Grohl wanted to empower another drummer to spread his wings a little. So, he let his drummer sing on "Cold Day In The Sun". The results to me, with the echo effect added to help him out, sound a lot like Rick Springfield. Pity this wasn't an acoustic "Jessie's Girl" cover instead.

They saved the best for last for me. Although this is probably the darkest beautiful song you'll ever hear, "Razor" absolutely shines. The vocals are back to the whisper where we started, and the guitar is classically inspired lines flowing behind all the while. I've been where this song sings about, and I know exactly where he's coming from. The loving way he sings about pain, backed by such wonderful guitar work is contrastic perfection.

Taking both albums together, this turns out to be a good record. Although we may not get a better sampling of songs, or a finer crafted album from the Foo Fighters, this definitely gives you a good idea of what they're about. I think there are tracks here that point to better music still to be made, and I hope that they continue to challenge themselves, and try new things.

Rating = * * * out of 5 stars.