Review:Foo Fighters - In Your Honour

hada

Got my hands on the album yesterday and been listening to it just trying to get it's feel.. So here goes..

And what can I say, it certainly leaves quite a lot to be desired. They seem to have changed a gear, a gear which really is quite passive and makes their songs indifferent to the listener. For there is none of the catchs or hooks to many of their songs, hooks which we've become so accustomed to over the course of the last 10 or so years. In adopting method of songwriting, one never really gets the chance to get into the album and share in what the Dave Grohl and company have laboured on for so long (9 months from start to final mix)

The first cd, namely the rocked up side to the double disc set, never really comes close to capturing any of the somewhat melodic verses of Best Of You, while there are some glimpses of greatness, namely DOA, End Over End and the title track, In Your Honour, which contains one of Grohl's trademark screechs (which are considerably showcased throughout the first cd's 10 tracks, somewhat to the listeners dismay)
Besides that, the inbetween tracks, however "rocked up" they are supposed to be, never really make themselves known to an ever disgruntled listener, who by this time, should be clambering for the second disc in hope of some redemption on behalf of the Foo Fighters, of this so far, jingle jangle of sorts first cd.

Now the second, more acoustically based cd of the double disc album, where do I start? Well I'll start by saying, the Foo Fighters never had much of a fan base for their more acoustic songs, the average fan much preferring the rip roaring riffs of Monkey Wrench and Everlong, to the seldom live played Walking After You. But that's still not saying their less riffed up songs are bad, but really don't expect miracles from the following 10 tracks. Grohl has always written great sounding, well put together melodies, but the fact that only one song, Over And Over, gave any bit of substanance, to what was indeed quite a disappointment, left me rather nostalgic to think of the delightful, yet bare "Marigold", a song which Grohl wrote and recorded during his Nirvana days.
Yet am I to find any such gems on In Your Honour? Unfortunately not, the first track Still, starts with a slow build, a slow looping guitar melody, an almost whispering Grohl, and then proceeds to die a slow slow death in tediousness. After that, the rather boring What If I Do and Miracle, kind of remind me of a flat DMB song, except well, without the worldy feel to each song. Another Round, really gives another blast of mediocrity, while Friend Of A Friend becomes irritating with a stripped down Grohl (not litterally) talking of repeatedly that "noone speaks" By track 6, the excellent Over and Over, one actually sees what this band can and do produce when they hit the right chords and the right time, but unfortunately, it's far too late to save a double disc that, despite all the expectations and being talked up, has whimpered, cowered and just played it too boring to ever endear itself to neutrals and fans alike.

For a band who's once brilliant, "There's Nothing Left To Lose" and "The Colour And The Shape", stood testament to a great and budding creative force in Grohl and Co., now is certainly a time which the band could not affored to lose - For now Grohl's many and varied side projects have become better than his own band.

Basq

Album is a bit of a grower actually!

Acoustic side is better than the rock side, in my opinion!

Best Rock: "DOA"
Best Acoustic: "Razor"

evad_lhorg

razor blew me away when i heard it on jools holland but i think josh homme ruined it with his crappy harmonies at the end.

i love both cds. 'still' is brilliant on the acoustic. inyour honour and no way back kick ass on the rock. great album. makes up for the last one.

norah jones' song is very odd. like elevator music or somethin

Basq

evad_lhorg wrote:

razor blew me away when i heard it on jools holland but i think josh homme ruined it with his crappy harmonies at the end.

i love both cds. 'still' is brilliant on the acoustic. inyour honour and no way back kick ass on the rock. great album. makes up for the last one.

norah jones' song is very odd. like elevator music or somethin

No mention of the fantastic 'DOA'?

With repeated listens.. it remains the best song on the entire album!

evad_lhorg

i do like it but im still thinkin the first two songs kick ass and free me is gonna rock live. there is a lot on this album that will play amazing live. ive already seen no way back live and its brilliant!

freind of a firend is a great song but it's no different to the version that was on "pocketwatch" released in 1992.

hada

Maybe it's just me, or do the songs just seem a little mediocre and boring.

Nothing really to grap the listeners attention.

I was expecting an epic of an album, or atleast something I could listen to more than once and enjoy. But even now, I'm listening to it, giving it infinite chances to impress me with the hope that maybe it's a "grower".. but nothing.

Kind of leads me to believe that if this is the best things the foo's have ever written, according to themselves, that there isn't much more hope.

susanna

Just picked up my copy, I like the rock side of it.

But there's a slight problem. I have two different CDs (both red, one has a bull's head and the other has a bull's backside) yet both have the rock tracks. So I'm missing the acoustic CD :mad:

Jonny Arson

I havent listened to the album myself but I've read about 6 or 7 reviews of it now and they every single one of them have been very lukewarm towards the album. The Food Fighters do make great singles (except Best of You... so dull) but they will never be a band who will ever make a great album IMO. A double album is way to ambitious for a band like them.

lordgoat

hada wrote:

Maybe it's just me, or do the songs just seem a little mediocre and boring.

Nothing really to grap the listeners attention.

I was expecting an epic of an album, or atleast something I could listen to more than once and enjoy. But even now, I'm listening to it, giving it infinite chances to impress me with the hope that maybe it's a "grower".. but nothing.

Kind of leads me to believe that if this is the best things the foo's have ever written, according to themselves, that there isn't much more hope.

ah someone else who has listened to this pile of cock

susanna

Its really grown on me. The rock tracks will sound fantastic live, I like In Your Honour, DOA and Deepest Blues Are Black especially. I wasn't too sure about the acoustic side at first but its ok. Not too impressed with the Norah Jones song but Cold Day In The Sun and Razor are really good