Review Summary: A great comeback for the Foos’, they should be proud of this record. Also a great buy for any fan, not so much if your not a fan, but an astounding achievement overall.
Foo Fighters-In Your Honor
Released - June 14th, 2005, under RCA Records
The Band –
Dave Grohl - Vocals, Guitars
Taylor Hawkins - Drums
Nate Mendel – Bass
Chris Shiflett – Guitar
After ‘
One By One’, fans were greatly disappointed in the
Foo Fighters, not just stopping at accusing Dave of being dry on imagination and originality, they went so far as to call it the worst FF album to date. So, as human nature is, the Foo’s felt they need a comeback, a revival, to get themselves back on top of their game and reconnect with their fans. Thus, they released a double disc, the first one containing hard-rockers that everyone loved, the second, acoustic tracks that were always there on previous albums, but they really gave them the attention they deserved. The Foo’s named this ‘
In Your Honor’, released it, and waited.
Disc One
As aforementioned, the first disc is hard rockers, and indeed worth its title. As we’ve all probably heard Dave’s voice, it hasn’t changed that much from OBO, but if it has, I would put it on how much more deafening his screams became. This is a good thing; of course, just listen to ‘
In Your Honor’, the first track! As was evident in all albums previously released, this record had a little thing that One By One didn’t. It had fun. This disc storms on through, relentless, powerful, emotional, just a full-blown joy ride! But that doesn’t mean, by any means, that there were no songs about self-loathing. ‘
D.O.A.’ is an excellent song for this conversation, as well as an exceptional song in general; it’s about the end of a relationship, or a dead-on-arrival one. The lyrics on that track, and on just about every other track, are just amazing in imagery and meaning. The guitar is also a pro for the record, fantastic parts; it’s like a machine that never stops on the first disc.
So just how heavy is this record? Well, by radio-friendly standards, heavy as f**k (to put it in Daves’ own words), but while it is heavy, that means there must be something wrong with it, right? Yes, there are let-downs occasionally, but not enough to bring the rating down. For instance, there is one, and just one, ‘filler’ track. That would have to be ‘
Hell’ because it’s just 2 minutes of completely uninspired, generic riffing, lyrics, and beats (for the drums). While I do like how Dave sings here, it’s just not enough. And also, there is a couple of parts within some songs that just make you sleepy with boredom, like ‘
The Last Song’. But, other than those tweeny occasional moments, this is an aural piece of art, very strong, consistent, just an overall great record!
RATING FOR THE FIRST DISC- 4.2/5
Disc Two
Ahh, the soft disc. Very calm, quiet, subdued, I love this disc! It’s great to just relax to, hence it’s such a relaxing record. I always looked forward to the Foo’s acoustic tracks on albums, because I’ve always enjoyed them, like ‘
See You’ on ‘
The Colour and Shape’ and even ‘
Halo’ on ‘
One By One’, and now I have a whole albums worth! Now, instead of all the crap acoustics on whatever you hear on the radio, let it be known that the Foo Fighters have done something different from all that. Not all of it is just acoustic, there’s some clean guitar parts, pianos/keyboards, guest singers, and of course, drums. Style and feel range on this record, which is why I love it so. You’ve got your 50s-esque duet ‘
Virginia Moon’, modern-day upbeat-but-sad-lyrical content softie ‘
Razor’, and a country-styled ‘
Another Round’. Dave uses his soft voice, but that doesn’t mean it’s just a boring one-style vocalist album. He can add just that little bit of ‘oomph’ if needed, and he does it quite well. Take ‘
Cold Day In The Sun’, where Dave, along with one other, adds that ‘oomph’ to make it an awesome track. The drums actually have quite a lot of variety here, using little fills here and there and using other parts, like a woodblock, for example, on ‘
Still’, and using unexpected crashes, hi-hat, snare, etc. to the songs (and albums’) advantage. Acoustic guitar playing? Wow. Absolutely stunning! Nice, flowing chord progressions to some excellent finger-picking (
Razor) to hard-hitted songs (
Cold Day In The Sun) provide excellent song variety and showing some great musicianship.
Now, there is not one major thing on this disc that I feel drags the album down one bit. Sure, some people find this disc boring, but I don’t, for reasons stated above. But there are three things you should know --
1- It might become so soft, you might fall asleep listening, or you might become bored if you have no love for the Foos.
2- If you don’t like the Foo’s acoustics, you will hate this album.
3- There is absolutely no distortion on this disc. If you NEED distortion on at least one track, you’re out of luck here.
But if you don’t mind those, you will love this album. From faced paced, showcasing tracks, to the slow, soft, entrancing songs, this is a magnum opus that almost revives ‘OBO’. Listen for your aural pleasure!
RATING FOR THE SECOND DISC- 4.8/5
The Goods and the Bads for Both Albums
+ Lyrics are amazing on both discs
+ Vocals are amazing on both discs
+ Musicianship
+ The flow of both discs is consistent
+ Variety on the second disc
+ Energy on the first disc
- First disc slumps at some spots
- No distortion on the second disc might disturb some people
- 20 tracks is a looong time to listen
RATING FOR THE FOO FIGHTERS ‘IN YOUR HONOR’-4.3/5
A great comeback for the Foos’, they should be proud of this record. Also a great buy for any fan, not so much if your not a fan, but an astounding achievement overall.
