Foo Fighters: Dave Grohl (piano); Taylor Hawkins (background vocals); Nate Mendel.

Additional personnel: Kaki King, Pat Smear (guitar); Brantley Kearns Jr. (fiddle); Rami Jaffee (accordion); Drew Hester (percussion); Chris Shiflett.

ECHOES, SILENCE, PATIENCE & GRACE, the Foo Fighters' sixth effort, upholds the band's allegiance to melody-heavy post-grunge power pop driven by roaring guitars and Dave Grohl's fine songwriting. The Foos are aided by super-producer Gil Norton this time out (Norton also helped craft the group's second, and arguably best, album, THE COLOR AND THE SHAPE). The result is a polished yet powerful outing that proves the Foos have earned their status as one of alternative rock's most reliable acts.

But while tunes like "The Pretender" pack a hard-rock wallop, the real surprises on ECHOES are the softer songs. The breezy, folky "Summer's End," for example, is a standout, as is Grohl's solo acoustic performance on "Stranger Things Have Happened." This isn't to say the Foo Fighters have mellowed--the album contains as much amplified snarl as any of their others--but here the quieter moments rival the rockers, revealing a band whose intimate, earnest moments are as convincing as their head-banging ones.

Rolling Stone (p.116) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Top Albums of the Year 2007" -- "[T]he Foo Fighters deliver winners..."

Spin (p.122) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Grohl has been a model of steady efficiency....'Summer's End' is a breezy blast of California country rock..."

Entertainment Weekly (p.104) - "Like the greats, the Foos have found a way to create their own archetype, with an instinctive feel for what constitutes a killer song." -- Grade: A

Q (p.87) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Each of these tracks makes the case for Foo Fighters' horizons successfully expanding....Similarly, there's a sophistication to the arrangements here, musical and vocal, not previously hinted at."

Uncut (p.88) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he excellent 'Summer's End' is easy on the ear, easier still on the brain..."

Kerrang (Magazine) (p.46) - "[T]he Foo Fighters have managed to recapture the magic ingredient which magical music really needs -- the art of sounding effortless."

Q (Magazine) (p.84) - Ranked #12 in Q's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2007" -- "[A] big, brash effort that hollered all the way back to the cheap seats without sacrificing its humanity."