Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
| Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace | ||||
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| Studio album by Foo Fighters | ||||
| Released | September 24, 2007 | |||
| Recorded | March – June 2007 at Studio 606 West in Northridge, Los Angeles, California | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, post-grunge,[1] hard rock[2] | |||
| Length | 53:03 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Producer | Foo Fighters and Gil Norton | |||
| Foo Fighters chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace | ||||
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Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace is the sixth studio album by the Foo Fighters, released on September 25, 2007. The album title is derived from a lyric in the song "Home".
Contents |
[edit] Background
As the In Your Honor tour had both acoustic and electric shows, frontman Dave Grohl discussed with RCA Music Group president Clive Davis on how "it'd be so cool" if the Foo Fighters were the band that did those different shows that appealed to specific audiences "and they wouldn't necessarily have to go to both", to which Davis replied that "you can do both together". Grohl took this advice when composing his following album, which would mix both styles on its songs.[3]
In an interview with XFM on April 26, 2007, Grohl noted,
"We've been in the studio for the past month and a half, and we've got about another month to go. We've been recording with our friend Gil Norton. He worked on our second record, he's a good guy. And he makes amazing albums, so we're making a really big powerful record, which I'm very excited about... I can't wait to jump on stage and do this stuff, it's gonna be great."[4]
Kaki King makes a guest appearance on "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners". The instrumental was written by Grohl prior to a meeting with one of the miners involved in the Beaconsfield mine collapse.[5]
The album's first single, "The Pretender", was released on September 17, 2007 to CD single; however, it was released as a music download and for radio play in August 2007, preceding the album launch.[6] "Long Road to Ruin" was released as the second single in December 2007.
The album's title comes from a lyric on the album's final song, "Home". The cover art was made by Invisible Creature, and features a combination between a torpedo and a guitar amplifier tube to juxtapose the weapon "with another object that traditionally wasn’t associated with war or violence". The remainder of the album sleeve has similar juxtapositions of objects "that reflected the album’s tone of life and mortality".[7]
[edit] Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | (3.3/5)[1] |
| Daily Star | (favorable)[8] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A[9] |
| Pitchfork Media | (4.2/10)[10] |
| Robert Christgau | B[11] |
| Rolling Stone |   [12] |
| Spin | (3.7/5)[13] |
| Sputnikmusic | (2.8/5)[14] |
| The Times | [15] |
The album debuted at the top of the UK album chart, selling 135,685 albums in its first week. The album also went platinum in its first week in both Australia[16] and New Zealand. In the U.S., it entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #3, selling 168,000 copies in its first week,[17] and has since been certified gold. As of April 14, 2011, it has sold 897,000 copies in US.[18]
Initial critical response to Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 71, based on 30 reviews.[19]
In the United States, the album debuted at one position less than its predecessor In Your Honor - it debuted at the third spot of the Billboard 200, with 168,000 copies sold (while In Your Honor was second with 311,000),[20] and eventually received a RIAA Gold Certification. As of October 27, 2010 it has sold 889,000 copies.[21] In Canada the album went Platinum, in the UK the album went 2 X Platinum, and in Australia the album went triple Platinum.
The album was the band's fourth to have a song reach the top of the Modern Rock Tracks, with "The Pretender", as well as "Long Road to Ruin" and "Let It Die". With 18 weeks at the summit, "The Pretender" also set the record for longest stretch at #1 on Billboard's Alternative / Modern Rock chart.[22] With "Long Road to Ruin" (7 weeks at #1) and "Let It Die" (4 weeks at #1), the album has a total of 29 weeks atop the chart, making it the most successful album on the chart since Linkin Park's Meteora. Also with "Let It Die", it became the group's first album to spawn three Number One hits on the Modern Rock Tracks charts. It was only the ninth album in history to spawn 3 number 1 hits on this chart.
The album won the 2008 Grammy for Best Rock Album and "The Pretender" won for Best Hard Rock Performance. The album was also nominated for Album of the Year, while "The Pretender" was also nominated for Record of the Year and Best Rock Song. The album also won Best International Album at the 2008 Brit Awards.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written and composed by Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett and Nate Mendel, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Pretender" | 4:29 |
| 2. | "Let It Die" | 4:05 |
| 3. | "Erase/Replace" | 4:13 |
| 4. | "Long Road To Ruin" | 3:44 |
| 5. | "Come Alive" | 5:10 |
| 6. | "Stranger Things Have Happened" (Grohl Cover) | 5:21 |
| 7. | "Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)" | 3:41 |
| 8. | "Summer's End" | 4:37 |
| 9. | "Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners" (Grohl Cover) | 4:32 |
| 10. | "Statues" | 3:47 |
| 11. | "But, Honestly" | 4:35 |
| 12. | "Home" | 4:52 |
|
Total length:
|
53:03 | |
| Special edition | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Original single | Length | ||||||
| 13. | "Once & For All" (Demo) | 3:47 | |||||||
| 14. | "Seda" | Long Road To Ruin (CD2) | 3:44 | ||||||
[edit] Personnel
- Dave Grohl – vocals, rhythm guitar, piano on "Summer's End", "Statues" and "Home"
- Taylor Hawkins – drums, piano on "Summer's End", backing vocals on "Erase/Replace", "Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)", "The Pretender" and "But, Honestly"
- Chris Shiflett – lead guitar, backing vocals on "Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)"
- Nate Mendel – bass
[edit] Additional musicians
- Drew Hester – percussion on "Come Alive", "Let it Die", "Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)", "Long Road to Ruin" and "Summer's End"
- Rami Jaffee – keyboards on "Let it Die", "Erase/Replace", "Long Road to Ruin", "Come Alive" and "But, Honestly", accordion on "Statues"
- Brantley Kearns Jr. – fiddle on "Statues"
- Kaki King – rhythm guitar on "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners"
- Pat Smear – rhythm guitar on "Let it Die"
- Strings by The Section Quartet (arranged and conducted by Audrey Riley)
[edit] Production
- Gil Norton – producer
- Adrian Bushby – engineer
- Jake Davies - protools engineer
- John Lousteau – assistant engineer
- Rich Costey – mixer
- Claudius Mittendorfer – assistant mixer
- Brian Gardner – mastering
[edit] Album charts
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart[23] | 1 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 4 |
| Belgium Albums Chart (VL) | 1 |
| Belgium Albums Chart (WA) | 14 |
| Canadian Albums Chart | 1 |
| Denmark Albums Chart | 11 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 6 |
| European Top Albums Chart | 2 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 7 |
| French Albums Chart | 24 |
| German Albums Chart | 3 |
| Hungarian Albums Chart | 33 |
| Irish Albums Chart | 2 |
| Italian Albums Chart | 15 |
| Mexican Albums Chart | 50 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 1 |
| Portugal Albums Chart | 18 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 43 |
| Sweden Albums Chart | 9 |
| Swiss Albums Chart[24] | 2 |
| UK Albums Chart[25] | 1 |
| US Billboard 200 | 3 |
| US Billboard Hard Rock Albums Chart | 1 |
[edit] Awards
| Year | Winner | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | "The Pretender" | Best Hard Rock Performance |
| Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace | Best Rock Album | |
| Year | Nominated | Category |
| 2008 | "The Pretender" | Record of the Year |
| "The Pretender" | Best Rock Song | |
| Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace | Album of the Year |
| Year | Winner | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace | International Album |
| Foo Fighters | International Band |
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Allmusic review". http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1188671.
- ^ Timmermann, Josh. "Foo Fighters: Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace < PopMatters". Popmatters.com. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/foo-fighters-echoes-silence-patience-and-grace/. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ Moll, James (director) (2011). Back and Forth (documentary). RCA.
- ^ "Foo Fighters deep into recording". TheRockRadio.com. April 27, 2007.
- ^ Cohen, Jonathan. "Foo Fighters Let It Rip On Sixth Album". Billboard.com. July 6, 2007.
- ^ "The Pretender" release notes. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
- ^ "Foo Fighters: Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace". Sleevage. 2007-10-21. http://sleevage.com/foo-fighters-echoes-silence-patience-grace/. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
- ^ "Daily Star review". http://www.dailystar.co.uk/playlist/view/14721/Foo-Fighters-Echoes-Silence-Patience-Grace/.
- ^ "Entertainment Weekly review". October 1, 2007. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20057889,00.html.
- ^ "Pitchfork Media review". http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/45760-echoes-silence-patience-and-grace.
- ^ "Robert Christgau review". http://robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=foo+fighters.
- ^ "Rolling Stone review". http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/echoes-silence-patience-grace-20071004.
- ^ "Spin review". http://www.spin.com/reviews/2007/09/0709_foofighters/.
- ^ "Sputnikmusic review". http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?reviewid=13535.
- ^ Edwards, Mark (September 23, 2007). "The Times review". London. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article2500095.ece.
- ^ "Fooies Album Goes Platinum!!". Sony BMG. September 26, 2007.
- ^ Katie Hasty, "Rascal Flatts Races To No. 1 In Debut-Heavy Week", Billboard.com, October 3, 2007.
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/news/foo-fighters-flying-towards-first-no-1-album-1005133952.story
- ^ "Foo Fighters:Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/foofighters/echoessilencepatienceandgrace. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
- ^ Hasty, Katie (2007-10-03). "Rascal Flatts Races To No. 1 In Debut-Heavy Week". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc). http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003650421. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
- ^ Lipshutz, Jason (2010-10-27). "Foo Fighters Return, Dave Grohl Recruits Krist Novoselic". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/#/news/foo-fighters-return-dave-grohl-recruits-1004124262.story. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
- ^ Josh Groban Ties Elvis Presley
- ^ Top 50 Albums Chart
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace". portuguesecharts.com. http://portuguesecharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Foo+Fighters&titel=Echoes%2C+Silence%2C+Patience+%26+Grace&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ Top 40 Albums Chart
| Preceded by All the Lost Souls by James Blunt |
Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album October 1, 2007 |
Succeeded by Exile on Mainstream by Matchbox Twenty |
| Canadian number-one album October 13, 2007–October 20, 2007 |
Succeeded by Magic by Bruce Springsteen |
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| New Zealand RIANZ number-one album October 1, 2007–October 22, 2007 |
Succeeded by Kora by Kora |
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| UK number-one album September 30, 2007–October 7, 2007 |
Succeeded by Magic by Bruce Springsteen |
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