Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

Untitled

Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace is the sixth studio album by the Foo Fighters, released on September 25, 2007. The album is produced by Gil Norton who previously worked with the group on their second album, The Colour and the Shape.

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 and New Zealand. In the U.S., it entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #3, selling 168,668 copies in its first week, and has since been certified gold.

The album was the band's fourth to have a song reach the top of the Modern Rock Tracks, with "The Pretender." With 18 weeks at the summit, "The Pretender" also set the record for longest stretch at #1 on Billboard's Alternative / Modern Rock chart.

The album is a 2008 Grammy nominee for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album, while "The Pretender" has been nominated for Record of the Year, Best Rock Song, and Best Hard Rock Performance. The band has previously won Best Rock Album Grammys for There Is Nothing Left to Lose and One by One.

Background

In an interview with XFM on April 26, 2007, frontman Dave 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 (The Colour and the Shape), 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."

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.

The album's first single, "The Pretender", was released on September 17,2007 to CD single, however was released as music download and radioplay in August 2007, preceding the album launch. Long Road to Ruin was released as the second single in December 2007.

The album's title comes from a line in the song "Home".

Let It Die is said to be the next single based off of a recent interview with a Swedish radio station. No release dates or video details have been realeased at this point.

Track listing

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" – 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" – 2:32
10. "Statues" – 3:47
11. "But, Honestly" – 4:35
12. "Home" – 4:52

Bonus Tracks

1. "Once & for All (demo)" – 3:47 (Japan, iTunes and UK bonus track)
2. "Seda" – 3:45 (iTunes pre-order and Japan bonus track)
3. "The Pretender" - 4:38 (live @ Wal-Mart Soundcheck)
4. "My Hero" - 4:28 (live @ Wal-Mart Soundcheck)

B-sides

The following tracks were released on The Pretender single release:

The Pretender Single Release

1. "Bangin'" – 3:48
2. "If Ever" – 4:13
3. "Come Alive (Demo)" – 5:31

Long Road To Ruin Single Release

The following tracks were released on the Long Road to Ruin single release:

1. "Seda"
2. "Keep The Car Running (Arcade Fire Cover)" (live @ Brighton)
3. "Big Me" (live @ Wal-Mart Soundcheck)
4. "Holiday in Cambodia (Dead Kennedys Cover)" (live @ 2007 MTV VMA)

Personnel

Foo Fighters

• Dave Grohl – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano on "Summer's End", "Statues" and "Home"
• Taylor Hawkins – drums, piano on "Summer's End", backing vocals
• Nate Mendel – bass
• Chris Shiflett – lead guitar, Backing Vocals

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 – keyboard 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 – guitar on "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners"
• Pat Smear – guitar on "Let It Die"
• Strings by The Section Quartet

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

Artwork

• Don Clark – art direction and design
• Laura Kleinhenz – photography
• Ben Watts – photography

Album charts

Chart (2007)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart	1
Official Canadian Albums Chart	1
Australian ARIA Albums Chart	1
New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart	1
Official Swiss Albums Chart	2
Official Irish Albums Chart	2
European Top Albums Chart	2
World Album Chart	2
U.S. Billboard 200	3
Official German Albums Chart	3
Dutch Mega Album Top 100	6
Official Finnish Albums Chart	7
Italian Albums Chart	15

• Note: In the iTunes music store's UK Charts, Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace achieved #1 through pre-orders.

Singles charts

Year	Song	Chart	Position
2007	The Pretender	Mainstream Rock Tracks (US)	No. 1
2007	The Pretender	Modern Rock Tracks (US)	No. 1
2007	The Pretender	Australian JTV (AUST)	No. 1
2007	The Pretender	UK Singles Chart (UK)	No. 8
2007	The Pretender	RIANZ Singles Chart (NZ)	No. 9
2007	The Pretender	ARIA Single Chart	No. 10
2007	The Pretender	Irish "IRMA" Top 50	No. 11
2007	The Pretender	Dutch Mega Top 50	No. 13
2007	The Pretender	US Hot Digital Songs	No. 18
2007	The Pretender	Billboard Hot 100 (US)	No. 37
2007	The Pretender	Swedish Top 60	No. 46
2007	The Pretender	US Pop 100	No. 47
2007	The Pretender	Brazilian Singles Chart	No. 62
2007	The Pretender	Official German Singles Chart	No. 72
2007	Long Road to Ruin	UK Rock Chart	No. 1
2007	Long Road to Ruin	Modern Rock Tracks	No. 3
2007	Long Road to Ruin	Mainstream Rock Tracks	No. 6
2007	Long Road to Ruin	New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	No. 32
2007	Long Road to Ruin	UK Singles Chart (UK)	No. 35
2007	Long Road to Ruin	German Singles Chart	No. 97
2008	Long Road to Ruin	Billboard Hot 100	No. 100