"After a long hiatus the Foos return in top form."
Best Tracks: All My Life, Low, Lonely As You, Come Back
Three years. In music that can very easily break a band by losing the public's attention therefore creating less than average record sales
which could ultimately cause the demise of a band. This usually worries a band to ruch material, not the case with the Foo Fighters though.
In between "There Is Nothing Left To Lose" and this album lots of things had happened with the band. For once they had a pretty steady lineup,
Dave did drumming for Queens of the Stone Age and Tenacious D and Taylor had an unfortunate overdose which caused commotion in the media.
All this and the band still felt that they needed more time off. At one point this album was almost never made. Dave felt that after scrapping
a session for "One By One" that maybe the demands of the band were too much. That's where the angst returns on this album.
Unlike TINLTL's easy going feel this album is much more rock and for that matter very raw and energetic. The intensity on the first three tracks is
somethign that hasn't been seen since "The Colour And The Shape" and is pulled with almost just as much perfection. But after the first three tracks
the album seems to falter a bit, Dave's vocals seem shaky on "Times Like These" which brings the song down a bit and then there's "Disenchanted Lullaby".
The song seems like the best Foo Fighter's idea gone bad, with it's weak chorus and for the most part weak verse it seems like something that would be heard
on thier earlier work rather than on this album. Ultimately the Foos redeem themselves with very different yet powerful songs ("Tired", "Lonely As You","Halo")
and average ones ("Burn Away", "Overdrive"). The best thing about the album is "Come Back", a song that is saved for last that officially declares that the Foos
have not gone away and clocking in at almost 8 minutes it certainly makes sure that the message is clearly stated. Built around a great guitar riff and a powerful
chorus ("I've been gone so long/ But I Will Come Back/ For You") it is an awesome display of loyalty and musicianship.
With all of its great points "One By One" remains just slightly above average from what the Foo Fighters could do. The album never re-hashes old Foo material
but never really gets too creative. It seems like throughout all of the things that were going on during the process of the album may have been a cause in the
knks in the album. Overall it remains a solid rock record, especially in such a dismal year in music where nu-metal has reached its peak and very soon its demise, teeny-pop is slowly dying
and basically where music seems to be at a standstill in creativity.
