In Your Honour [2CD]

CD1 goes along at a blistering pace, with standouts for me being Best Of You, DOA, Hell, Deepest Blues Are Black, End Over End and the best of the lot No Way Back. I have already seen them perform these tracks live, along with other classics such as Everlong and Monkey Wrench and they stand up perfectly alongside them.

As everyone knows by now, CD2 takes a more sedate path. It's perfect music for the heatwave we're promised shortly. Highlights include Virginia Moon (featuring Norah Jones), Cold Day In The Sun (sung by drummer Taylor Hawkins) and the hauntingly beautiful Razor (featuring the guitar god that is Josh Homme). It's a great contrast to the usual Foos offerings and I think they pull it off brilliantly.

I hope the band don't read some of the reviews this album has got (not just from Amazon customers I hasten to add.. even NME accused them of over-stretching!), as I fear they might never try something like this again, and in my opinion that would be a crying shame. I like to see bands taking chance like this, instead of producing the same stuff over and over again.

Overall this is two high quality albums for the price of one, and if you're having any doubts about buying it I urge you to put them aside. Don't miss out on this one

In my opinion "In Your Honour" moves the Foo Fighters into a new dimension, and makes them serious contenders for the most important Rock group of their generation. Back in force are the powerful anthems that they do so well. The arrangements are as skilled as you would expect from Dave Grohl, and the band is tighter than ever, with some superbly controlled drumming and simple, relentless basslines. Put simply, Disc One rocks!

On Disc One, highlights include the great singles "Best of You" and "DOA", and the wonderful "Hell" which features screaming, anguished vocals over a rhythmic, celtic inspired guitar melody line. At less than 2 minutes long it leaves you wanting much more. "Free Me" is a dark riff-based cracker, and its momentum builds perfectly to a truly great finish. "The Deepest Blues Are Back" enters with strummed acoustic guitar and surprisingly sweet vocals, and you might think it belongs on Disc Two, until the chorus explodes. "In Your Honour" and "No Way Back" are also excellent.

Disc Two is an entirely different animal, and it may take a bit of time for many fans to get into, but whilst it marks a totally new direction for the band (and one that doesn't always seem to work) it remains true to their sound, and rewards repeat listening. It includes some of the most profound material they have ever produced, and the acoustic guitars and restrained vocals produce a far more intimate experience. The opener "Still" is a haunting and melancholy ballad, puntuated with huge bass, that never seems to drag its feet despite the slow tempo. "Friend of a Friend" is a brooding piece that uses harmonies more reminiscent of Nirvana than the Foo Fighters, and it seems possible that it is a reference to Kurt Cobain's tortured final weeks. "On The Mend" has a sweeping, almost epic feel and drives along brilliantly over tight and rhythmic bass and drums, with sparkling picked acoustic guitar throughout - beautiful. "Virginia Moon" is a duet with Norah Jones, and is the only number that really doesn't sound like the Foo Fighters at all, but that isn't a bad thing. "Razor" is superb, featuring only Dave Grohl, singing and accompanying himself with excellent fingerstyle guitar work. Disc Two features more than a couple of relatively weak pieces, but overall is a real success.

I have a feeling that I will be listening to this album as keenly in ten years as when I first heard it - both discs.
This is an important album, and one which I can recommend with no hesitation, to longtime fans and new alike.