Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The One That Won Me Back, 1 Sep 2005
This album is a breath of fresh air for a longtime Foo Fighters fan. A superb return to form after an album ("One By One") that had me wondering if the best of the Foo Fighters had already been and gone. For me, "One By One" was a little too polished and pop conscious, and apart from a couple of classics ("All My Life", "Have It All" and "Times Like These") it seemed like the Foo Fighters, only less so. This has been the trend since "The Colour and the Shape" which originally convinced me that they were a truly great group.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.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Album So Far - And I Mean That!, 30 April 2006
Wow! I bought this cd on the day of release. And I have to say, that it really is my favourite cd so far. Dave Grohl wanted this album to be the one that is remembered in the future, and I think he has scored his goal with this.
By making this into a 2-disc album, it gave the Foo's some freedom to go all out rock on one cd, and acoustic on the second cd. The second set of songs will, I am sure, have even more poignance when seen live. But for me, rock is what the Foo Fighters are about and they have fulfilled that potential over and above anything previously released.
It opens up with the title track, In Your Honour. It shows you just what they are capable of and is a great beginning. Great tracks such as Best Of You, DOA, and Resolve all follow suit. All containing words of emotional intensity. It is as though, Grohl wants to show a little distance between these songs and some of his more comedic genius seen in the past.
The second cd is good as well, but for entirely different reasons. It contains several amazing songs, although Virginia Moon is possibly my least favourite Foo track thus far! Highlights of this disc are Cold Day In The Sun, Miracle, and Friend Of A Friend.
In Cold Day In The Sun, we are surprised with Taylor (the drummer if you didn't know) taking lead vocals. This gave the song a different quality and I really loved that. Miracle features a cameo role from Led Zeppelins John Paul Jones. It has a great muse behind the writing.
But clearly the best of disc 2 is Friend of a Friend. One of the most emotionally honest pieces of work they have ever released. I wonder how this will sound live, I imagine it would be the most difficult one to sing in such a setting, because the emotions must really hit home then.
Foo Fighters at their very best in this, their fifth album. Surely, all those who still harp on about the Nirvana thing being Grohls only real reason for success, have got to admit defeat and eat their own words now. Come on, this cd is absolutely amazing!
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not the One I'll be recommending to my kids..., 19 Jun 2005
Believe the hype? Try to keep an open mind; it's not the best Foo's album, but it's the best thing you'll hear all year. For me, if they'd just made a standard 15-track LP, and maybe left a few songs off, then it would be pretty perfect. The first disc -the rock cd- is the better of the two, but if you're after something heavier, I'd suggest 'The Colour & the Shape' and 'One by One' over this. Saying that, there's still some amazing tracks on here that will sound awesome when played live. In particular, ''No way back','DOA' & ' Free me' are your typical FF songs that will blow your mind when you crank them up. The second disc starts off promising; the first three tracks are really sweet, but there's not much else on there that couldn't have been a B-side until you reach the final song, 'Razor': beautiful & haunting and possibly the song that tugs at the heart strings more than any other tune you're likely to hear for some time. Give it a try, there are a few gems on here.
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