Echoes of last album

It's a bit hard to hate on the Foo Fighters. Not merely because front man Dave Grohl has a reputation for being one of the nicest guys in rock. But because, for those of us who remember the early '90s alternative revolution and who were crushed when it was co-opted and replaced by moronic nu-metal and post-grunge, the Foos seem like the torchbearers for the good old days. \nHere in the late noughties, however, that flame doesn't seem so bright. That's partly because there's a lot of great rock around (even if it almost never gets mainstream airplay), but unfortunately, it's also because the Foos are stuck in a rut.\nTaken as a whole, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace is better than 2005's In Your Honor -- not least because it's shorter and lacks IYH's awkward electric-acoustic division. But it suffers from a similar problem in that the Foos try again to go emo -- that is, crank out screamy angst and sobby ballads -- and, again, manage merely to lower themselves into the dull, mechanical, cliched ranks of nearly everything else on modern-rock radio.\nNot everything suffers from this treatment, though. Indeed, you can divide ESPG into three acts. The first, from "The Pretender" through "Erase Replace" is all formulaic scream-fests. The third, from "Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners" through "Home" is admirable, but is also comprised of somewhat boring ballads (although "But, Honestly" stands out from this act, not only because it is a good, stripped-down acoustic number but also for its glorious transition into unabashed arena rock). \nHowever, act two, from "Long Road To Ruin" to "Summer's End," manages to shake off the tedium and deliver the Foos you love to love -- hooky, exciting, fun. Its finest moment is the bouncing buzzsaw-guitar anthem "Cheer Up Boys (Your Makeup Is Running)." \nOf course, thanks to online music stores, you can simply buy act two (swapping out the merely OK "Come Alive" for the superior "But Honestly") and have a nice little EP for about half the price of ESPG. Not living in the "good old days" sometimes has its advantages.