foo fighters

It's now been more than 10 years since Dave Grohl engineered his unlikely transition from unemployed drummer to iconic frontman. It's pretty much impossible to deny that the Foo Fighters have had a good run.

The group has successfully cemented its place in music history as the late-'90s alt-rock answer to the early-'90s grunge which Grohl himself helped popularize. But now, after a decade of successes, the Foo Fighters are finally starting to show their age on Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace.

Where their rage was once genuine and inspired, it now seems muted and misplaced. Grohl roars through tracks such as "Erase Replace" with a restless abandon that ultimately rings hollow, in spite of the effort he's obviously exerting to scream as loudly as possible, almost as if it were an intentional return to form, the track contrives its own angst in a manner more reminiscent of the Foo's imitators than the source itself.

The album's single, "Pretender," is similarly uninspired. While it hammers with all the requisite fist-pumping beats and lightning-quick progressions, the frontal assault strips it of the emotional gravity seen on older tracks such as "Everlong." With its mellow lows and flat, protracted highs, the result is merely a mildly enjoyable reference to the group's former efforts.

Fortunately, out of their aging a newfound maturity is born. Alongside their standard fare, Echoes showcases the Foo Fighters delving into an expanded breadth of genres, with a surprising degree of success. The melancholy "Stranger Things Have Happened" demonstrates an uncharacteristically sparse sophistication as it riffs alternately on blues and alt-rock. "Summer's End" borders on a Southern rock vibe, right up to its extended guitar solos and references to "moonshine in your hair."

The album even features a bluegrass instrumental, "The Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miner," which was included to honor Grohl's promise to a trapped Australian miner. This is the album's biggest departure from form-more like an accidental interlude than an actual Foo Fighters track. Still, though its consistency with the rest of the album is dubious at best, the track displays an uncanny degree of musicianship.

Midlife crisis implications aside, these variations are a welcome expansion to the Foo Fighters' established sound. Rather than simply lingering on past conceits, the group has opted to explore new territory on Echoes. The result-while scattered, disorganized and occasionally confusing-is a surprisingly listenable reminder that Grohl's still got a few tricks up his sleeve.