Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace is the sixth studio album by the Foo Fighters, released on September 25, 2007, through Roswell and RCA Records. The album is noted for a blend of regular rock and acoustic tracks with shifting dynamics, which emerged from the variety of styles employed on the demos the band produced. It also marks the second time the band worked with producer Gil Norton, whom frontman Dave Grohl brought to fully explore the potential of his compositions and have a record that sounded different from their previous work. Grohl tried to focus on songs with messages that resonated with his audience, writing reflective lyrics that drew inspiration from the birth of his daughter.
Critical reception to Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was mostly positive, with praise to the sonic variety and songwriting, though some reviewers found the record inconsistent and uninspired. The album topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Austria, and had three successful singles, The Pretender, Long Road to Ruin and Let It Die. Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was nominated for five Grammy Awards, winning Best Rock Album, and was also awarded the Brit Award of Best International Album.
Tracklist:
- The Pretender
- Let It Die
- Erase/Replace
- Long Road to Ruin
- Come Alive
- Stranger Things Have Happened
- Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)
- Summer’s End
- Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners
- Statues
- But, Honestly
- Home
- Once & For All (Demo) European bonus track
Foo Fighters
Dave Grohl: lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano on “Summer’s End”, “Statues” and “Home”
Nate Mendel: bass
Taylor Hawkins: drums, backing vocals on “Erase/Replace”, “Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)” and “But, Honestly”, piano on “Summer’s End”
Chris Shiflett: lead guitar, backing vocals on “Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)” and “Long Road to Ruin”
Additional musicians
Drew Hester: percussion on “Come Alive”, “Let It Die”, “Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)”, “Long Road to Ruin” and “Summer’s End”
Rami Jaffee: keyboards on “Let It Die”, “Erase/Replace”, “Long Road to Ruin”, “Come Alive” and “But, Honestly”, accordion on “Statues”
Brantley Kearns Jr.: fiddle on “Statues”
Kaki King: acoustic guitar on “Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners”
Pat Smear: rhythm guitar on “Let It Die”
Strings on “The Pretender”, “Statues”, “Home” and “Come Alive” by The Section Quartet (arranged and conducted by Audrey Riley)
Oliver Allgood: lute on “Long Road to Ruin”
Production
Gil Norton: production
Adrian Bushby: engineering
Jake Davies: Pro Tools engineering
John Lousteau: engineering assistance
Rich Costey: mixing
Claudius Mittendorfer: mixing assistance
Brian Gardner: mastering
Taylor Hawkins (February 17, 1972 March 25, 2022).
