Almost 15 years on from their debut,
Foo Fighters
deliver their first
Greatest Hits
, a 15-track (16 if the double dip on
"Everlong"
counts) retrospective covering their six albums from 1995 to 2007.
isn't arranged chronologically, which isn't a detriment; if anything, skipping through the years emphasizes just how consistent
the Foos
have been, always delivering oversized rock & roll where the hooks are as big as the guitars. The only exceptions to the rule are the two lo-fi cuts
"Big Me"
and
"This Is a Call,"
with
"I'll Stick Around"
qualifying as this comp's inexplicable omission (
"Walking After You,"
"DOA,"
"Stacked Actors,"
"No Way Back"
all also didn't make the cut), plucked from their 1995 debut, where the band was only
Dave Grohl
recording at home. Apart from this pair of tunes, this is all muscular, melodic modern rock, the kind that
almost patented, and if their consistency has occasionally made their albums blend together, it does result in one strong hits collection. [A version was released with the previously unreleased
"Wheels"
"Word Forward,"
as well as an acoustic version of
"Everlong."
] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine