Foo Fighters: In your honour

Herald rating: ***

Kurt Cobain was a great songwriter. One of the best. Moving powerfully from quiet, to loud, to gut-wrenchingly real, was his trademark.

Dave Grohl, the drummer from Nirvana, is a good songwriter. He's showed us that on four albums since he formed the Foo Fighters in 1995, most notably on 1999's There Is Nothing Left To Lose and the song Learn To Fly.

Comparing Grohl and Cobain might seem unfair but Grohl is the one who carries Nirvana's musical legacy through his band. Grohl is a more basic songwriter than Cobain - and a less complex human being on the whole - and that comes through on the band's latest album, In Your Honor - a double, one rock record and one acoustic.

On the rock record, the grunt, the beef, and the brawn are excellent, but the classic and timeless tracks aren't there.

The first five songs are stompers, absolute crowds pleasers. In Your Honor

comes across like a polished Killing Joke (one of Grohl's favourite bands) and builds up like a stampede. Then get your Chuck Taylors toe-tapping for album highlight No Way Back, on to first single Best Of You, then the killer riffs of DOA before the short and frenetic interlude of Hell.

Although, Best Of You, despite its catchiness, dilly-dallies on the chorus-line mantra and comes across a little lifeless and makes you wonder if you'll be listening to this in a couple of months.

Plus, where has the Dave Grohl who used to love sending up American society and dressing up as a girl with pigtails gone?

That Foo Fighter satire of old never came across as stupid because it was unique, funny and always rockin', but there's little of it here.

However, the rock record is actually a simple scorcher, apart from the slightly monotonous The Last Song. Put it on and you will be singing along, planting your feet a la Dave Grohl, and powering your guitar into a frenzy. Big, melodic - and just imagine it live.

Then there's the acoustic album. You have to say good on them for trying something different and refraining from getting all conceptual while they're at it. And Grohl's been writing songs for nearly 20 years so surely he's got a double album in him. But much of it is flaky, weak and comes across as being gentle for the sake of being gentle, and that's not the way to do acoustic albums. You end up being all middle-of-the road, and that's something Grohl has never been. He is far too cool for that. He should have his own TV show.

The highlight is last track Razor, which features Queens of the Stone Age leader Josh Homme on a duelling acoustic guitar. Homme brings a tension to the song that plays off against Grohl's singing which is sweeter than ever.

Yes, Grohl can do what he wants because he is a music legend. And the rock record rocks, but as for the acoustic record, Grohl would be better spending his time writing a proposal for his TV show. He'd be great, and then, as a regular feature, he could serenade one of his guests with one of his acoustic songs. Someone, please, get this guy a TV show. Scott Kara

Label: Sony/BMG