The first album recorded with a full band line-up, as opposed to Dave Grohl recording all the parts himself, 'The Colour & The Shape' should see Grohl finally exorcise the ghost of Nirvana, as he's made an album that ranks alongside their best work.
'Doll' sets out the band's stall in no uncertain terms with its layers of guitars and typically splenetic drums (which Grohl is responsible for). The single 'Monkey Wrench' follows, with a chorus straight out of the "how to have a hit" guidebook and a breathless ending.
The relentless riffing and energy only lets up briefly over the course of the album. The first case is 'My Hero' with its staccato chorus, the second is the gentle 'Walking After You', where for once the sentiment is given room to breathe and not buried beneath the sonic barrage.
The same cannot be said of the track that precedes it, 'Everlong', by that's fine because it's by far the Foos' greatest moment yet. Beginning with a slow, building guitar riff it becomes a mid-paced rocker before a truly euphoric chorus where Grohl screams "Did you think it could be this real forever/Do you think it'd ever be this good again".
Then it does the old punk rock trip of stopping, as if in mid-sentence, before going quiet and then building into the killer chrous again. Fantastic stuff.
Closing track 'New Way Home' repeats that trick, also to good effect, to close an album that really marks out the Foo Fighters from the others in the rock pack. It's the first great record of the rest of Dave Grohl's life.
