Who'd have thought it? Turns out Nirvana had two great songwriters. A year after Kurt Cobain's suicide, Dave Grohl rebounded with Foo Fighters' self-titled debut, on which he wrote and played practically everything himself. 

 By the time they recorded The Colour and the Shape, Foo Fighters had become a real band with Pat Smear on second guitar and Sunny Day Real Estate's Nate Mendel; thanks to drummer turbulence, Grohl ended up playing most of the drums himself . 

 There Is Nothing Left to Lose, featuring the full band, is a bit of a disappointment. Its lead-off single, "Learn to Fly," became a hit, but the production and songwriting seem somehow tamed. The album has way too much filler. 

 One by One is much more like it, a partial return to the attitude and force of The Colour and the Shape, with longtime live drummer Taylor Hawkins coming into his own. There are a handful of references to Grohl's get-in-the-van origins. 

  Where In Your Honor separated the Foos' hot and cool sides, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace slams them back together: The band slips in curveballs like the sweetly country-rock reminiscence "Summer's End." 

 In Your Honor is a double album with a split personality: The first disc rocks like an angry hurricane–so much so that the songs feel strained. The second, all-acoustic, is too sleepy.