I hesitate to call ‘Stranger Things Have Happened’ an acoustic masterpiece, but after several listens I have to say this is the best song on the album.

On their latest release, “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace,” Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters team up with Gil Norton, producer of their acclaimed sophomore album “The Colour and the Shape,” who produced hits like “Hero” and “Everlong” turning them into stadium rockers over 10 years ago.

Instead of channeling old vibes and familiar sounds for this record, the band has reinvented itself with Norton’s help, giving birth to a more mature sounding record that should be enjoyed by old and new Foo fans for years to come.

The album starts off rocking with a loud anti-conformity tune, “The Pretender.” Dave gets right to the point by screaming “What if I say I’m not like the others,” behind a wall off surging guitars and aggressive drumming. This song will be labeled as sounding most like the old Foo Fighters over any of the album’s other tracks.

From here on out the album is a lot more relaxed, with the exception of “Erase/ Replace,” A high intensity track with a catchy chorus that delivers after the first listen.

I hesitate to call “Stranger Things Have Happened” an acoustic masterpiece, but after several listens I have to say this is the best song on the album. Dave goes at it alone on this one, letting raw emotion flow on this somber track. Highlights include a moving guitar solo and smoke laced vocals.

Another hit in my book is “Summer’s End,” a feel good tune with a heavy classic rock influence that helps prove that rock and roll is alive and doing somewhat well in 2007. With lyrics touching on red wine, sweet Virginia countryside and moonshine, it’s questionable whether the song has any real meaning. Either way, the song has great Southern rock feel to it. Neil Young better watch his back.

Continuing with the classic rock theme, Dave and Kaki King sit down to trade licks on the acoustic instrumental “Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners.” Clocking in at just over two minutes, one can’t help but notice that it sounds like something straight out of the Led Zeppelin catalog.

The album comes to a depressing and unfulfilling close with “Home,” a piano ballad where Dave tells the story of a tired rock star recalling his life on the road and deciding he wants nothing more than to go home. The lyrics are moving and Dave does a good job on the piano, but this one was a stretch for me.

The Foo Fighters pull it out with “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.” As musicians grow older, they experience change. Likewise, so does their music. It is apparent that the Foo Fighters are taking a new direction with their current release, proving they can write more than just catchy rock songs.

Have they made the perfect album? No, but this is an album that has something for everybody. If you already liked the Foo Fighters, there is sure to be something on this CD for you.

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