November/December 2007 Issue

Foo Fighters: Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

Foo Fighters. <i>Roswell/RCA</i>.

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Though Dave Grohl earned immortality as one-third of Nirvana, his current band is also sneaking up on greatness. Employing the same soft-to-loud dynamics as his old grunge outfit, the drummer-turned-front-man now pursues a more flexible, poppier strategy, blending slashing guitars, lush melodies, and soul-on-fire vocals to fashion cathartic mini-epics like “Erase/Replace” and “Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make-Up Is Running).” With their auras of longing and loss, “Let It Die” and “Long Road to Ruin” could be heard as eulogies for his late pal Kurt Cobain—or simply the reflections of someone who’s grown up gracefully without dousing rock and roll’s adolescent fire.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

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