I've always been a fan of the Foo Fighters. Sure, they are loud, most of the time that is. But hey, who in rock and roll can top Dave Grohl's marvelous sense of humor? Whenever I take a plane I think of the Foo's Learn To Fly video and start laughing as the crew prepares their usual take off procedures.
Everybody knows Dave Grohl as having been Nirvana's drummer. So it is to no surprise that people compare this semi acoustic live album to Nirvana's terrific Unplugged in New York.
But Dave isn't Curt - he doesn't want to be, doesn't need to. He's an amazing songwriter in his own right and the Foo Fighters are a terrific band.
In Your Honor, the album they brought out one year previous to this one, already had one disc with just acoustic songs. They were a truly amazing set of songs.
Here they play songs from all their previous albums showing that great songs can be played in a lot of different ways. They will forever be great songs.
But don't think of this as stripped down. It's perfect the way it is. Nothing is missing. It's just another take. That's what I expect when I go to a concert, to be surprised; not another album played live with every note as I already know it.
This set has 15 songs recorded in August 2006 live at Pantages Theater, Hollywood. A perfect recording with great mastering by ... Bob Ludwig (who else)
My favorites: Razor, Over and Out and Cold Day in the Sun
Apart from Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett, you'll find Petra Haden on violin, mandolin and vocals, Drew Hester, percussion and vibes, Rami Jaffee, piano, mellotron, accordion and organ, Pat Smear, acoustic and electrical guitar, Danny Clinch, harmonica.

The LA acoustic disc is fantastic and does include 5 more songs than the cd, however, both the cd and dvd still missed off Miracle, Virginia Moon and Floaty. All amazing songs particularly Floaty where Petra Haden (violinist) takes lead vocals. I saw the London Victoria Apollo gig and she was outstanding so why they cut this song is beyond me. Overall though the LA gig is very enjoyable and sounds great.

I notice Amazon don't have a track listing so here it is:

1. Intro (Awesome!)
2. Razor
3. Over And Out
4. On The Mend
5. Walking After You
6. Still
7. Marigold
8. My Hero
9. Next Year
10. Another Round
11. See You
12. Cold Day In The Sun
13. Big Me
14. What If I Do
15. Skin And Bones
16. Ain't It The Life
17. February Stars
18. Times Like These
19. Friend Of A Friend
20. Best Of You
21. Everlong

A quick note if you plan on buying the UK editon: Although Amazon states this is Region 2 I can confirm it is Region 0, as are all UK music DVD releases, so this will play on any DVD player. So if anyone wants to import this dvd, say from America, you can play it on your Region 1 player providing that your TV can handle the PAL TV signal.

Its a good live album, but it's not the full set which upsets me. The reasoning behind this is they didn't have enough space to keep all the songs on once disc. So they edited some songs out which kinda of blows.

Now, I need absolutely no convincing as to the greatness of Dave Grohl. He's one of my all time favorite artists and it comes as no suprise to me how fantastic this disc is. It's soooo good. Hooray for Dave. It easily lives up to any promise you might imagine. Anyone could enjoy this. So, why don't you? I can't wait for the DVD.

What an amazing live experience. If the Cd was good, this is even better. While the CD is abbreviated, the DVD is shown in its entirety, which does the show so much justice. The tracks flow beautifully from one to the next and watching it I think the tracks are all perfectly chosen, however I still would have liked 'miracle' to have been included, I think it is not just one of their best acoustic tracks, but one of the Foo Fighters best. I actaully like the choice as 'razor' for the opening track after watching the DVD and the inclusion of 'cold day in the sun', but sadly Taylor stays behind the drum kit to sing it. The new track 'skin and bones' is really good also.

The sound is excellent, you feel like you are actually there at the show, not just listening to it in you lounge room. It sounds brilliant with the 5:1 surround sound. Sadly there are no special features, it would have been nice to get some band interviews or a backstage pass or something like that, but the 5 minute intro is quite good.

This is a really good intimate live experience with the band that all fans will love. There is lots of playfull banter between the band members on stage, you can just tell they had so much fun performing the show which makes it even more rewarding for the audience. Released just in time for christmas, I imagine this will be under quite a few trees this year.

It is worth noting this DVD is now available from amazon.co.uk with a second disc featuring the bands Hyde Park show. It is 14 tracks featuring All My Life, One By One, Best Of You, Times Like These, Learn To Fly, Breakout, My Hero, Generator, Monkey Wrench and Everlong plus more. It is howerver region 2 and in the PAL colour format. But at approximately 20 dollars US it is a very good buy.