In Your Honor by Foo Fighters

In Your Honor, Foo Fighters' fifth album, came out on Roswell and RCA on June 14, 2005, and it's two records in one: a disc of heavy rock and a disc of mellow acoustic songs. Dave Grohl felt that ten years in, the band needed to break new ground, and he gave them room to do it. They produced it themselves with Nick Raskulinecz at a newly built studio in Northridge, Los Angeles, and it marked the first appearance of keyboardist Rami Jaffee.

When they go loud, it's Foo Fighters at full blast. "Best of You" is a desperate, throat-shredding howl that builds and builds, "DOA" is a punchy, propulsive rocker, and "No Way Back" hits hard and fast, while "Miracle" and "Resolve" ease off into warmer, gentler territory. Guests turn up too, among them John Paul Jones, Norah Jones and Josh Homme. Grohl's stint stumping for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential race left its mark on the lyrics, which reach out as often as they look within.

Some critics thought it was too long and uneven, but most loved it. It went to number one in five countries, Australia among them, and hit number two in both the US and the UK, and it earned five Grammy nominations, though it ended their run of Best Rock Album wins that began in 2001 with There Is Nothing Left to Lose. The tour mixed stadium shows with acoustic gigs in smaller rooms.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.