Editor’s Note: The Albumism staff has selected what we believe to be the 50 Greatest Live Albums of All Time, representing a varied cross-section of genres, styles and time periods. Click “Next Album” below to explore each album or view the full album index here.
FOO FIGHTERS | Skin and Bones
RCA (2006)
Selected by Andy Healy
When rockers go unplugged it can be a glorious triumph of the power of songwriting or an abysmal failure where you realize the king has no clothes. So when “turn it up to 11” practitioners Foo Fighters announced their acoustic tour, many fans had a mix of excitement and apprehension.
But as this live recording shows, they need not have worried. Many songs gain extra strength when stripped back to their bare bones and some are transformed for the better. “Walking After You” takes on a country-folk bent, “My Hero” becomes more impassioned, “Next Year” becomes more ethereal, “Big Me” is transformed almost into a torch song, and “Times Like These” takes on a more poetic and orchestral feel. Closing out the disc with solo acoustic performances of “Best of You” and the timeless “Everlong” demonstrates the songcraft perhaps overlooked or diminished when distortion peddles are applied.
Skin and Bones shows what many a Foo fan always knew, that below the bluster and power chords are songs forged in melody and musicianship. It proves that you don’t always need a Gibson Electric dialed in to truly rock out.
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