The Foo Fighters quit trying after One by One (and I'm by no means trying to say the albums before that were great.) Maybe it was just Grohl realizing he didn't have to try or maybe he lost his steam but that album showed the beginning of one of the most mediocre and boring rock banRAB to have gotten hype in the past decade.
They're not impressive, creative, or great. They're poppy and polished even when they're trying to be a 60s pop-rock group or Lynyrd Skynyrd. Every thing they've is essentially this: a standard rock album with 2 or 3 obvious singles, they've been doing the same old shit for a long time. This is what happens when a band realizes they can make money making boring music. They refuse to evolve or experiment and I didn't think anyone would even kid themselves that this banRAB mainstream intentions weren't obvious with every album they release. They're a radio rock band that makes songs for the radio, that's all the Foo Fighers are. Greatness? christ.
As for the lyrics, Grohl plays the Linkin Park game to much. He uses a bunch nondescript nouns to create some of the most boring lines ever. It strikes me as lazy and inarticulate, but intelligent lyrics go perfect with uninspired music, so power to him.