“What’s a boy to do?” Foo Fighters’ primary creative force Dave Grohl rhetorically and fittingly asks on “Disenchanted Lullaby.” After a turbulent and trying year and a half, which nearly saw his band implode, one might have expected his turn inward.

And boy, what a year and a half it was: Drummer Taylor Hawkins nearly died of an overdose, recording sessions stalled and litigation surrounding the release of Nirvana material soared to soap opera-like proportions, forcing Grohl to respond by nostalgically reflecting and releasing “One by One” (RCA), the Foo’s fourth full-length.

-Nostalgic nods to Grohl’s musical roots are abound on “One By One” from the cover and inlay artwork of seminal underground artist Raymond Pettibon (who also designed artwork for punk pioneers Black Flag and the Minutemen), to inadvertently dropping Husker Du’s “New Day Rising” in “Times Like These,” to a guest appearance from Queen guitarist Brian May on “Tired of You.”

Musically, “Low” and “Come Back” find Grohl and guitarist Chris Shiflett churning out riffs that seem straight out of the songbook of the critically-acclaimed dynamic duo the Queens of the Stone Age (Grohl’s recent collaborators and tour mates). “Halo” and “Overdrive” recall the bittersweet melodies of the band’s excellent, self-titled debut.

Since serving his apprenticeship with D.C. hardcore punks Scream in the late ‘80s and graduating to mainstream success first with Nirvana, and in recent years with his hand-picked quartet, Grohl’s biggest strength remains his ability to effectively craft melodic singles (e.g. “This is a Call,” “Big Me,” “Monkey Wrench” and “Next Year”). “One By One” remains no exception, boasting the ready-for-rock-radio single “All My Life” and the mellifluous “Halo.”

Yet given the ample amount of lyrical material from recent times, as well as the surplus of time in between efforts (almost three years), Grohl’s recent overall output measures up to the full-length misses he has recorded beginning with 1997’s “The Colour and Shape.”