Foo fighters 4th ALbum was One by One which is widely regarded as one of their worst and in fact if it wasn't for a couple of good singles would have been completely forgotten. IMO Wasting Light is far superior to that. Granted there was a bit of a blip with Echo, Silence, PAtience and Grace which was average.
Biffy Clyro released Puzzle as their 4th Album which probably as an album has some of the strongest songs but as a complete package they have grown into their sound and live they are second to none now whereas a few years ago they weren't quite there, the certainly aren't a pale version of anyone.
All opinions innit. I loved One By One (metacritic scores from users and critics don't back up your argument, OBO is down as the 2nd most popular FF album ever and I remember it being hugely popular) and perhaps my tastes have just moved on as I find FF very bland nowadays, would much rather listen to QOTSA. And my favourite Biffy album is Infinityland by an absolute mile. SO much creativity, invention and personality on one album. They haven't come anywhere near it since.