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Foreigner

Alive & Rockin’

2007, Eagle Vision

4/5

A true live DVD from Foreigner finally arrives. Highly anticipated but not exactly what fans have been wanting; but close.

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Filmed last summer at < ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Germany’s Bang Your Head Festival sounds a bit strange for Foreigner as they are not known for being a heavy rock band; but now the musicianship is just a slight step away. In the band now is Jeff Pilson (Dokken) on bass and Kelly Hansen (Hurricane) on vocals so they are well suited to the crowd, also everyone enjoys Foreigner whether they want to admit it or not. The only original left is Mick Jones on guitar and vocal. It is the omission of lead vocalist Lou Gramm that makes the release somewhat disappointing for fans as he was an integral part of the bands sound with his easily distinguishable voice. Musically the band hasn’t sounded better in years. Drummer Jason Bonham does his dad proud here and just hits hard. It must be in the blood?

The video is quite clear and the DTS track sounds great. A few of the camera angles leave something to be desired and should have been edited out during the final phases of putting this together. There is something about watching a show at dusk that is captivating. You see the onset of the lights and smoke machines that have no real effect during the day at the start of the show but by the end it really looks good.

Just about all the classics are here from “Jukebox Hero” and “Hot Blooded” to “Starrider” which is where Mick steps up to the mic and sings lead. His voice is still good and his playing is the best it’s ever been. Maybe having the likes of Bonham, Pilson and Hansen in the band has pushed him to play harder? Having him rip out solos on his Les Paul sounds incredible. This is one of the many reasons that Foreigner is so huge and world renown.

The only real downfall of this release is that it is only 9 songs long and Lou is not in the band. While Kelly does a good job it’s just not Lou. Maybe someday they’ll reunite and share the stage again.