MR

Foreigner seems to be doing pretty good with Kelly Hansen - who is a Lou Gramm soundalike. Have you guys heard Kelly sing Foreigner's hits? Uncanny! Since this week we've been talking about Journey and Jeremey.... for those of you who are into Foreigner, do you consider them a nostalgic act or a tribute band now? Or, do you still consider them foreigner?

I don't think Hansen sounds like a Gramm clone at all. He was out there doing his thing before Foreigner. He does their songs well, though, but I'm not really interested in them at all with him singing.

Anyway, to answer the question...Yes, I consider them a tribute act but not because of Hansen, just because they are only a greatest hits band now.

Foreigner plays clubs now. Not sure how "well" you consider that to be doing.

I do agree that Kelly is a good vocalist. Saw Hurricane live once.

Johnny Edwards replaced Gramm for a time too. That bombed.

AR wrote:Foreigner plays clubs now.

I love the smaller shows bigger than the big, outdoor venues. The first time I saw them was at a rather LARGE club in Ft. Wayne. The place was in the mid 90s that night and it was one of Gramm's first shows back following his surgery. Not a bad show but Gramm definitely shouldn't have been onstage.

AR wrote:Johnny Edwards replaced Gramm for a time too. That bombed.

Yeah, that was the "Unusual Heat" album. It's actually a fairly good rock album. Funny that Mick went in more of a rock direction after Gramm left and that's what Gramm wanted all along.

conversationpc wrote:

AR wrote:Foreigner plays clubs now.

I love the smaller shows bigger than the big, outdoor venues. The first time I saw them was at a rather LARGE club in Ft. Wayne. The place was in the mid 90s that night and it was one of Gramm's first shows back following his surgery. Not a bad show but Gramm definitely shouldn't have been onstage.

I like the smaller shows too. Just not sure how the original poster was equating that as success.

Really love seeing shows at oddball places and venues. A few years ago I aw REO Speedwagon and Cheap Trick at an old racetrack in Hagerstown, MD. Big crowd, cheap beer and dollar slices of Pizza Hut thin crust.

AR wrote:Big crowd, cheap beer and dollar slices of Pizza Hut thin crust.

Can't beat that.

Didn't say they were successful, just that I know of some foreigner fans who have seem them in recent months and said that the band has been rocking it up on tour.

Greg wrote:Foreigner seems to be doing pretty good with Kelly Hansen - who is a Lou Gramm soundalike. Have you guys heard Kelly sing Foreigner's hits? Uncanny! Since this week we've been talking about Journey and Jeremey.... for those of you who are into Foreigner, do you consider them a nostalgic act or a tribute band now? Or, do you still consider them foreigner?

All I can really answer is that I would still go see them because Lou LEFT ON HIS OWN. He wasn't kicked out in a shitty way like has happened to so many great singers such as Jeff and DDY.
I was a Styx fan since I got my first reocrd, period of any kind, it was The Grand Illusion. Still one of the best to date. Anyway, even though it was so hard because Tommy's songs also meant a lot, I couldn't support him anymore either because he had a hand in the Dennis bullshit.
It was very hard to not support them anymore, but had to be done.
While I don't think Kelly sounds like a Lou clone, he does sound good and I was a fan of his before, so that to has something to do with it just like Jeff.
Back to point, Lou is kick ass MAN. I have met him many times. He is happy now with what he is doiing and happy for the band. That makes a huge difference for me. Plus Foreigner got someone who could sing the songs, Styx did not. So with Styx, you have a group that sounds fuckin' shitty on Dennis' songs, plus they treated him like shit. Granted, Dennis has a huge ego and can be asshole, but let's remember, when Tommy left, he left on his own. Dennis didn't kick him out. There was some shit that went down before I started to follow Styx that I know someone might bring up as far as Dennis being shitty to someone, but that was before I started to follow them.
The kick ass thing is that Dennis still sounds FUCKIN FANSTASTIC today, that is a fact, not opinion. Steve P., no one knows for sure, Lou we know, but that has to do with his medical trouble, so let's not bag on the man.
I can still hear some kick ass Styx songs when I go see Dennis and I can hear some great Foreigner songs when I go see them. How in the hell now will I hear Journey music now-won't.
So after my rant, I would go to a Foreigner show and enjoy the music and still respect it becuae they weren't assholes to Lou and they still sound good. Without Lou I wouldn't travel all over, but I would go for a fun day to see them. I don't consider them a cover band even though many of the faces have changed. Not sure why not, but I don't.
Styx and Joureny aren't even bands to me anymore.
I wonder for some people if it depends on who was in the band when they started to follow the group. That may play something into what lineup they consider 'the band' to be.
Foreigner still kicks ass and so does DDY.
I know you were just asking about Foreigner, but for me Foreigner, Journey and Styx all sort of fall together, so I can't talk about one without the other.
Just like I continued to follow Van Halen. DLR left on his own, and I was a Sammy fan before he joined.

I do not consider Kelly Hansen a Lou Gramm clone at all.

Like Augeri and Soto, he does do the songs justice, but has his own style and sound.

Kelly isnt a "tribute" singer. He had his own successes long before Foreigner. He's great on stage & sings the Foreigner songs really well. His head voice is very strong, not much power in chest voice tho. That works for Foreigner songs as Lou sang almost everything in head voice. Kelly is sexy as hell up there & he is really high energy. The only original member of Foreigner is Mick now. But the members are energized & having a blast. It's more like a jam session to the music of Foreigner than anything else. When I saw them last yr, it wasnt at a club. Blue Oyster Cult opened (they sucked). Then Foreigner, then Styx. Foreigner were amazing & really set the crowd on fire for Styx. Great show.

Maybe they can be my new favorite band?

AR wrote:Foreigner plays clubs now. Not sure how "well" you consider that to be doing.

I do agree that Kelly is a good vocalist. Saw Hurricane live once.

Johnny Edwards replaced Gramm for a time too. That bombed.

Yes, they play clubs, but that's not all they play.

Greg wrote:Didn't say they were successful, just that I know of some foreigner fans who have seem them in recent months and said that the band has been rocking it up on tour.

Ok Greg - makes sense. I almost went and saw them in Baltimore, but the tix were $50 bucks. I would have gone 25 or 30 - priced me out.

AR wrote:

Greg wrote:Didn't say they were successful, just that I know of some foreigner fans who have seem them in recent months and said that the band has been rocking it up on tour.

Ok Greg - makes sense. I almost went and saw them in Baltimore, but the tix were $50 bucks. I would have gone 25 or 30 - priced me out.

Yeah, that's a little too much for me as well. I'd pay $50 to see the Eagles or Steve Perry in concert, but not Foreigner. I love Foreigner, but not enough to pay that much for a ticket.

Incidently, here is an interview with Kelly Hansen about singing for Foreigner...from the Andy and Opie show.

http://www.foundrymusic.com/media/displ ... 10453.html

Just click on the MP3 button.

Greg wrote:

AR wrote:

Greg wrote:Didn't say they were successful, just that I know of some foreigner fans who have seem them in recent months and said that the band has been rocking it up on tour.

Ok Greg - makes sense. I almost went and saw them in Baltimore, but the tix were $50 bucks. I would have gone 25 or 30 - priced me out.

Yeah, that's a little too much for me as well. I'd pay $50 to see the Eagles or Steve Perry in concert, but not Foreigner. I love Foreigner, but not enough to pay that much for a ticket.

The best way to still see groups like these is to see them on a bill with a few other bands, or if you live in an area where you pay one price for the whole week to see whoever is playing.
That's how for like $50 onc year we saw DLR, Foreigner, Night Ranger, Meatloaf, Heart.
Before someone says some of those don't belong, I was just listing who was on the bill for the week for $50.

piecesofeight wrote:

Greg wrote:

AR wrote:

Greg wrote:Didn't say they were successful, just that I know of some foreigner fans who have seem them in recent months and said that the band has been rocking it up on tour.

Ok Greg - makes sense. I almost went and saw them in Baltimore, but the tix were $50 bucks. I would have gone 25 or 30 - priced me out.

Yeah, that's a little too much for me as well. I'd pay $50 to see the Eagles or Steve Perry in concert, but not Foreigner. I love Foreigner, but not enough to pay that much for a ticket.

The best way to still see groups like these is to see them on a bill with a few other bands, or if you live in an area where you pay one price for the whole week to see whoever is playing.
That's how for like $50 onc year we saw DLR, Foreigner, Night Ranger, Meatloaf, Heart.
Before someone says some of those don't belong, I was just listing who was on the bill for the week for $50.

Now I can definitely understand paying $50 for a bill of 3 or 4 bands of the such.

By the way, here is a link to some soundbytes with Kelly singing Foreigner.

http://www.wma.com/announcement29/

Greg wrote:for those of you who are into Foreigner, do you consider them a nostalgic act or a tribute band now? Or, do you still consider them foreigner?

Yes, I do consider them to be nothing more than a nostalgia act without Gramm. Although I was never as big of a Foreigner fan as I was a Journey fan, I thought much like Perry, Gramm was a very unique vocalist (in a different way than Perry, but, unique, nonetheless). I recently bought and listened to the Foreigner extended versions cd with Hansen at the helm, and while it was certainly very listenable, it sounded nothing like Lou Gramm, and as a result, nothing like Foreigner to my ears! For me, the only lead singer change I've ever been able to embrace was Hagar with Van Halen, and that's simply because I thought Hagar was a FAR superior vocalist than Roth ever was!


John from Boston

I saw Forienger with Gramm, and I saw them with Gramm and a replacement singer, when Gramm was sick and had his doctor on tour with them. Then I saw them with only Gramm after he was supposed to have gotten better. He still sounded bad at that point. I wasn't as impressed as I was with the Foreigner I grew up with, with Gramm as the vocalist.

Anymore, the people in bands think it's ok to go on with a replacement singer and no one will care. Very few times is it a good choice to continue on with a new singer. When you try to get a clone or resort to only wanting to "play your legacy hits", then it's past time to say Goodnight Gracie. Replacing musicians is easy, most people won't notice as much as they will a newer lead singer. When the lead singer spot become a revolving door, then you are just making yourselves the butt of even bigger jokes than you already were known to be.

I thought Hagar was a FAR superior vocalist than Roth ever was!

I agree John, but they became Van Foreigner at first. OU812 = totally unlistenable.

They got better with Sam as they went on though. Humans Being rocked off the charts! I love Sam, but some of that stuff was pretty limp wristed at first.

AR wrote:

I thought Hagar was a FAR superior vocalist than Roth ever was!

I agree John, but they became Van Foreigner at first. OU812 = totally unlistenable.

They got better with Sam as they went on though. Humans Being rocked off the charts! I love Sam, but some of that stuff was pretty limp wristed at first.

"5150" is a pretty good album and was my favorite for quite awhile after it first came out. There were several good rockers on that album: Good Enough, Get Up, Summer Nights, Best of Both Worlds, and the title track.

Yeah I didn't like OU812 that much either, although I did like When It's Love. 5150 was a great album IMO. I might be one of the few VH fans who liked both Roth and Hagar equally.

Van Halen and Journey are very similair in these ways. Eddie pretty much allowed the fans to be divided and almost encouraged the fans to fight abotu who the better lead vocalist was. As far as I'm concerend, better in the sense that they had more hits that people could name = Roth. Better in the sense of a frontman who is a TRUE frontman, but not willing to take ALL of the spotlight away form the rest of the guys = Hagar. I'm a hagar fan, even in Van Halen. Roth is as big a cocksmoke as Schon in my mind.

I saw the Sam and Dave tour. Best bang for a buck ever except for that little whore in Tijuana back in 97.

Donkey show, or solo?

AR wrote:I agree John, but they became Van Foreigner at first. OU812 = totally unlistenable.

They got better with Sam as they went on though. Humans Being rocked off the charts! I love Sam, but some of that stuff was pretty limp wristed at first.

Not sure I agree with that, Ed. I believe 5150 was Van Halen's first release with Hagar at the helm. For me, it's still the absolute best VH release, EVER! I really think it's that good!


John from Boston

conversationpc wrote:

AR wrote:Johnny Edwards replaced Gramm for a time too. That bombed.

Yeah, that was the "Unusual Heat" album. It's actually a fairly good rock album. Funny that Mick went in more of a rock direction after Gramm left and that's what Gramm wanted all along.

That is ironic.

UH may be their heaviest record overall. I have it at 1 or 2 in the cannon depending on how I feel about 4 at the time.

Enigma869 wrote:

AR wrote:I agree John, but they became Van Foreigner at first. OU812 = totally unlistenable.

They got better with Sam as they went on though. Humans Being rocked off the charts! I love Sam, but some of that stuff was pretty limp wristed at first.

Not sure I agree with that, Ed. I believe 5150 was Van Halen's first release with Hagar at the helm. For me, it's still the absolute best VH release, EVER! I really think it's that good!


John from Boston

5150 was really good, but still poppy in spots. They lost their way on the second release. Even on 5150 - some of the stuff bordered on adult contemporary at least to me. Thought the last few releases were where they found their way. F.U.C.K. and Balance are great and my fav's of that era.

Humans Being was awesome as a Coda.

The 1st album to me will always be the best.

So much of the VH music with Sammy was commercial and the had so many fuckin' hits. Sammy's vocals were amazing some of his era vh songs. Even though the songs lost their edge and the music was different, there still were a lot of great songs. The words to the songs became a lot more positive, if you will during the Sammy era. Not as if they were negative during the DLR era, they were just different.
How Do I Know When It's Love-call the song whatever you will, but his vocals on this song are tremendous. I kinow a lot of VH fans hate this song and were pissed that they closed the '04 tour with this song, but his vocals are great on this.
Sammy, justj like Jeff is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. He is a fans man.