http://www.billboard.com/#/news/foreign ... 7872.story

I didn't see anything on this new Foreigner comp. Looks like this time they are rerecording some classic tracks with Kelly Hanson.

Now THIS is aimed at the casual Wal-Mart moron, not a studio album! However, there are some cool rare tracks, but why the re-recordings? Well, they answer that bluntly. Like Squeeze, KISS, Chicago, Journey and many others recently it's for the licensing and it's hard to fault them for that. They should get all the money if the songs get used in films, commercials and TV.

From Billboard.com:

Foreigner is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the band's formation by going acoustic, electric and live -- all on the same package.

"Feels Like the First Time" is a CD/DVD package that will be released by Razor & Tie exclusively via Wal-Mart on Sept. 13, while the audio components will also be available on iTunes. The set comprises a pair of CDs -- "Acoustique: The Classics Unplugged" and "Juke Box Heroes: Brand New Digital Recordings of Foreigner's Greatest Hits," along with the DVD "Live in Chicago," which was filmed in March during two shows at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles, Ill., and will also be shown during PBS' pledge drive this fall.



"This is an extra rubber stamp on our claim to this (catalog)," Kelly Hansen, who's been Foreigner's frontman since 2005, tells Billboard.com. "You are constantly having to re-establish yourself. There was a time in the late 90s when the band suffered in reputation, and I think we've spent a good part of the last six years going all over the world to re-establish that this band is very strong and relevant and full of great songs."



Hansen says he and the rest of Foreigner are particularly excited about the "Acoustique" disc, which features unplugged renditions of "Feels Like the First Time," "Waiting For a Girl Like You," "Cold as Ice" and other Foreigner favorites, plus a cover of the Arthur Crudup/Elvis Presley classic "That's All Right" and the first-ever Foreigner recording of "The Flame Still Burns," a song guitarist and founder Mick Jones wrote for the fictional band Strange Fruit to perform in the 1998 film "Still Crazy."



Hansen says the acoustic sessions, which were recorded at the Hit Factory in New York, grew from a German radio tour the band did during 2010.



"We were doing these live acoustic shows that were being broadcast," he recalls, "and we got a huge response. It was kind of shocking and surprising, and also something that was really new for us. We've never really done that, kind of laying yourself out naked, without lights and amps or anything. It was a real different feeling and a challenge, so we came back and decided to experiment."



The group played some additional acoustic shows in the U.S. and Canada, and Hansen says is considering more of those to help promote "Feels LIke the First Time." "We're still working out the details for that, but it should be interesting," he notes.



The 12-song "Juke Box Heroes" disc, meanwhile, features a new song called "Save Me" as well as the re-recorded hits. "We started doing that quite awhile ago with the intention of using those tracks for licensing," Hansen says. "When fans caught wind that those things were in progress, they let us know they wanted a piece of it, so we decided to put them out."



Foreigner is currently on the road with Journey and Night Ranger, a package that wraps up on Oct. 21 in Seattle. Hansen says the group also hopes to record a follow-up to 2009's "Can't Slow Down," the first original album by this incarnation of Foreigner, but so far "we haven't started talking about that yet. We just got done with ('Feels Like the First Time') and we're on this tour, but we'll get there."



The track listings for the component parts of Foreigner's "Feels Like the First Time" package include:


"Acoustique: The Classics Unplugged": Long, Long Way From Home; Cold As Ice; The Flame Still Burns; Double Vision; Fool For You Anyway; Say You Will; Starrider; Waiting For A Girl Like You; Feels Like The First Time; Juke Box Hero; That's All Right



"Juke Box Heroes": Bran New Digital Recordings of Foreigner's Greatest Hits: Save Me; Feels Like The First Time; Cold As Ice; Long, Long Way From Home; Hot Blooded; Double Vision; Head Games; Dirty White Boy; Urgent; Waiting For A Girl Like You; I Want To Know What Love Is; Juke Box Hero



"Live in Chicago (DVD)": Double Vision; Head Games; Cold As Ice; Waiting For A Girl Like You; When It Comes To Love; Blue Morning, Blue Day; Dirty White Boy; Starrider; Feels Like The First Time; Urgent; I Want To Know What Love Is; Hot Blooded; Juke Box Hero

I'd been debating the imported "Acoustique," but this will be a lock, especially it it's at Wal-Mart's usual price point ($12) for these types of things. I think enough of this band that I'd pay that to listen and watch one time.

Chicago might learn from this...

Razor & Tie have announced a September 13th release a new three disc set from Foreigner called Feels Like the First Time.
The set includes two audio discs- CD One: Acoustique: The Classics Unplugged and CD Two: Juke Box Heroes: Brand New Digital Recordings of Foreigner's Greatest Hits and one live concert DVD: Live in Chicago.

The three disc set will beavailable exclusively at all Walmart stores and Walmart.com with additional various digital configurations available on digital service providers (iTunes, Amazon, etc.).

Disc One: Acoustique: The Classics Unplugged: This unplugged set of studio recordings of Foreigner's classic hits features Mick Jones, Kelly Hansen, Jeff Pilson and Tom Gimbel, and also pays tribute to Elvis Presley with a blistering version of "That's All Right". A high point on the Acoustique disc is the never released song, "The Flame Still Burns," which was co-written by Mick Jones for 1998 cult rock movie Still Crazy, where it was performed by Jimmy Nail. Mick won the prestigious English Ivor Novello songwriting award for this song.

Disc Two: Juke Box Heroes: Brand New Digital Recordings of Foreigner's Greatest Hits: This collection of Foreigner's greatest hits was digitally recorded this year by mastermind, composer and producer Mick Jones, sensational lead singer Kelly Hansen, bassist Jeff Pilson, multi-instrumentalist Tom Gimbel, keyboardist Michael Bluestein and drummer Mark Schulman. The set also includes a brand new song, "Save Me", which was co-written with Mick Jones' step-daughter and well-known DJ & musician, Samantha Ronson.

Disc Three: Live In Chicago: The 80 minute DVD features the band's greatest hits in pristine high definition from their recent Chicago concert. It also features behind the scenes footage and bonus acoustic versions of some of the band's classic hits. The concert will air on PBS through August and into the fall as part of the Public Television Rocks! series. Catch Foreigner on the road now with Journey

Feels Like The First Time track lists:
CD One: Acoustique: The Classics Unplugged
Long, Long Way From Home
Cold As Ice
The Flame Still Burns
Double Vision
Fool For You Anyway
Say You Will
Starrider
Waiting For A Girl Like You
Feels Like The First Time
Juke Box Hero
That's All Right (Bonus Track)

CD Two: Juke Box Heroes: Brand New Digital Recordings of Foreigner's Greatest Hits
Save Me (Bonus Track - New Song!)
Feels Like The First Time
Cold As Ice
Long, Long Way From Home
Hot Blooded
Double Vision
Head Games
Dirty White Boy
Urgent
Waiting For A Girl Like You
I Want To Know What Love Is
Juke Box Hero

DVD: Live in Chicago
Double Vision
Head Games
Cold As Ice
Waiting For A Girl Like You
When It Comes To Love
Blue Morning, Blue Day
Dirty White Boy
Starrider
Feels Like The First Time
Urgent
I Want To Know What Love Is
Hot Blooded
Juke Box Hero

Foreigner and Journey with special Guest Night Ranger Tour dates:
August
9 Toronto, ON Molson Amphitheatre
10 Darien Center, NY Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
12 Mansfield, MA Comcast Center
13 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
16 Hershey, PA Hershey Park Pavillion
17 New York, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
19 Virginia Beach, VA Virginia Beach Amphitheater
20 Raleigh, NC Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek
21 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte
24 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
27 Pittsburgh, PA First Niagara Pavilion
30 Syracuse, NY New York State Fair
31 Allentown, PA The Great Allentown Fair
September
10 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Arena
13 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
14 Memphis, TN Fedex Forum
16 Atlanta, GA Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood
17 Tampa, FL Gary Amphitheatre
18 West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheatre
21 San Antonio, TX ATT Center
22 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
24 Dallas, TX Gexa Energy Pavilion
25 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
28 Kansas City, MO Starlight Theatre
30 Albuquerque, NM Hard Rock Casino Presents the Pavilion
October
1 Denver, CO Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
5 Concord, CA Sleep Train Pavilion
7 San Diego, CA Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
8 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Arena
11 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl
14 Sacramento, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre
15 San Francisco, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
19 Portland, OR Rose Garden Arena
21 Seattle, WA Key Arena

Did this even come out on time? I had to pick up medicine for my wife at Wal Mart tonight (because I'm such a good guy) and did not see it there.

Discorama managed to get a few promo copies. I picked one up last Friday.

I saw some copies at Walmart on Tuesday and grabbed one. It was on an end cap with the other recent Walmart exclusives (Def Leppard , etc) but I only saw a few copies. Thought there'd be more on display. Maybe they hadn't broken them all out yet?

Most of not opened the box. I didn't see any yesterday but today, they had plenty of them.

I picked up a copy on the way to work Tuesday morning, so it was on the shelves at 7:30 a.m. on the appointed day. I have only listened to the acoustic disc, which I like quite a bit. Gives the old warhorses a new breath of life. "Say You Will," in particular, is a really interesting arrangement.

Decided to get this after all and it's actually very good. Most, not all of the acoustic tracks work well, but a few suck. But, for the most part it does work, and I'm glad they did the 5 part harmony version of "Say You Will" which they've playing live for years now-that sounds great.
The re-recordings are also well done and not just phoned in.
The DVD is excellent-just wish they chose a few more of the songs they've been doing lately that aren't on there.

After the good reviews I have been reading here I'll get this set. I'll tell ya, if you haven't picked up the Extended Live versions ( there are two now), you need these. At $5 to $7.00 they are practically giving them away.

Rick A.

Agree with you on all fronts IP. Besides, $11.88 for 2 CDs and a DVD makes it a no-brainer!!

I wish they'd stick with a drummer, but the Jones/Hansen/Pilson core doesn't cease to amaze me. As with most of these types of remake packages, some of the remakes are spot on while some of them are off just enough to drive me completely up a wall. The keyboards particularly sound WAY off to me. I imagine the blame lies with Jones' ego (I would think he probably plays most of the keyboards on the remakes), but who knows? The drums are a little strange at times as well.

The acoustic CD is amazing, though. My favorite track is probably the Can't Slow Down track "Fool For You Anyway" (which I thought was the best track on a phenomenal disc). Surprisingly, I really, really, really don't like any of the new tunes or their version of "That's All Right". None of the new tunes are nearly as good as the stuff from Can't Slow Down to me.

"Fool For You Anyway" is indeed a very good song, but it appeared on Foreigner's first album and was redone for "Can't Slow Down".

You're spot on about the drummers (I think since Bonham left they've had 100) and "Fool For You Anyway" is a gorgeous song. But as DanO said, it's originally from the debut album, but they did a really nice job with it.
The new songs are OK, but not as good as what was on Can't Slow Down which was a very good album indeed, and better than the last decade plus w/ Gramm.
I'll have to listen to the re-recordings again and see what you mentioned about the keys and drums.

Wow. That takes some of the luster off the tune! I had no idea it was on their first album. Time to re-visit the back catalog I guess!

Damn, I loved Can't Slow Down but what does it say when the best track is actually a remake of an old album track?! Ouch. I had no idea.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Up to the job: Kelly Hansen

Foreigner singer Kelly Hansen asked Mick Jones for the job of replacing Lou Gramm in Foreigner – even though he knew it would be a difficult role to play.

The ex Slash’s Snakepit and Don Dokken vocalist felt a leap of faith was the only thing which could rescue his career from the doldrums after his first big band, Hurricane, were wiped out by the grunge explosion of the early 1990s.

Hansen tells Mercury News: “Grunge music came along and obliterated the metal scene, which was where we were coming from. I had to take a back seat and not do very much singing for the next several years.

“I was working a lot harder for a lot less return in the mid 90s, as I think a lot of people were. You start to say to yourself, ‘Wait a minute, earlier in my career, everything used to just come to me. I never had to actually pursue things.’

“So I felt like I needed to start being more proactive about how I was going about things. I happened to read an article online about a charity event that Mick Jones had done with some of the guys from Foreigner. That sounded really interesting to me.

“So I got in touch with their management. Deciding to be proactive led to that connection – and eventually to me being in the band.”

Gramm was the voice of all Foreigner’s biggest hits in their heyday but he and mainman Jones had fallen out. Hansen took over in 2005, but he knew he couldn’t set about changing the band’s history.

“Lou had a great, emotive delivery,” he says. “I knew I was taking the place of someone who had made a huge contribution to rock music. But I had the confidence of Mick Jones and the support of the rest of the guys.

“At some point, you’ve just got to pull up your patns and go, ‘Okay, I’m going to try this.’ If you fail, you fail. But at least you can say you tried.

“Fortunately, I was up to the task.”

While he applies his own approach to Foreigner’s new material, he tries to remain faithful to Gramm’s classics.

“These songs are so popular because they were great songs with great melodies,” he says. “If I try to do much more than that, then it’s just me messing up something that was really good. I sing them on stage as they were recorded.”

Sloppy writing... I certainly wouldn't classify Hansen as "ex Slash’s Snakepit and Don Dokken vocalist". As far as I know, he did some backing vocals for Ain't Life Grand and Up From The Ashes, respectively, and that's about it. Does backing vocals make you a band's vocalist?

It's not sloppy writing-it's awful writing. I didn't feel like commenting on when I put it in, but yes, that is bad.
Hansen was the frontman for Hurricane and Unruly Child and those are the only ones I recall.
A little silly saying he sang for a singer's band (Don Dokken)!