Sadly this DVD does not show Foreigner in their best light, with a recently recuperated Lou Gramm taking up the vocal slot.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Foreigner
ALBUM: All Access Tonight (Live 25th Anniversary)
LABEL: Eagle Vision
SERIAL: EVDVD070
YEAR: 2004
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Lou Gramm – vocals * Mick Jones – guitars, keyboards * Bruce Turgon – bass * Tom Gimbel – guitars, saxophone * Jeff Jacobs – keyboards * Denny Carmassi – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Introduction (Long Long Way From Home ’95) * 02 Double Vision * 03 Cold As Ice * 04 Head Games * 05 Fool For You Anyway * 06 That Was Yesterday * 07 Dirty White Boy * 08 Feels Like The First Time * 09 Urgent * 10 Juke Box Hero * 11 Hot Blooded
RATING: 30/100
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
The career of this great band has touched three decades. They also made it into the fourth decade with this DVD release from 2002, celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the bands existence. Someone should’ve told Mick Jones not to bother getting the cameras out.
Sadly this DVD does not show Foreigner in their best light, with a recently recuperated Lou Gramm taking up the vocal slot. Apparently Mick did not want to go out on tour with a new singer, and was waiting for as long as possible for Lou to recover from his condition and surgery. All credit must go to Lou for doing his best under such trying circumstances, but the results are best left in the video archives I’m afraid.
The Songs
The footage is drawn from a few select performances during the 2002 tour, with cameraman and videographer Justin Bourgerie doing the honors all around. Not that this footage should ever have had made it as far as a DVD for public consumption, because it wasn’t originally mean’t to. A lot of the coverage you can see was not recorded with a DVD production in mind. Most of it is quite poor quality stuff, but a few ‘on-tour’ segments make it interesting for long-time fans.
As always it is good hearing and seeing Foreigner live, but not under these circumstances. Lou’s vocals are not the best, and hearing some of the band’s legendary moments succumbing to such torture is excusable under the less than ideal conditions, but the commercial decision to release it is unforgivable. Even the bonus clip of ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ is much better quality video wise, but the version being sung on the night will make you wince.
In Summary
I’d rather remember the band in their heyday. Footage from either their ‘4’ or ‘Agent Provocateur’ tours would be much better I suggest (the Deer Creek DVD is available and apparently is much better). For the purist AOR fan, unfortunately this effort from Foreigner is one DVD to avoid.
