American band Foreigner had a golden run in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, and while the band are, remarkably, still together, the heady days of top ten success are unlikely to be repeated. With Lou Gramm back in the fold, and his replacement, Johnny Edwards, a distant memory, Foreigner recently celebrated 25 years with some new, and in this case, some not so new, CD and DVD releases. I guess it matters little that the only original members are Gramm and Mick Jones, as they always were Foreigner anyway.

Formed as a hand-picked group back in 1977, Foreigner was the brainchild of former Spooky Tooth guitarist and all round session guy Mick Jones. His vision was to produce a band that was not only dynamite in the studio, but able to deliver live as well. The band wasted little time in recording their debut self-titled album that produced two US top ten hits in Feel Like the First Time and Cold As Ice. Relentless touring meant their live shows were rather brief as they had had no time to pen new tunes. A second album, Double Vision, was soon followed by the third, Head Games and the fourth, imaginatively titled 4. Racking up hits along the way such as Juke Box Hero, Double Vision, Hot Blooded, Long, Long Way From Home, (written on the back cover as Long, Long Away From Home - sheesh!), Urgent, and Waiting For a Girl Like You.

Album number five, Agent Provocateur, produced the smash I Want to Know What Love Is in 1985. The band released a further three albums, one with Johnny Edwards on vocals, and although there was one more top ten (not included on this DVD), the glory days were over. The band these days seems content to rest on its laurels essentially, and I guess when your laurels are this good, then that is probably fair enough.

Foreigner: Feels Like the Very First Time - The Foreigner Story is a DVD release of the previously available VHS title of the same name, and only follows the band up until 1985’s I Want to Know What Love Is. The one-hour documentary mixes live performances of most of the hits, with interviews and other behind the scenes footage of the band and, as expected, basically tells the story of the band.

All the major players get their say, including Jones and Gramm, and the live performances are taken from various shows. Watch out for the giant inflatable jukebox too. Live, the band is quite capable of delivering, reproducing the rock sound that made them famous. With the band last year wrapping up a concert tour of the States, a DVD is surely not too far away. For now, casual fans and lovers of rock music biographical DVDs (with live performances) will have to make do with Foreigner: Feels Like the Very First Time - The Foreigner Story.

Track listing...

This is a full frame feature and therefore not 16:9 enhanced. It is also an NTSC release, so compatible hardware is essential. If you own the VHS version of his documentary/performance then save your dollars as there is nothing here to justify an upgrade. At best, the video quality is average, but at times it becomes quite problematic. Thankfully, this is more a history of the band rather than a “see how good we look and sound� DVD.

This is almost certainly sourced from a VHS copy and as such there are wildly fluctuating colours, and black levels that can’t quite make up their minds. It is reasonably soft in appearance but the interview footage tends to be a little better overall, apart from the footage of Mick Jones that seems a little ‘squeezed�. Shadow detail during the live performances is rather bleak, and contains many artefacts such as specks and black marks. The whole image also appears quite affected by grain, but again the interview footage is generally better and cleaner.

There are some very obvious examples of microphony throughout (horizontal bands), though compression issues seem to be quite contained. There is no layer change.

The audio track is an LPCM 48/16 and thank goodness for that. I can’t imagine how awful this could have sounded otherwise. It is not your usually solid sounding LPCM 48/16 by the way, but the basics such as volume and synchronisation are at least good and issue-free.

Overall, the sound lacks fidelity and includes a little background hiss. The lower end sounds a little muddy and the top end is lacking in sharpness. There are a few minor fluctuations, but they are more likely attributable to the source (and the fact that older live recordings were made on inferior equipment when compared to today’s equipment). Fans will still appreciate the DVD for what it is.

There are no extras. The cover boasts a video clip of I Want to Know What Love Is, this is included but as the last part of the one-hour feature.

Fans will probably buy this regardless, however casual fans are advised to check it out first. It does make for interesting viewing, but is more likely to please hardcore fans. Foreigner are/were a great band with a number of cracking songs and fans will no doubt be buoyed by any DVD release. It’s just a shame that this one is the first, as I am sure many would prefer a newer full concert performance.