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Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology

Foreigner - Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology Audio CD

A fair review of the Foreigner "Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Foreigner reviews here, or go back to the Foreigner tabs.

Band: Foreigner
Title: Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology
Rating:

Release Date: 2000-08-15
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Feels Like the First Time 2: Long, Long Way from Home 3: Cold as Ice 4: Headknocker 5: Starrider 6: At War With the World 7: Double Vision 8: Blue Morning, Blue Day 9: Hot Blooded 10: I Have Waited So Long 11: Dirty White Boy 12: Head Games 13: Women 14: Rev on the Red Line 15: Break It Up [Edited Version] 16: Juke Box Hero 17: Luanne 18: Urgent 19: Waiting for a Girl Like You 20: All Sewn Up - Spooky Tooth 21: Hoofer - Spooky Tooth 22: I Want to Know What Love Is 23: Down on Love 24: Street Thunder 25: Reaction to Action 26: That Was Yesterday 27: Ready or Not 28: Midnight Blue 29: Heart Turns to Stone 30: I Don't Want to Live Without You 31: Say You Will 32: Can't Wait 33: Just Wanna Hold - Mick Jones 34: Everything That Comes Around - Mick Jones 35: Just Between You and Me - Lou Gramm 36: Lowdown and Dirty 37: Soul Doctor 38: Until the End of Time 39: Under the Gun

Great anthology, but expensive
It has 2 discs with lots of good Foreigner songs and a great 48 page booklet. I've had this anthology for several years and like it a lot. However, at $29 it is expensive compared to the 2 disc "No End in Sight" anthology that only costs $14. If I hadn't discovered that set while reviewing this one, I would have given this set 5 stars.

Also, some songs on this anthology appear to be the shorter single versions intended for radio play. The booklet mentions that edited versions were released as singles but doesn't really make it clear which versions are included in this set. I am not sure whether the "No End in Sight" anthology has the short or long versions. Frankly, I never even realized that the versions on this set were edited, so if you're a casual fan and just want to enjoy the songs the way you've heard them on the radio, you probably won't care or notice. If you're a diehard fan and really want the full versions and want to make sure you don't miss some song you really like, go out and buy all the studio CDs.

One advantage of this set over the other one is that it includes some solo tracks by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones. "Midnight Blue" by Gramm is a great track and I'm glad it's on this set.

Good, but could be better.
Unfortunately, many of the songs are edited to AM radio length, giving this collection a "Foreigner Lite" feel to it. I bought this compilation so I could take all of Foreigner's hits with me without lugging all of the CDs. "Hot Blooded" which is a short song to begin with, has been reduced to one verse and the solo. I would have been willing to lose the Spooky Tooth songs, as well as Lou Gramm's solo stuff to make room for the full length tracks. For the casual listener, it's probably fine.

Boo!!! to radio edits
The song selection and sound quality are superb. This is a great collection of songs from a fantastic band. I even like the fact that there are some Lou Gramm and Mick Jones solo hits included. My only gripe is why are there radio edits of certain songs included. Hot Blooded is trimmed by about a minute and a half. And why does Feels Like The First Time have to be trimmed, it's only about 30 seconds longer to begin with.
True Foreigner fans want to hear that opening guitar riff before the rest of the song kicks in. The band doesn't play the edited versions live so why put them on cd? What I'm doing is making my own greatest hits cd and I'm taking the full length versions of those songs off of "The very best and beyond" which may not have as many songs as "Anthology" but did include the full length versions. Otherwise this is a great collection by a great band.

The Foreigner Vasectomy
One of the biggest selling bands of the late 70's and early 80's, Foreigner more than deserved a first class, multi-disc collection of it's biggest and best. A true travesty, this. The two CD's in this set are infested with edited versions of songs that should have been left in their original form. "Feels Like the First Time" is among the worst casualties. The opening solo guitar riff is gone along with a portion of the song's midsection. The obvious purpose of such sonic surgery is to cut in enough room for such classic tunes as. . . "The Hoofer" by Spooky Tooth??? I have no problem with two of Lou Gramm's solo shots, "Midnight Blue", "Just Between You And Me", which were at least genuine, bonfide hits being included here, but TWO tunes from Mick Jones' nonselling solo stuff??? And,to absolutely guild this wretched lily, there is a notation that this product was complied by Mick Jones and Lou Gramm. I would prefer not to believe it, but in absence of evidence to the contrary I have no choice but to assume that greed superceded integrity in hoisting "The Foreigner Anthology" upon the Foreigner public. The packaging, photos and the liner notes are well done, which is the reason I don't consign this to one star purgatory. Unfortunately, treachery, however pleasantly presented, is still treachery. .

Foreigner - Decent Compilation But Too Much Non Band Material
This collection is very well done and pretty much contains everything you would want from the band. "Jukebox Heroes" is a two disc anthology that covers Foreigner's career from their self titled debut in 1977 up through 1995's "Mr Moonlight". In addition tracks from Lou Gramm and Mick Jones solo albums are also included. The package comes with a nice booklet that tells the band's history. I have had a love hate relationship with Foreigner over the years. Musically they were a pretty average band. What made them rise above the 70's AOR heap however was the songwriting team of Jones /Gramm and the soaring vocals of Lou Gramm. Gramm truly had one of the best voices of the era and the band still are looked back on today as everything that was both good and bad about AOR rock. Like many compilations this one tends to include single edits of the hits instead of the longer album cuts in order to fit more into the collection. This is a bad thing in my eyes and detracts from the material. It is also questionable why cut from solo projects and even an old Spooky Tooth number is included here. Foreigner had plenty of material that could have easily filled two discs without these non band cuts. That being said, this is a pretty good compilation of the band and is inclusive of all of the lineups various incarnations (including the album without Lou Gramm). If you are just looking for an overview of the band (as I was) it is a good representation. If you want to delve further I would suggest the studio albums. The band's debut and their third one "Head Games" would probably be my favorites. .

You can see a complete list of all Foreigner discography, or go back to the Foreigner tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.