FOREIGNER Singer Says Making Full-Length Albums No Longer Makes Any Sense

Kelly Hansen says that it no longer makes sense for FOREIGNER to make full-length albums, explaining that the band will instead focus on creating a steady stream of short, immediately available works.

Hansen, who joined FOREIGNER in 2004, shortly after the departure of singer Lou Gramm, the guy whose voice you hear on all the band's biggest hits, made his comments during a recent appearance on the "Nights With Alice Cooper" radio show.

Asked if there are any plans for FOREIGNER to release a full-length album of new material as the follow-up to 2009's "Can't Slow Down", Hansen said (see video below): "Personally, I don't think that making full albums is the way to go anymore; I just don't think that makes any sense. Because we could put a lot of time and energy and money into creating a full, old-school CD-style album, and then the day it's released it'll be free on the Internet. That's the way the world wants to do it, so we're gonna say, 'Well, that's not what we're gonna do.' I think that doing a song or two at a time, doing a mini-campaign behind it, working your social media angle on that, that's a little bit more in tune with what's happening now. And there are several tunes that are in different states of completion, so there'll be stuff coming out down the road."

Hansen's bandmate, bassist Jeff Pilson, also confirmed that there have been discussions about members of the original FOREIGNER lineup, including Gramm, rejoining the group for select dates on FOREIGNER's upcoming tour to celebrate the band's debut album's 40th anniversary. "It's very possible," Jeff said. "There's the hope that at some point Lou could join us for a couple of songs at some of the shows." "There have been discussions," added Hansen. "There's nothing set in stone. We're throwing around some things that could happen, so definitely it's something that has been put out into the atmosphere."

To coincide with the tour, FOREIGNER — Hansen, Pilson, Mick Jones (lead guitar),Tom Gimbel (rhythm guitar, sax, vocals),Michael Bluestein (keyboards),Bruce Watson (guitar) and Chris Frazier (drums) — will release a celebratory 40th-anniversary album, titled "40 - Forty Hits From Forty Years" (Rhino),that features forty FOREIGNER tracks throughout the years. This album is a comprehensive compilation of original hits and several tracks from the current lineup with Hansen on vocals, including "Can't Slow Down", "Too Late" and the Top 20 AC hit "When It Comes To Love". The album also features two new songs, "The Flame Still Burns" and "Give My Life For Love", a brand new song by Jones.

"A Foreigner's Tale", the band's first-ever official biography, will be made available in various formats, including a limited edition. Produced in conjunction with Rocket 88 Books, it tells the story of FOREIGNER in the words of Jones.