FOREIGNER's KELLY HANSEN: 'I Don't Think That It Makes Sense To Put Out Full CDs Anymore'

FOREIGNER singer Kelly Hansen says that there are no plans for the band to record a full-length follow-up to 2009's "Can't Slow Down" album. "You know, I don't think that, in this day and age, it makes sense to put out full CDs anymore," he tells Antihero Magazine. "When we put out 'Can't Slow Down', the day we released it, you could get it for free on the Internet. That's just reflective of the day and age that we're in, unfortunately, so we spent a year, a full year of our life and our energy and our time and our money making 'Can't Slow Down' and then find out that they're getting it for free on the Internet is very disappointing. I think it makes more sense to do one or two songs at a time, maybe do a little mini-campaign around them, something like that, so I think that might be more of our approach in the future."

"Can't Slow Down" is the only full-length collection of new FOREIGNER songs to have been released by the band since Hansen took over vocals after original singer Lou Gramm left the band for good in 2002. The album entered the Billboard Top 30, driven by the radio singles "In Pieces" and "When It Comes To Love". The band also has released a series of live albums and compilations, including 2016's "In Concert: Unplugged" and 2017's "40".

Hansen told the Edmonton Journal last year that it doesn't make sense for FOREIGNER to throw out the back catalogue and concentrate on the new music that he made with the group. "The majority of people come to see us for the songs they love," he said. "If you forget that, and decide that you're going to serve yourself rather than the audience, you need to ask yourself why you're in the business. I'm in it to communicate with people. I don't want to alienate them by doing only what I want to do."

He added: "I respect the artists' right to do what they want, but I have a different philosophy. Personally, I want to hear a song that I love done the way that I've always heard it. That's how I perform as well — I mean, there's room for improvisation, of course, and bringing more to the song. It doesn't have to sound exactly like the original record."

FOREIGNER's latest release is "Foreigner With The 21st Century Symphony Orchestra And Chorus", which came out this past Friday, April 27. The set was recorded in Switzerland in May 2017 and features a 58-piece orchestra and 60-piece choir. It was made available in several formats, including CD, digital, double vinyl, as well as a CD/DVD digipak which is available only at Walmart.

"The biggest challenge was really trying to think of the possibilities that might have from filming and recording those two shows in Switzerland," Hansen told The Record Live. "It was just such a beautiful place. Despite having over 100 people on stage each night, we did a good job of planning and thinking it through so we would not have those potential problems."

FOREIGNER will join forces with WHITESNAKE and JASON BONHAM'S LED ZEPPELIN EVENING for a 30-date summer tour that kicks off in Bangor, Maine on June 15.