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The new Foreigner singer kicks ass...

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Jeran

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Avd3byiao&feature=youtu.be

I know a lot of you are big fans of Lou Graham, and Foreigner is pretty much Fauxreigner, these days, but Kelly Hanson can wail.

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Kelly is great. I remember him from his days with Hurricane. I liked his voice, but didn't like the band's songs.

However, I wanted NO part of him fronting Foreigner. I couldn't envision it "working" to save my life, and I was unwilling to give it a chance.

Then one day about 2-3 years ago, I was standing in my kitchen and heard a promo for their "Rockin at the Ryman" concert special on HDNet. I heard "Hot Blooded" and assumed they were using old concert footage in the promo, but low and behold it was a clip from the Ryman show. It was Kelly singing.

So, I decided I should give it a shot, and I was thoroughly impressed. Yes, there are subtle difference between him and Lou, and they became gradually more apparent throughout the show. But I know of a few casual fans who couldn't identify Lou by face who saw the concert, and assumed it was the singer they've always had.

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Personally, if a band is going to replace their singer, I'd much rather the new guy have his own sound that works within the context of the band. I wouldn't want an exact sound-alike. They're already barely more than a tribute act, as it is.

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And Jeran, you also make a good point. For example, when Queen brought in Paul Rogers, someone who's voice is so completely different than Freddie's, making a valid new musical statement, standing on it's own without denigrating or replacing the legacy of Freddie.

Or, AC/DC, bringing in Brian Johnson, a different sound than Bon Scott and just as valid, for many a decade.

In fact, Bon Scott had said, if anything every happened to him, that Brian Johnson should replace him. Truth is stranger than fiction.

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You can't really blame big name acts for replacing a beloved singer with a sound-alike. Not every band is as lucky as AC/DC and Van Halen was. The vocals are often the most identifiable factor of a band, and making a drastic change is risky.

The band Saliva, for example. Josey Scott is no longer in the band, and in my opinion, it was his voice that separated the band from all the other "nu-metal" acts that have taken off in the last ten years or so. Their new singer doesn't have a very distinct voice at all, in my opinion, and the band as a whole sounds very "cookie cutter" metal to me now.

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lol!!!!

lou is a hard act to follow. just trying to sing those songs helped me so much as a singer. yes, i admit i like having a little of his voice in mine....

there is still that punch and intensity that defines him. he has such a distinctiveness...

i.m.o., he really made foreigner

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You can't really blame big name acts for replacing a beloved singer with a sound-alike. Not every band is as lucky as AC/DC and Van Halen was. The vocals are often the most identifiable factor of a band, and making a drastic change is risky.

The band Saliva, for example. Josey Scott is no longer in the band, and in my opinion, it was his voice that separated the band from all the other "nu-metal" acts that have taken off in the last ten years or so. Their new singer doesn't have a very distinct voice at all, in my opinion, and the band as a whole sounds very "cookie cutter" metal to me now.

I likes me some "click, click, boom."

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^ That's a great song to cover. Fun and wakes a crowd up. Their entire first album was chock full of songs similar to it, and a surprisingly deep and haunting song about Josie's father dying titled "My Goodbyes".

http://mp3skull.com/mp3/saliva_my_goodbyes.html

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