Another anniversary for the band, another opportunity to do something special for the fans and all that. Formed in 1976 by guitarist Mick Jones, Foreigner are now five decades old. Cue a bunch of birthday shenanigans of varying quality.
In The Eye Of The Storm is a live album soundtrack to the concert film of the same title, due for release this summer, so named because at the time of recording on Ellis Island, in September 2025, a massive thunderstorm rolled across New York and almost rained off the filming session. Rather than capturing lightning in a bottle, however, this marketing story somewhat overpromises when it comes to thrills and spills. The eye of a storm in this instance is, notably, rather calm, that word more apt when describing the five tracks taken from the event.
What we have here, of course, is a lineup that doesn’t include any of the original members, although legendary vocalist Lou Gramm and original keyboard player Al Greenwood do put in an appearance and spice things up a bit, Gramm flexing his lung power alongside long-serving vocalist Kelly Hansen and relative newcomer Luis Maldonado.
Keeping things comfortable, we get Double Vision, Feels Like The First Time, Hot Blooded and Long, Long Way From Home from the first two studio LPs, plus, inevitably, I Want To Know What Love Is from Agent Provocateur. It’s all fine and delivered with plenty of passion, although presenting the songs as discreet tracks with almost zero crowd noise means almost zero live atmosphere.
The other half of the album comprises a live acoustic set from Brooklyn’s Dumbo House club and includes Blue Morning, Blue Day, Fool For You Anyway, Juke Box Hero and a punchy eight-minute take on Hot Blooded; the cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water, while perfectly pitched, is a bit of a sombre outlier in the middle of a rather polite party. Compared with the full-powered first half of the record, the acoustic set is, ironically, more characterful and fun, allowing for some lively jamming, although it suffers from the same lack of atmospheric frisson.
Concert films are often hit-and-miss, their soundtracks perhaps even more so. In The Eye Of The Storm is not going to be rubbing shoulders with the classics, and not even going to trouble much of Foreigner’s own live output. Ultimately, it’s a bit of an anniversary curio, a pleasant souvenir to add to the collection.
