Foreigner - 4

Foreigner was one of those bands people loved to dump on. They were a commercial behemoth, and the band had been on a killer run releasing one multiple platinum album after another since their debut in '77. 

Apparently their previous album Head Games from '79 had reportedly "under performed" compared to Double Vision. Which doesn't make any sense, for goodness sake the album has gone on to sell over 5,000,000 copies in the States alone ... sure Double Vision sold a couple million more than that south of the border but Head Games was hardly a failure. Whatever the reason the band would take some time and literally regroup. They'd jettison Ian McDonald (keyboards, guitars, backing vocals) and Al Greenwood (keyboards) and emerge as a lean mean hit making machine.

Depending on where you got on the wagon reactions to 4 were a little split. For me, I'd always liked the songs I heard on the radio, but my first album was Head Games, and that was a transitional album in many ways. The last vestiges of the '70s progressive roots had been cut away, laying bare the arrangements. Maybe that's why some were giving the album bad press - who knows, I suspect it was just easier to kick a band who was successful than admit they were onto something ... but for me boy howdy the band was onto something.

Foreigner embraced the new decade with a bear hug. Enlisting Robert "Mutt" Lange, a guy who was better known for working with bands like City Boy, AC/DC and weirdly (at least to me) The Boomtown Rats, to help produce the album. There was something special about the songs, and while the songs were rooted in the '70s the addition of Thomas Dolby on synthesizers was the secret sauce the added a new dimension to the entire album. It wasn't just about the use of new technology it was how it was used. Rather than lean into bleeding edge sounds the keyboards were a texture and an essential ingredient that was used to flavour, and somehow the album has managed to age incredibly well.

I tend to be a tad lazy, but since this is such a classic album let's pull this apart one song at a time just to show how the sum of the parts still managed to be greater than the whole ... and this was a pretty great whole. Besides who doesn't love a list?

1. Right out of the gate the band opens with "Night Life" a song that had no single potential, that served to set the stage for the album, even if it was a bait and switch. Lou Gramm was front and centre, and his voice was soaring and growling, and Mick's guitar work was blistering. The song felt like a continuation stylistically of what "Dirty White Boy" was evoking. 
2. Then the kick and synth opened "Juke Box Hero" and it was like nothing I'd heard before. It would smoulder before bursting into flame, with Mick delivering a true to form fingers stuck in the strings stuttering solo - that is still melting faces over forty years later. 
3. Then came another gut punch, "Break It Up" that felt like vintage Foreigner, but it was so much more. The keyboards were so tasty, and the band was ripping it up. 
4. Then the band dropped a ballad. Except this wasn't just a ballad it was the slow dance to end all slow dances. The opening synthesizer run in "Waiting For a Girl Like You" that gives way to Lou's vocals is nothing short of magic. I am partial to rock songs, but goodness gracious this was next level goodness. Honestly this was next level. 
5. Then the band casually closes out the first side with "Luanne" a song that was right back to the blues structured rock and roll that was catchy and felt like a left over from an old sock hop ... don't mistake this for being a throwaway tune. The first side was all over the place stylistically but it still felt cohesive. 
6. Still, flipping the album over, it was the next song that truly set the entire album apart. For many of us, "Urgent" was the song we heard on the radio, and it was the reason we picked up the album. This song was next level awesome, from the delayed guitars, to the keyboards and the saxophone solo, this was something special. The band wisely sequenced the album to have this open the second side. That meant that it wasn't the first song you heard if you listened sequentially. At least the first time through most of us will play a record in order, it ensured the listener got to hear all the great songs from the first side. Of course after you could just play the second side if you wanted to hear "Urgent" first. Win - win.
7. "I'm Gonna Win" is another album track that didn't pretend to be a single, it was a heavy riff centred song with a snarling Lou delivering the lyrics with audible vitriol, as if daring the listener to skip the track. 
8. "Woman in Black" is a song I always liked a lot. The groove and riff is so good, and Mick's tone is on point.
9. When it comes to songs that have gotten under my skin "Girl on the Moon" is probably one of the best Foreigner songs ever. Hugh McCracken provided the slide guitar work on the song, and it is haunting. The opening chord sequence combined with Hugh's slide work and Mr. Dolby's keyboard accents make for a riveting listen. There is a strong case to be made that Lou had the best set of pipes in the business. His vocals here are just dialed back enough to convey the emotion yet strong enough to be front and centre. Did I mention Hugh's slide work? What a song.
10. The album closes out with "Don't Let Go" that again digs into Mick's riffs and serves as a nice bookend to the album's opener "Night Life." For all the new sounds on the album at the end of the day Foreigner was still a rock and roll band although there was a sense of rebirth on 4, it was just and foremost a Foreigner album. If you were a fan before, you were likely more a fan after hearing this. If you weren't a fan before, there's a good chance it made you a convert.

For me, this was the album that really cemented my love for the band, and I'd follow them through the '80s and beyond. It also served as my initial introduction to Thomas Dolby which was a good thing. I still find it somewhat odd how much hate the band would generate for being overly "commercial" which was weird to me as they were just Foreigner and was it really their fault people liked what they heard?