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4 |
Produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Mick Jones | |
Released on July 2, 1981 | |
US CHART POSITION #1 . . . 6x PLATINUM RECORD . . . UK CHART POSITION #4 | |
Find it at GEMM | |
SD 16999 cover [high resolution scan] |
K ronomyth 4.0: FOUREIGNER. Numerologists rejoice! The magic four is once more invoked, this time in a whittled piggy pun as Foreigner was reduced to a fourtet for their fourth album. The operative number at work here, really, is six million: the number of 4s sold in the US alone. Credit producer Mutt Lange (Highway to Hell, Back in Black) with finding a perfect balance between the rock guitars, synthesizers and Lou Gramm’s estimable pipes. Say what you will about the man, those two AC/DC albums, 4 and Pyramania speak for themselves as some of the best rock ever recorded. Lange’s production has the effect of turbocharging great rock songs (“Juke Box Hero,” “Urgent”) and elevating what might have otherwise been filler (“Break It Up,” “I’m Gonna Win,” “Girl On The Moon”). However, the real turning point for Foreigner occurs on the ballad, “Waiting For A Girl Like You.” Given a lush production a la 10cc’s “I’m Not In Love,” Waiting introduced a sensitive side to a group that, only one album earlier, seemed hell-bent for lifetime membership in the He-Man Woman Haters Club. Like it or not, Foreigner was now an arena rock band, and you don’t pack arenas with teenage boys alone. Of course a world tour followed, but then something strange happened: silence. Foureigner the Four-Headed Hydra was soon to become an animal of legend, not to be seen again for nearly four years, when they emerged with the mild (and merely triple platinum, pshaw) Agent Provocateur. Thus classic Foreigner stops at 4, but not a minute earlier.
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SD 16999 back cover | SD 16999 lyric sleeve |
TRACK LISTING
CREDITS
DENNIS ELLIOTT -- drums, background vocals
LOU GRAMM -- lead vocals, percussion
MICK JONES -- lead guitar, keyboards, background vocals
RICK WILLS -- bass guitar, background vocals
Tom Dolby -- main synthesizers
Larry Fast -- sequential synthesizer
Michael Fonfara -- keyboard textures (6,9)
"Mutt" Lange -- background vocals
Ian Lloyd -- background vocals
Bob Mayo -- additional keyboard textures (3,4)
Hugh McCracken -- slide guitar (9)
Mark Rivera -- saxophone, backing vocals
Jr. Walker -- saxophone solo (6)
Tony Platt -- basic track engineer
Dave Wittman -- chief engineer
Bob Defrin -- art direction
return to FOREIGNER discography
REGION | RELEASE DATE | LABEL | MEDIA | ID NUMBER | FEATURES |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US | July 2, 1981 | Atlantic | LP/CS | SD/CS 16999 | lyric sleeve |
UK | July 1981 | Atlantic | LP | K 50796 | lyric sleeve |
BRA | 1981 | WEA | LP | 42006 | |
CAN | 1981 | Atlantic | LP/CS | XSD/XCS 16999 | lyric sleeve |
GER | 1981 | Atlantic | LP | 50 796 | lyric sleeve |
JPN | 1981 | Atlantic | LP | P-10981 | lyric insert |
SAF | 1981 | Atlantic | LP | ATC-9780 | |
US | Atlantic | CD | 16999 | ||
GER | Atlantic | CD | 81486 | ||
US | October 1995 | Atlantic | CD | 82795 | |
US/UK/GER | April 2, 2002 | Rhino/Atlantic | CDX | 78275-2 | digital remaster w. bonus tracks |
UK | 2002 | Warner | DVDX | 43669 | DVD Audio w. bonus tracks |
JPN | 2007 | Warner | CDX | WPCR-12564 | digital remaster w. bonus tracks |
JPN | 2008 | Warner | CD | WPCR-13263 | SHMCD remaster |
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