4 (Foreigner album)
| 4 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Studio album by Foreigner | ||||
| Released | July 2, 1981 | |||
| Recorded | Electric Lady Studios, New York City, 1981 | |||
| Genre | Rock, hard rock | |||
| Length | 42:10 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Producer | Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Mick Jones | |||
| Foreigner chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
4, also known as Foreigner 4, is the fourth studio album by British-American rock band Foreigner, released in 1981 on Atlantic Records. Several singles from the album were successful, including "Urgent", "Waiting for a Girl Like You", and "Juke Box Hero". These propelled the album to being Foreigner's only #1 album in the US.
Contents |
[edit] Background and writing
The album was originally titled Silent Partners and later was changed to 4. In 1981, renowned artist Storm Thorgerson was asked to design a cover based on the original title, and he developed a black & white image of a young man in bed with a pair of binoculars looming overhead. The resulting design was rejected by the band as they felt it was "too homosexual".[2] The replacement cover for 4 was designed by Bob Defrin and modeled after an old fashioned film leader.
The album marked the completion of the band's shift to hard rock, begun in Head Games. Both Ian McDonald and Al Greenwood had left before the recording of 4. As a result, all of the songs on the album are compositions by Mick Jones and/or Lou Gramm. McDonald and Greenwood had played saxophone and keyboards, respectively, and so several session musicians were needed to replace their contributions, among them Junior Walker, who played the saxophone solo in the bridge of "Urgent", and a young Thomas Dolby, who would later have a successful solo career.
[edit] Track listing
All Songs Copyright Somerset Songs & Evansongs, Ltd. ASCAP
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Night Life" | Jones, Gramm | 3:48 |
| 2. | "Juke Box Hero" | Gramm, Jones | 4:18 |
| 3. | "Break It Up" | Jones | 4:11 |
| 4. | "Waiting for a Girl Like You" | Jones, Gramm | 4:49 |
| 5. | "Luanne" (On some vinyl editions, "Luanne" is listed as 3:11[3]) | Gramm, Jones | 3:25 |
| 6. | "Urgent" | Jones | 4:29 |
| 7. | "I'm Gonna Win" | Jones | 4:51 |
| 8. | "Woman in Black" | Jones | 4:42 |
| 9. | "Girl on the Moon" | Jones, Gramm | 3:49 |
| 10. | "Don't Let Go" | Jones, Gramm | 3:48 |
| Bonus tracks on 2002 re-issue, recorded in 1999 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 11. | "Juke Box Hero" (nearly unplugged version) | 3:06 | |||||||
| 12. | "Waiting for a Girl Like You" (nearly unplugged version) | 2:50 | |||||||
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Foreigner
- Lou Gramm – Lead vocal, percussion
- Mick Jones – guitar, keyboards, background vocal
- Rick Wills – bass, background vocal
- Dennis Elliott – drums, vocals, background vocal
[edit] Additional personnel
- Hugh McCracken – slide guitar on track 9
- Tom Dolby – main synthesizers
- Larry Fast – sequential synthesizer on tracks 2, 3 & 10
- Michael Fonfara – keyboard textures on tracks 6 & 9
- Bob Mayo – keyboard textures on track 4
- Mark Rivera – saxophone on tracks 6 (except solo) & 3, background vocals
- Junior Walker – saxophone solo on track 6
- Ian Lloyd – background vocals
- Robert John "Mutt" Lange – background vocals
[edit] Production
- Produced By Robert John "Mutt" Lange & Mick Jones
- Recorded & Engineered By Dave Wittman (Chief Engineer) & Tony Platt (basic tracks)
- Second Engineer: Brad Samuelsohn
- Assistant Engineers: Edwin Hobgood & Michel Sauvage
- Mastered By George Marino
[edit] Surround releases
This album has been released in 2001 in multichannel DVD-Audio,[4] and and on 14 September, 2011, on hybrid stereo-multichannel Super Audio CD by Warner Japan in their Warner Premium Sound series.[5]
[edit] Certifications
| Region | Certification | Sales/shipments |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[6] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[7] | 6× Platinum | 6,000,000^ |
|
^shipments figures based on certification alone |
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[edit] Charts
 |
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011) |
Album – Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Pop Albums | 1 |
Singles – Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | "Juke Box Hero" | Mainstream Rock | 3 |
| 1981 | "Night Life" | Mainstream Rock | 14 |
| 1981 | "Urgent" | Club Play Singles | 32 |
| 1981 | "Urgent" | Mainstream Rock | 1 |
| 1981 | "Urgent" | Pop Singles | 4 |
| 1981 | "Waiting for a Girl Like You" | Adult Contemporary | 5 |
| 1981 | "Waiting for a Girl Like You" | Mainstream Rock | 1 |
| 1981 | "Waiting for a Girl Like You" | Pop Singles | 2 |
| 1982 | "Break It Up" | Pop Singles | 26 |
| 1982 | "Juke Box Hero" | Pop Singles | 26 |
| 1982 | "Luanne" | Pop Singles | 75 |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r7629/review
- ^ "Anecdotes, "Curio Corner" - Foreigner - Silent Partners". http://www.stormthorgerson.com/html/cc/CC03.html. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
- ^ "Foreigner - 4". Discogs.com. http://www.discogs.com/Foreigner-4/master/82436. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
- ^ Audio Revolution review of Foreigner’s 4 DVD-Audio.
- ^ Warner Premium Sound 14 September releases (in Japanese). Retrieved 2011-11-03.
- ^ "British album certifications – Foreigner – 4". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx. Enter 4 in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
- ^ "American album certifications – Foreigner – 4". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%224%22. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
| Preceded by "Precious Time" by Pat Benatar "Tattoo You" by The Rolling Stones "For Those About to Rock We Salute You" by AC/DC |
Billboard 200 number-one album August 22 – September 4, 1981 November 21 – December 25, 1981 January 16 – February 5, 1982 |
Succeeded by "Bella Donna" by Stevie Nicks "For Those About to Rock We Salute You" by AC/DC "Freeze Frame" by The J. Geils Band |
