Sunday, August 14, 2011

On the turntable this Sunday...Foreigner 4


4, also known as Foreigner 4, is the fourth studio album by British-American rock band Foreigner, released in 1981. 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.

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.

Track listing

All Songs Copyright Somerset Songs & Evansongs, Ltd. ASCAP
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Night Life"  Jones, Gramm3:48
2."Juke Box Hero"  Gramm, Jones4:18
3."Break It Up"  Jones4:11
4."Waiting for a Girl Like You"  Jones, Gramm4:49
5."Luanne" (On some vinyl editions, "Luanne" is listed as 3:11[3])Gramm, Jones3:25
6."Urgent"  Jones4:29
7."I'm Gonna Win"  Jones4:51
8."Woman in Black"  Jones4:42
9."Girl on the Moon"  Jones, Gramm3:49
10."Don't Let Go"  Jones, Gramm3:48
Bonus tracks on 2002 re-issue, recorded in 1999
No.TitleLength
11."Juke Box Hero" (nearly unplugged version)3:06
12."Waiting for a Girl Like You" (nearly unplugged version)2:50




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