4 (Foreigner album)
| 4 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Foreigner | ||||
| Released | July 2, 1981 | |||
| Recorded | 1981 at Electric Lady Studios, New York City | |||
| Genre | Rock, hard rock | |||
| Length | 42:10 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Producer | Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Mick Jones | |||
| Foreigner chronology | ||||
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| Singles from 4 | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
4, also known as Foreigner 4, is the fourth studio album by the British-American rock band Foreigner, released on July 2, 1981 on Atlantic Records. Several singles from the album were hits, including "Urgent", "Waiting for a Girl Like You" and "Juke Box Hero".
The album was a success worldwide, holding the #1 position on the Billboard album chart for a total of 10 weeks. It eventually sold over seven million copies in the US alone.
Background and writing
The album was originally titled Silent Partners and later was changed to 4, reflecting both the fact that it was Foreigner's fourth album and that the band was now down to four members. In 1981, art studio Hipgnosis was asked to design a cover based on the original title, and they developed a black and white image of a young man in bed with a pair of binoculars looming overhead.[2] The resulting design was rejected by the band as they felt it was "too homosexual".[3] The replacement cover for 4 was designed by Bob Defrin and modelled after an old fashioned film leader. Hipgnosis is still credited with designing the record labels.
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
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Night Life" | Mick Jones, Lou 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[4]) | 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 | 3:58 |
| Bonus tracks on 2002 reissue, 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 |
Personnel
Foreigner
- Lou Gramm – lead vocals, percussion
- Mick Jones – guitar, backing vocals, keyboards
- Rick Wills – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Dennis Elliott – drums, backing vocals
Additional personnel
- Hugh McCracken – slide guitar on track 9
- Thomas Dolby – main synthesizers
- Larry Fast – sequential synthesizer on tracks 2, 3 and 10
- Michael Fonfara – keyboard textures on tracks 6 and 9
- Bob Mayo – keyboard textures on track 4
- Mark Rivera – saxophone on tracks 6 (except solo) and 3, backing vocals
- Junior Walker – saxophone solo on track 6
- Ian Lloyd – backing vocals
- Robert John "Mutt" Lange – backing vocals
Production
- Produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Mick Jones
- Recorded and engineered by Dave Wittman (chief engineer) and Tony Platt (basic tracks).
- Second engineer: Brad Samuelsohn
- Assistant engineers: Edwin Hobgood and Michel Sauvage
- Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound (New York, NY).
- Art Direction: Bob Defrin
- Design: Hipgnosis
- Management: Bud Prager
Surround releases
4 was released in 2001 in multichannel DVD-Audio,[5] and on September 14, 2011, on hybrid stereo-multichannel Super Audio CD by Warner Japan in their Warner Premium Sound series.[6] June 2015 saw its re-release on Atlantic Records premium 180-gram vinyl with its original 1981 classic track listing.
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[7] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
| France (SNEP)[8] | Gold | 100,000* |
| Germany (BVMI)[9] | Gold | 250,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[10] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[11] | 6× Platinum | 6,000,000^ |
|
^shipments figures based on certification alone | ||
Charts
Album – Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Billboard 200 | 1 |
Singles – Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | "Juke Box Hero" | Mainstream Rock | 3 |
| "Night Life" | Mainstream Rock | 14 | |
| "Urgent" | Club Play Singles | 32 | |
| Mainstream Rock | 1 | ||
| Pop Singles | 4 | ||
| "Waiting for a Girl Like You" | Adult Contemporary | 5 | |
| Mainstream Rock | 1 | ||
| Pop Singles | 2 | ||
| 1982 | "Break It Up" | Pop Singles | 26 |
| "Juke Box Hero" | Pop Singles | 26 | |
| "Luanne" | Pop Singles | 75 |
References
- ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r7629/review
- ↑ "Hipgnosis' mind-bending album art – in pictures".
- ↑ "Anecdotes, "Curio Corner" - Foreigner - Silent Partners". Retrieved 2009-08-13.
- ↑ "Foreigner - 4". Discogs.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
- ↑ Audio Revolution review of Foreigner’s 4 DVD-Audio.
- ↑ Warner Premium Sound 14 September releases Archived August 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. (in Japanese). Retrieved 2011-11-03.
- ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1999 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
- ↑ "French album certifications – Foreigner" (in French). InfoDisc. Select FOREIGNER and click OK
- ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Foreigner)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
- ↑ "British album certifications – Foreigner – 4". British Phonographic Industry. Enter 4 in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
- ↑ "American album certifications – Foreigner – 4". Recording Industry Association of America. 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 |
