Foreigner – 4

Although punk rock's furious revolution threatened to overthrow rock's old guard in 1977, bands like Foreigner came along and proved that there was plenty of room in the marketplace for both the violent, upstart minimalism of punk and the airbrushed slickness of what would be called "arena rock." Along with Boston, Journey, Heart, and others, Foreigner celebrated professionalism over raw emotion…

Foreigner achieved massive success on a global scale during the Seventies and Eighties thanks to a long list of hit singles and sold-out tours. Today, the group's sales exceed 80 million records, a figure that places Foreigner among the best-selling bands of all time. Their classic songs continue to resonate with fans in the modern era, having just recently received RIAA gold and platinum awards for digital sales on six of their iconic rock anthems…

With over 50 million sales to their name, and six multi-platinum albums between 1977 and 1987, Foreigner's place as one of the front-runners of the AOR genre is hard to dispute…

Foreigner - Foreigner (1977). Blissful feelings arise at the mere mention of 70s arena rock. It gives listeners the permission to have fun, sing along to aircraft-hangar-size choruses, play air guitar solos, forget about any troubles, recall the experience of a first kiss, and quite simply, rock out. Few albums better instill these pleasures than Foreigner’s 1977 self-titled debut album, a five-times platinum blockbuster chock full of salacious riffs, soaring vocals, edgy beats, and lyrics that practically demand to be shouted.
Spearheaded by guitar hero Mick Jones, fresh off success with Spooky Tooth, Foreigner rallied around a talented collective pulled from the U.S. and U.K…

While quite a few arena rock acts of the '70s found it difficult to sustain their popularity beyond that decade, several acts continued to flourish and enjoyed some of their biggest commercial success: Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, and especially Foreigner. Foreigner's leader from the beginning has been British guitarist Mick Jones, who first broke into the music biz as a "hired gun" of sorts, appearing on recordings by George Harrison and Peter Frampton, and as part of a latter-day version of hard rockers Spooky Tooth. By the mid-'70s, Jones had relocated to New York City, where he was a brief member of the Leslie West Band and served as an A&R man for a record company. But it wasn't long before Jones felt the urge to be part of another rock outfit as he sought to put together a band that would be able to combine elements of rock, progressive, R&B, and pop into a single, cohesive style.

While quite a few arena rock acts of the '70s found the transformation into the '80s quite difficult, several acts continued to flourish and enjoyed some of their biggest commercial success: Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, and especially Foreigner. Foreigner's leader from the beginning has been British guitarist Mick Jones, who first broke into the music biz as a "hired gun" of sorts, appearing on recordings by George Harrison and Peter Frampton, and as part of a later-day version of hard rockers Spooky Tooth.