Foreigner

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…

Taking a cue from the Eagles, Foreigner decided to release their first album in 15 years, creating a package that touches upon all phases of their past and into the present on the three-disc Can't Slow Down…

It's easy to say that Rhino's Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology is the definitive Foreigner retrospective, simply because there's so much music here: 39 tracks over the course of two discs, including all the hits, the bulk of notable album tracks, solo cuts from Lou Gramm and Mick Jones, plus two tracks from Jones-era Spooky Tooth…

Foreigner is universally hailed as one of the most popular rock bands in the world, racking up scores of smash hits, multi-platinum albums and sold out concert tours. From 'Cold As Ice' to 'Hot Blooded', 'Urgent' to 'Juke Box Hero' and 'Waiting for a Girl Like You'. Foreigner's thrilling mix of blustery blues and impeccably crafted pop continues to captivate generation after generation of music fans. Today, over 80 million albums later, Foreigner is an ensemble of talented musicians each adding their individual credentials to make the band stronger and more powerful than ever. Besides founding member and leader Mick Jones on lead guitar and vocals, the band s line up consists of Kelly Hansen (Ex-Hurricane) as lead singer, Tom Gimbel ( Aerosmith) on guitar, saxophone, flute, and backing vocals; Jeff Jacobs on keyboards, Jeff Pilson (Ex-Dokken, Dio and MSG) on bass; and Jason Bonham (son of Led Zeppelin's drummer John Bonham) on drums.

Foreigner's most lucrative years came during their first four albums, with their guitar-driven arena rock flair settling in nicely with the rest of the late-'70s music scene. Twelve of Foreigner's 16 Top 40 singles are from a six year span, between 1977 and 1982, which is why Records makes for such an entertaining collection of the band's early work. With cuts stemming from Foreigner, Double Vision, Head Games, and 4, Records lines up ten of their first 11 hit singles, somehow leaving out 1979's "Blue Morning, Blue Day." But even with this minor deletion, the album is agreeably brief, and it's the most opportune route in exploring Foreigner's best material. Both "Cold As Ice" and "Double Vision" are stellar examples of Lou Gramm's vocal gusto and Mick Jones' bang-on guitar playing, while favorites like "Urgent" (with Junior Walker on sax ), "Head Games," and "Feels Like the First Time," with its shiny keyboard segments, are unblemished radio-rock standards.

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…

With Rick Willis on bass, Dennis Elliot playing drums, Mick Jones on guitar/keyboards, and the debut of Johnny Edwards from King Kobra and Buster Brown on vocals, the 1991 version of Foreigner actually was better than one would expect. Ten of the 11 songs on the Unusual Heat CD were written by co-producer Terry Thomas, new singer Johnny Edwards, and band mainstay Mick Jones, and they still had that bombast and brash appeal of the group which once featured so many textures brought to life by the voice of Lou Gramm. The unusual thing about Unusual Heat is that it is actually a good product and quite listenable.

Over the course of their first three late-'70s albums, Foreigner had firmly established themselves (along with Journey and Styx) as one of the top AOR bands of the era. But the band was still looking for that grand slam of a record that would push them to the very top of the heap. Released in 1981, 4 would be that album. In producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange – fresh off his massive success with AC/DC's Back in Black – guitarist and all-around mastermind Mick Jones found both the catalyst to achieve this and his perfect musical soulmate…

14 tracks previously never released on one album of FOREIGNER's best and most timeless ballads. Embracing over thirty years of award winning creativity, "I Want To Know What Love Is – The Ballads" is available in two different editions: as Standard Edition and 2CD Special Edition. Foreigner is an English-American rock band, originally formed in New York City in 1976 by veteran English musician and ex–Spooky Tooth member Mick Jones, and fellow Briton and ex–King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm. Jones came up with the band's name as he, McDonald and Dennis Elliott were British, while Gramm, Al Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi were American.