4
Studio album by
Foreigner
ReleasedJuly 3, 1981[1]
RecordedDecember 1980 − April 1981
StudioElectric Lady Studios (New York City)
Genre
Length42:10
LabelAtlantic
ProducerRobert John "Mutt" Lange
Foreigner chronology
Head Games
(1979)		 4
(1981)		 Records
(1982)
Singles from 4
  1. "Urgent"
    Released: June 1981 (US)
  2. "Waiting for a Girl Like You"
    Released: October 1981 (US)[3]
  3. "Juke Box Hero"
    Released: October 1981 (UK)
  4. "Don't Let Go"
    Released: March 1982 (IRL)[4]
  5. "Break It Up"
    Released: April 1982 (US)
  6. "Luanne"
    Released: July 1982 (US)
  7. "Girl on the Moon"
    Released: 1982 (NL)[5]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Q[7]

4, also known as Foreigner 4, is the fourth studio album by the British-American rock band Foreigner, released on July 3, 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's name signifies that it is the band's fourth studio album and also the fact that the band's membership had reduced from six to four members. Musically, it showed Foreigner shifting from hard rock to more accessible mainstream rock and pop music.[8]

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 six million copies in the U.S. alone.

Background and writing

The album was originally titled Silent Partners and later was changed to 4,[9] reflecting both the fact that it was Foreigner's fourth album and that the band now consisted of four members. In 1981, art studio Hipgnosis was asked to design a cover based on the original title, and it developed a black-and-white image of a young man in bed with a pair of binoculars suspended in the air overhead.[10] The design was rejected by the band as they felt that it was "too homosexual."[9] The replacement cover for 4 was designed by Bob Defrin and modeled after an old fashioned film leader. Hipgnosis received credit for the design of the label.

Both Ian McDonald and Al Greenwood had departed the group before the recording of 4, partly because they wanted to take a more significant role in writing songs while Mick Jones wanted to control the songwriting along with Lou Gramm.[11][12] As a result, all of the songs on the album are compositions by Jones and/or Gramm. McDonald, who had played saxophone, and Greenwood, who had played keyboards, were replaced by session musicians, including Junior Walker, who played the saxophone solo in the bridge of "Urgent", and a young Thomas Dolby.

During the course of the 10 months in which the album was recorded, the starting time of the band's daily work in the recording studio transitioned from noon to midnight.[11] This changing schedule inspired the opening song on the album, "Night Life."[11] According to Jones, "The later it got at night, the bigger the buzz got, and a lot of weird characters, some of them hookers, would appear. It was a big mixture of a lot of different characters – so that was the inspiration for opening song, 'Night Life.'”[11]

Reception

The editors of Classic Rock called 4 Foreigner's "masterpiece."[13] Ultimate Classic Rock critic Matt Wardlaw rated four of the songs from 4—"Juke Box Hero," "Waiting for a Girl Like You," "Urgent" and "Night Life"—among Foreigner's top 10 songs.[14] Ultimate Classic Rock critic Eduardo Rivadavia rated two of the songs from 4—"Girl on the Moon" and "Woman in Black"—among Foreigner's 10 most-underrated songs.[15] Classic Rock critic Malcolm Dome also rated two songs from 4 among Foreigner's 10 most underrated—"I’m Gonna Win," which he compares to "Juke Box Hero," at #8 and "Night Life,"—which he praises for its "confident energy," at #1.[16] PopMatters critic Evan Sawdey called "Night Life" a "remarkably limp album opener."[17]

Mick Jones has rated three of the songs from 4 ("Urgent," "Juke Box Hero" and "Girl on the Moon") among his 11 favorite Foreigner songs.[18]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mick Jones, with additional songwriting by Lou Gramm on tracks 1-2, 4-5 and 9-10.

No.TitleLength
1."Night Life"3:48
2."Juke Box Hero"4:18
3."Break It Up"4:11
4."Waiting for a Girl Like You"4:49
5."Luanne" (On some vinyl editions, "Luanne" is listed as 3:11)3:25
6."Urgent"4:29
7."I'm Gonna Win"4:51
8."Woman in Black"4:42
9."Girl on the Moon"3:49
10."Don't Let Go"3:58
Bonus tracks on 2002 reissue, recorded in 1999[19]
No.TitleLength
11."Juke Box Hero" ("Nearly Unplugged" Version)3:06
12."Waiting for a Girl Like You" ("Nearly Unplugged" Version)2:50

Personnel

Foreigner

Additional personnel

Production

  • Production: Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Mick Jones
  • Recording and engineering: Dave Wittman (chief engineer) and Tony Platt (basic tracks)
  • Second engineer: Brad Samuelsohn
  • Assistant engineers: Edwin Hobgood and Michel Sauvage
  • Mastering: George Marino at Sterling Sound, New York
  • Art direction: Bob Defrin
  • Design: Hipgnosis
  • Management: Bud Prager

Rereleases

4 was released in 2001 in multichannel DVD-Audio,[20] and on September 14, 2011, on hybrid stereo-multichannel Super Audio CD by Warner Japan in its Warner Premium Sound series.[21] It was rereleased in June 2015 by Atlantic Records as premium 180-gram vinyl with its original 1981 track listing.

Charts

Certifications and sales

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[34] Platinum 50,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[35] 4× Platinum 400,000^
France (SNEP)[36] Gold 100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[37] Platinum 500,000^
Israel[38] Gold 25,000[38]
United Kingdom (BPI)[39] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[40] 6× Platinum 6,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ "RIAA certifications for Foreigner". Recording Industry Association of America.
  2. ↑ Deggans, Eric (1998). "Foreigner". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 446-447.
  3. ↑ "Foreigner singles".
  4. ↑ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 301. ISBN 9780862415419.
  5. ↑ "Foreigner singles".
  6. ↑ Rivadavia, Eduardo. Foreigner: 4 at AllMusic. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  7. ↑ Taylor, Sam (March 1996). "Foreigner". Q: 114.
  8. ↑ "Foreigner 4". Classic Rock. July 10, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  9. 1 2 "Anecdotes, "Curio Corner" - Foreigner - Silent Partners". Archived from the original on 2012-02-26. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
  10. ↑ Stone, Mee-Lai (26 November 2014). "Hipgnosis' mind-bending album art – in pictures". The Guardian.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Jeffries, Neil (July 2, 2016). "The Strange And True Story of Foreigner 4". Classic Rock. Louder Sound. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  12. ↑ Eric Minton (September 19, 1981). "Rick Wills of Foreigner is happy to be a juke box hero". The Sun. p. 18. Retrieved 2022-06-18 – via newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Foreigner - Foreigner 4: Album Of The Week Club Review". Classic Rock. Louder Sound. October 9, 2018. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  14. ↑ Wardlaw, Matt (May 2, 2015). "Top 10 Foreigner Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  15. ↑ Rivadavia, Eduardo (May 2, 2013). "Top 10 Underrated Foreigner Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  16. ↑ Dome, Malcolm (17 June 2016). "The Top 10 Most Underrated Foreigner Songs". Classic Rock. Louder Sound. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  17. ↑ Sawday, Evan (November 26, 2014). "Foreigner: The Complete Atlantic Studio Albums 1977-1991". PopMatters. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  18. ↑ "Mick Jones' 11 Favourite Foreigner Songs". Classic Rock. Louder Sound. April 26, 2017. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  19. ↑ "Foreigner – 4".
  20. ↑ Audio Revolution review Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine of Foreigner’s 4 DVD-Audio.
  21. ↑ Warner Premium Sound 14 September releases Archived August 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (in Japanese). Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  22. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 116. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  23. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0430". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  24. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Foreigner – 4" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  25. ↑ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – F". Infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2012. Select Foreigner from the menu, then press OK.
  26. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Foreigner – 4" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  27. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  28. ↑ "Charts.nz – Foreigner – 4". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  29. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Foreigner – 4". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  30. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  31. ↑ "Foreigner Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  32. ↑ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. 1981. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  33. ↑ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. 1982. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  34. ↑ "Foreigner is no stranger Down Under" (PDF). Cash Box. September 3, 1983. p. 17. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  35. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Foreigner – Foreigner 4". Music Canada. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  36. ↑ "French album certifications – Foreigner – 4" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 9 September 2021. Select FOREIGNER and click OK. 
  37. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Foreigner)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  38. 1 2 "Ertegun Offers Optimism At WEA Europe Meeting". Billboard. September 11, 1982. p. 49. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
  39. ↑ "British album certifications – Foreigner – 4". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  40. ↑ "American album certifications – Foreigner – 4". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
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