Unusual Heat
Studio album by
Foreigner
ReleasedJune 14, 1991
Recorded1990
Studio
Genre
Length51:30
LabelAtlantic
Producer
Foreigner chronology
Inside Information
(1987)		 Unusual Heat
(1991)		 The Very Best ... and Beyond
(1992)
Singles from Unusual Heat
  1. "Lowdown and Dirty"
    Released: June 1991[1]
  2. "I'll Fight for You"
    Released: August 1991[2]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Entertainment WeeklyD[4]
Rolling Stone[5]

Unusual Heat is the seventh studio album by British-American rock band Foreigner, released on June 14, 1991, by Atlantic Records.[6] Recorded at several different studios across the state of New York and England, and produced by Terry Thomas and Mick Jones, it was the only album with lead singer Johnny Edwards. He replaced original lead singer Lou Gramm after the latter had parted company in 1990. Edwards, a veteran singer who'd done a tour of duty with Montrose and was then the frontman for another Atlantic act, Wild Horses. As Edwards told UCR in a separate interview, Wild Horses had only just signed its record deal — and although joining for Foreigner was obviously tempting for financial reasons if nothing else, he was reluctant to walk away from his own band after struggling for years to make it on his own terms.

Jones, however, was undeterred—and eager to work with a singer most fans hadn't heard of rather than hiring a big-name replacement who'd come with his own baggage. "We were in rehearsal and talks with a couple of guys who were both strong candidates and had kind of a name," he admitted. "I felt eventually that it was probably going to be better to not try and put an all-star band together, but to keep on the same kind of path with four people being involved in making a record and not really, I think I would probably say, cheapening the band at that point—cheapening the meaning and the direction of the band." [7]

Unusual Heat was a commercial failure, only peaking at number 117 on the Billboard 200 chart[8] – a sharp decline in sales comparing with all previous albums, all of which reached the Top 20 and became at least Platinum. Neither of the two singles released from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Lowdown and Dirty" only charting on the Mainstream Rock chart at #4.[9]

The original version of the song "Ready for the Rain", demoed by the Sacramento, CA based band Northrup in the late 1980s with Johnny Edwards on lead vocals, was finally released in 2001 by Metal Mayhem Music as part of a collection of demos under the name JK Northrup.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mick Jones, Johnny Edwards, and Terry Thomas, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Only Heaven Knows" 4:47
2."Lowdown and Dirty" 4:21
3."I'll Fight for You" 6:02
4."Moment of Truth" 4:25
5."Mountain of Love" 4:37
6."Ready for the Rain"Edwards, Jeff Northrup, Jones, Thomas5:02
7."When the Night Comes Down" 4:43
8."Safe in My Heart"Jones4:32
9."No Hiding Place" 3:55
10."Flesh Wound" 4:17
11."Unusual Heat" 4:32
Total length:51:30

Personnel

Foreigner

Additional musicians

  • Richard Cottle – keyboards
  • Tommy Mandel – keyboards
  • Terry Thomas – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals
  • Tony Beard – electronic percussion
  • Felix Krish – bass
  • Ian Lloyd – backing vocals
  • Mark Rivera – backing vocals
  • Rachele Cappelli – backing vocals
  • Angela Cappelli – backing vocals
  • Lani Groves – backing vocals
  • Vaneese Thomas – backing vocals

Production

  • Producers – Mick Jones and Terry Thomas
  • Recording Engineers – Rafe McKenna (Tracks 1, 3, 5-8 & 10); Andrew Scarth (Tracks 2, 4 & 9).
  • Assistant Engineers – Bruce Calder, Ellen Fitton, Michael Gilbert, Lolly Grodner, John Herman, Jon Mallison and Bernhard Speyer.
  • Mixing – Mick Jones and Terry Thomas (All tracks); Rafe McKenna (Tracks 1, 3, 5-8 & 10); Andrew Scarth (Tracks 2, 4 & 9).
  • Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound (New York, NY).
  • Art Direction – Reiner Design Consultants
  • Photography – Timothy White
  • Art Direction for band photography – Bob Defrin
  • Management – Bud Prager for E.S.P. Management, Inc.

Charts

References

  1. ↑ "The Great Rock Discography". p. 302.
  2. ↑ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 302. ISBN 9780862415419.
  3. ↑ Viglione, Joe. Foreigner: "Unusual Heat" Review at AllMusic. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  4. ↑ Browne, David (July 12, 1991). "Unusual Heat". Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  5. ↑ Evans, Paul (2004). "Foreigner". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (Completely Revised and Updated 4th ed.). New York: Fireside. p. 307. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  6. ↑ Giles, Jeff; Wardlaw, Matt (June 14, 2016). "25 Years Ago: Foreigner Start Over with 'Unusual Heat'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Ultimate Classic Rock".
  8. 1 2 "Foreigner Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  9. ↑ "Billboard - Mainstream Rock". Billboard.
  10. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Foreigner – Unusual Heat" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  11. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1611". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  12. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Foreigner – Unusual Heat" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  13. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  14. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Foreigner – Unusual Heat" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  15. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  16. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Foreigner – Unusual Heat". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  17. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Foreigner – Unusual Heat". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  18. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Foreigner – Unusual Heat". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  19. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  20. ↑ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1991". hitparade.ch. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
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