FOREIGNER: Foreigner (A.O.R.): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Foreigner is the result of the fruition of 3 musicians. The first one, who quickly became the leader, is the British guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Mick Jones, ex-Spooky Tooth, but also known for his interventions with Peter Frampton or George Harrison. The second one is his compatriot guitarist and keyboards player Ian McDonald (ex King Crimson). Finally, the third is the American singer Lou Gramm (ex Black Sheep). Since the group settled in the United States, Jones suggested the name Foreigner in reference to his nationality, that he shares with McDonald and Dennis Elliott (drums).

This first eponymous album was released one year after the creation of the sextet and shows a group whose influences are already beginning to federate around a musical style in full creation: the AOR. We find the melody of Rock and Pop, the hook of Hard-Rock, but also in the case of Foreigner, structures flirting with Progressive. The main arguments of this first eponymous opus reside in the singing of a Lou Gramm who is simply breathtaking with his feeling, capable of hypnotizing us on the coolest tracks, as well as being more punchy and aggressive on the catchiest tracks. On his side, the talents of composer and arranger of Mick Jones already let us expect great things for this band.

The tracklist already includes the first hits of Foreigner with the simple and efficient rock of "Feels Like The First Time", the pop-rock "Cold As Ice" carried by a piano and choirs which are not without reminding Supertramp, and a surprising "Long, Long Way From Home" with its hard-rock guitar riff on a rhythmic flirting with the disco, the whole reinforced by some horns and a saxophone solo. For the rest, the band still gives the impression of searching a little, alternating more folk tracks ("Starrider" sung by Mick Jones) and others more muscular such as "Headknocker" with British rock accents à la T-Rex, or "At War With The World" alternating aggressive guitar riff and aerial refrain. But while "I Need You" is not without reminding Whitesnake with its groovy Blues-Rock-Soul and its excellent guitar solo, Foreigner already shows good arrangements for the calmer titles with a "The Damage Is Done" alternating however the tempos, and a semi-acoustic and seducing "Fool For You Anyway".

If all the tracks on this album have not necessarily got old, we should not forget that Mick Jones and his band will sell 4 millions copies and that, boosted by the three hits mentioned above, the band will be listed in the Top 20 sales for a whole year. If it is far from being the most achieved album of Foreigner, this first album remains a reference, not only for its historical role in the birth of a musical style still in gestation, but also for the hits that it contains, and the qualities that it already reveals. - Official website

FOREIGNER

FOREIGNER

ATLANTIC RECORDS

A.O.R.