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| "...and then there were four." |
1977 was a big year for British guitarists named Mick Jones.
One Mick Jones was unleashing furious punk anthems with The Clash, whose self-titled debut had upended the Monopoly board that was the UK music scene at a time when things had gotten entirely too predictable.
The other Mick Jones was tearing up the American airwaves as the guiding force behind Foreigner, whose smash hit "Cold Blooded" had introduced the band to every teenager in America.
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| Foreigner circa 1978. |
Of course, once you write a song like "Hot Blooded", the stakes are immediately raised and the kids come to expect every song to be at least as good.
The band, no doubt feeling the pressure to do so, released the aptly titled Head Games and experienced their first stumble, as it were. Make no mistake, the band's third album is no slouch, but because the band had raised the bar so considerably high the year before, songs like "Dirty White Boy" and "Head Games" fell just a notch short in the ears of American rock fans.
This was, after all, the third album in a career-defining trifecta and, with the dawn of a new decade, Jones knew he had to update the band's sound or be relegated to the trash heap of "rock and roll used to be's".
But how?
It was at this moment that Mick Jones reached deep down within himself and canned two of the band's original members. It was a ballsy move that came as a complete shock to Ian McDonald and Al Greenwood, but was no surprise to any of the band's fans who wondered why any band needed six members in the first place.
Even so, such a move would be looked upon as a crucial mistake if the band's next album failed to deliver.
With producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the lean, mean rock machine that was Foreigner V 2.0 entered New York's Electric Lady Studios and began the painstakingly arduous process of recording an album that would make the world forget all about "Hot Blooded" and "Cold As Ice".
Jones' penchant for micromanaging the band was matched only by Lange's penchant for micromanaging the recording sessions, which dragged on for three months longer than any previous Foreigner album, resulting in numerous clashes between the two.
The resulting album, however, would seem to prove that no diamond can be made overnight, or without the requisite volcanic eruptions. Ultimately, what makes 4 such a pivotal album is the band's ability to update their sound without abandoning it altogether.
"Night Life" opens the album with a nod to the ghost of Foreigner past, warming up the crowd for the band's masterful first step into the future on "Juke Box Hero".
"Break It Up"would have been a smash if it had been recorded for the band's debut effort, but here, it wasn't even deemed worthy of release as a single, which isn't a diss as much as a nod to the otherwise stellar quality of material gathered here.
On "Waiting For A Girl Like you", Lange and band manage the near impossible by crafting a ballad that doesn't get mired in saccharine production flourishes. Instead, Thomas Dolby's airy synth lines combine with the multi-layered backing vocals to give the song an evocative sophistication that recalls 10cc's "I'm Not In Love".
"Luanne" is as close to a neo-rockabilly rave-up as Foreigner will ever get, cleansing the palette for the arrival of perhaps the album's finest moment.
It is our estimation that "Urgent"would have been a hit in any form, and for any artist, but the care with which Lange adds such disparate elements as synths, slap bass and saxophone to create a song that didn't kill the band's career.
In fact, when it came time to add the saxophone part, Lange knew that no normal session player would do. Through a stroke of luck, one of Mick Jones's heroes Junior Walker, just happened to be in town for a performance and accepted the band's hasty invitation to play on the track.
Now, I'm usually the last person to praise a sax part, but Walker's contribution elevated the song to pure art without killing any of the song's immediacy, leading to the band's first #1 hit single.
The remainder of Side Two ("What's that, Grandpa?") sees the band reverting to their guitar-driven former selves, with the only diversion being the atmospheric "Girl On The Moon", which somehow escaped being considered for release as a single.
Were they afraid they'd sell another million copies?
Regardless, the album sold over five million copies and dominated radio airwaves for one solid, unrelenting year. One can also surmise that one of the many millions who took notice was none other than Ric Ocasek of the Cars, who wound up tapping Mutt Lange to produce 1984's Heartbeat City.