Foreigner
4

THE REVIEW

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Born around the mid-Seventies, in that New York, a breeding ground of countless talents and a crossroads "necessary" for those who wanted to make it in the rock system, the Foreigner were among the main protagonists of that artistic ferment in the effervescent pre-Eighty scene - considered by many as unrepeatable - from which the cultural and commercial hegemony originated that would bring rock (aside from the brief punk interlude) to its definitive consecration and to the attention of the general public in the following decade, garnering widespread acclaim in terms of popularity and sales. After three albums that received significant commercial recognition on the Billboard charts, the band "debuted" in the '80s with what is considered their masterpiece by many. One of the most significant moments in codifying a genre like Aor, then on a clear upswing.

Released simultaneously with another heavyweight named "Escape" by peers Journey, and exactly one year before "IV" by Toto and "Eyes of the Tiger" by Survivor (the other three bands that ideally form the spectacular four of a kind that indelibly carved the laws of melodic hard rock), this full-length, simply titled "4" (simply because it was indeed the fourth album and the group at the time presented itself as a quartet), remains balanced between moments of expressiveness clearly of rock origin and synth-pop incursions, with the aim of never straying too far from purposes explicitly centered on melody. It is easy to imagine, listening to the scarce 45 minutes of this album, the reasons that effortlessly led it to settle at #1 in the States, winning over the American audience (ultimately becoming the sixth platinum album) and achieving good results even in Europe and the United Kingdom (a flattering fourth position).

Produced by mastermind Mike Jones and King Midas Robert John "Mutt" Lange, freshly coming off the planetary success of "Back in Black" by AC/DC (and adventure partner of future "platinum" successes of Def Leppard, among others), the album is a pure concentrate of hit-singles with a distinctly radio flavor, focused on joyful and breezy choruses resulting in impactful and easily digestible rock, which on the one hand timidly anticipates the stylistic features of sounds that will be protagonists of the Eighties, on the other hand, however, maintains a close relationship with a sound typically "Seventies", more spontaneous less "calculated". It is then inevitable not to mention the driving force provided by the voice of Lou Grammatico (known to all more briefly as "Gramm"), a true added value, able to sculpt with his voice more sustained and syncopated rhythms (as in the opener "Night Life") and moments of great pathos with vertiginous excursions, capable of diverging from typically "rock" protocols, to arrive at timbres with rhythm and blues flavor (and often explicitly of soul/gospel derivation - James Brown docet), demonstrating a versatility that in fact imposes him, for the writer, among the greatest interpreters of the genre. "Juke Box Hero", one of the tracks left imprinted in the collective imagination of fans, is one of the most striking testimonies. The "awkward" yet cutting and meditated execution represents sort of the band's will to seek wide approval in mainstream radio. Or the aggressive "Break it up", a pressing piece that brings Gramm himself to sing "at the limit" on very high registers and of great technical finesse.

"Waiting for a Girl Like You" inaugurates the romantic and sappy moment of the album. One of the group's most famous songs, the trademark with which millions of fans identify the band along with the track that will see them, three years later, break into charts worldwide, the famous "I Wanna Know What Love Is". "Luanne" offers the most "easy," carefree, and lively moment of the album. Perhaps a bit banal but still no less pleasant, it anticipates one of the masterpieces of the album (and of the entire discography, I dare say) as well as one of the most famous songs of the decade: "Urgent".
Leaving aside the usual masterful and this time decidedly atypical performance by Gramm, it's a track with rhythms clearly drawn from funk, skillfully mixed with electro/pop elements, that achieves the goal of surprising and upsetting almost every rule, anticipating experiments that many bands will have the courage to revisit only many years later.
A sax solo makes you shout miracle and drives a song that became an authentic hit single, literally "breaking the bank" in the US radio schedules of the early '80s.

It's time for "I'm Gonna Win", more guitar solid in its rhythms, almost solemn in its majestic progress and emphatic in the chorus, exactly like the guitar-oriented "Woman in Black", gritty and passionate, introduced by a masterful guitar solo and a rhythm again and unexpectedly indebted to the soul/gospel tradition.
With the intimate "Girl Of The Moon" we return to a romantic dimension. Lavish in its physiognomy, slightly melancholic but pleasant and seductive, it anticipates the jovial "Don't Let Go", yet another gem that brilliantly closes this masterpiece. Again on abrasive territories with very successful and engaging emotionally backing vocals, it constitutes the apotheosis of an album that, along with a few others, contributed to creating a standard and a reference for dozens of bands that will tread the scenes in the years to come in the Aor circus and more generally of melodic hard rock.