•
Rating: The AOR (Adult Oriented Rock) of Foreigner includes excursions from pure Zeppelin-style hard rock, rugged and far from adult, dominated by the prevailing guitar riff, to hypermelodic ballads full of keyboards and void of guitars, intensely romantic and indeed very "adult." This is because the leader, producer, and composer of the group, Mick Jones, is a guitarist with the inclination and ability to come up with simple but good ideas, even when dealing with the ivories. He was formed in the sixties in the English British Blues, alongside the likes of Beck, Clapton, Page, Green, etc.; his technique and personality on guitar are quite ordinary, well below the aforementioned figures, but his talent as a composer is first-rate: the riffs he devises on the six-string and the harmonic sequences crafted for the keyboards make the difference and have created a handful of iconic songs, allowing the group a long successful season from the late seventies and throughout the eighties.
The singer Lou Gramm (American, of Italian descent) adapts very well to the trend imposed by his partner, although he much prefers to scream at the top of his lungs and push his vocal range to the limit above the aggressive guitar staccatos of his partner rather than express himself with more restrained and warm tones over a sea of synthesized sounds. The fact is that his wonderful vocal quality and the dramatic and intense style with which he employs it stand out more in the ballads, and, in any case, in more melodic situations. This fifth career album, released in 1984, contains the most sensational of these in terms of popular response, the "I Want To Know What Love Is" so accessible to a type of audience far removed from rock that it was even comfortably covered by Julio Iglesias. Such commercial exploits have enriched Foreigner, constituting at the same time an effective boomerang from the perspective of rock enthusiasts, many of whom identify this group as saccharine and flattering. It indeed is, but in restricted episodes, so to speak; listening to any of their entire albums, including this one, sets things straight: there is much more to Foreigner.
The rugged hard rock without a trace of keyboards is titled "Tooth And Nail" at the opening, "Reaction To Action", "Stranger In My Own House", and "She's Too Tough" at the close: none of them is worthy of particular commendation, this is not the right Foreigner album to encounter iconic riffs. The warm and successful heart of the record, aside from the already discussed successful ballad, this time lies entirely in a series of successful mid tempos simultaneously tough and melodic, bursting with keyboards, with tension building during the quiet yet tense verses, which then explode in irresistible choruses of perfect AOR. The titles: "That Was Yesterday" led by a chiming and solemn synthesizer theme, "A Love In Vain" structurally very similar to the previous one, but even more beautiful and my personal favorite of the album, and then the heartfelt "Two Different Worlds", the spirited "Growing Up A Hard Way", and the slower and softer "Down On Love".
Foreigner is still active and regularly tours the stages of the United States, but without Gramm, who instead formed his own band with a couple of his brothers after leaving the group definitively in 2003. This album, with a great cover featuring ingeniously minimalist graphics, remains one of their best and is willingly relistened to periodically.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Tooth and Nail (03:54)
I'm tired of all this cheap talk
When you walk next to me
They say I ain't good enough for you
Why don't they come and tell me
When they see us out in the night
They can't wait to tear us apart
Now I hear them saying lovin' you ain't right
Well they'd better be ready 'cause honey I'll be there
I will fight tooth and nail
Count on me, I will not fail you
I will fight tooth and nail
They say I'm always breaking promises
And I'm just fooling with you
Then they try and come between the two of us
Man, that's a bad thing to do
I can say I had more than enough
But I ain't gonna take it too hard
I said hey, they want to play rough
Well let's see who backs down when the trouble starts
I will fight tooth and nail
Count on me, I will not fail you
I will fight tooth and nail
Come on try me, I won't give in
They take advantage, but they can't win
I'll be your man, baby, wait and see
Ain't nobody, nobody take your love from me
I will fight tooth and nail
I was wrong, I will not fail you
I will fight tooth and nail
I'll be your man, baby, wait and see
Ain't nobody, nowhere take your love away from me
I will fight tooth and nail
Count on me, I will not fail you
I will fight tooth and nail
Right now, tooth and nail
I am waiting for the fight
Tooth and nail
Right now, c'mon, tooth and nail
Right now, tooth and nail
C'mon, tooth and nail
Ah fight
Tooth and nail
Right now, c'mon, tooth and nail
C'mon, right now, tooth and nail
02 That Was Yesterday (03:50)
I
thought I knew you well
But all this time
I could never tell
I
Let you get away
Haunts me every night and every day
You
Were the only one
The only friend that I counted on
How
Could I watch you walk away?
I'd give anything to have you here today
But now
I stand alone with my pride
And dream
That you're still by my side
But that was yesterday
I had the world in my hands
But it's not the end of my world
It's just a slight change of plans
That was yesterday
But today life goes on
No more hiding in yesterday
'Cause yesterday's gone
Ooh..................
Love
My love I gave it all
Thought I saw the light
When I heard you call
Life
That we both could share
Has deserted me
Left me in despair
But now
I stand alone with my pride
Fighting back the tears
I never let myself cry
But that was yesterday
Love was took from my hands
But it's not the end of my world
It's just a little hard to understand
That was yesterday
But today life goes on
You won't find me in yesterday's world
Now yesterday's gone
Goodbye yesterday
Now it's over and done
Still I hope somewhere deep in your heart
Yesterday will live on
Ooh..............
03 I Want to Know What Love Is (05:05)
I've gotta take a little time
A little time to think things over
I better read between the lines
In case I need it when I'm older
Ohhhh
Oo oh oh oh oh
Now this mountain I must climb
Feels like the world upon my shoulders
Through the clouds I see love shine
It keeps me warm as life grows colder
In my life there's been heart-ache and pain
I don't know if I can face it again
Can't stop now
I've travelled so far
to change this lonely life
Chorus
I wanna know what love is
I want you to show me
I wanna feel what love is
I know you can show me
I'm gonna take a little time
A little time to look around me
I've got nowhere left to hide
It looks like love has finally found me
In my life there's been heartache and pain
I don't know if I can face it again
Can't stop now
I've travelled so far to change this lonely life
Chorus 5X
04 Growing Up the Hard Way (04:14)
He's got nothing to say, he's got no excuse
He's just made that way, and he's gonna stay that way
Like a dog on the loose in a firework display in a world of his own
No, no, no, he won't back down or go running back home
He's come a long way in life
He's got a long way to go
He don't even know, he don't care because
He's growing up the hard way
In and out of trouble every day
Growing up the hard way
Now no tellin' where you'll end up, boy
And he's got nothing to say, like he's lost for the worlds, his mind is in a daze
That's his way, it's just a little game he plays
He's got nowhere to run while the city sleeps he wanders alone
Cuttin' through the steel and the hearts of stone
He's come a long way in life
He's got a long way to go
He don't even know, but he don't care because
He's growing up the hard way
In and out of trouble every day
Growing up the hard way
You'd better walk the straight and narrow
Growing up the hard way
In and out of trouble every day
Growing up the hard way
Never know what you're in for, boy
He's come a long way in life
He's got a long way to go
He don't wanna know, and he don't care because
He's growing up the hard way
In and out of trouble every day
He's growing up the hard way
Yeah, and he's gonna stay that way
You see, he's growing up the hard way
Walk the straight and narrow yeah, maybe someday
But still he's growing up the hard way
It's just the way he's grown up
Yeah, growing up the hard way
There ain't no other way
Growing up the hard way
05 Reaction to Action (03:59)
(spoken: Check 1, 1, 1)
Alright
It's hard getting through to me
I'm truly elusive
I got my own point of view
I am the one of a kind
And I tell you l'il girl
I'm fascinated by you
There's something about you
That makes all the difference
Like the night is to day
Well I can get along without you
But I know that within you
You've got what I'm missing
And I'll find a way
To get reaction to action
Hey, say the word that would thrill me
Yeah, I need reaction to action
Just one look that would kill me
You got a way of drawing attention to you
You know you stand out in a crowd
But the way that you play
With any man's affections
Should never be allowed
See I consider myself
The one who will show you
I'd go as far as to say
Girl, I ain't leaving here without you
But you better understand
There's only one rule in this game we're gonna play
And that's reaction to action
Maybe like a word that would thrill me
I need reaction to action
One look that would kill me
Give me reaction to action
It's getting late I'd better make a definite move
Reaction to action
And after that baby, it's up to you
I need reaction to action
Just a word that would thrill me
I need reaction to action
You know what I'm talking about
Give me some reaction to action
You got a look, you got a way that'll kill me
Reaction to action, reaction to action, action
Baby, don't think about it, just react
Reaction to action
Reaction to action
Reaction to action
Reaction to action
Reaction to action
Reaction to action
06 Stranger in My Own House (05:04)
(a capella: She said: Boy, your luck is running out...she make me feel like a stranger...in my own house)
I come stumbling in at a quarter to three
To the sound of my own dog growlin' at me
I'm scared to move or turn on a light
You've got me creepin' around in the dark
Like a thief in the night
I've got no excuse, I should have known
I've got no place to live
I never feel at home
I walk into the kitchen to see what's there
I'm tired and I'm hungry but the cupboard's bare
I've been working all day and all night too
I can't believe this is all I have to come back to
I guess I'll take a look upstairs, in the danger zone
I wonder what I'm doing here
When I never feel at home
I'm a stranger in my own house
I've got the keys to the door
But I'm still locked out
I'm a stranger in my own house
I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow this house down
Can't be a stranger in my own house
I see the do not disturb sign on my bedroom door
What is this sheet and pillow laying on the floor
I wore out my welcome
I hear you loud and clear
It's time to get a few things straight around here
I've got no excuse, I should have known
I've got a place to live but I never feel at home
I'm just a stranger in my own house
I've got the keys to the door
But I'm still locked out
Stranger in my own house
I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow this house down
Can't be a stranger in my own house
I've got no excuse, I should have known
With a woman like you I'm better off alone
I'm a stranger in my own house
I've got the keys to the door
But I'm still locked out
I'm just a stranger in my own house
Oh, honey I'm home
I'm just a stranger in my own house
I'm just a stranger in my own house
You got a lion on your hands girl, not a mouse!
I'm just a stranger in my own house
I'm just a stranger in my own house
Well, somebody's got to go...
Stranger
Stranger
10 She's Too Tough (03:09)
My girl, everybody says she's alright
And I know that she's more than alright
Well, she's a hard headed woman
Got a mean attitude
I may have bitten off more than I can chew
I get a little light headed
At her altitude
But she goes one step higher
If I'm going to spend the rest of my life
With a woman like that, I better think twice
She's too tough
I said she's too tough
From the moment she wakes up
Her mind is made up
She's too tough, she's too tough
My girl, she's got a way about her
I know I can never live without her
She's a hard headed woman
So hard to please
She's got her own way of dealing with me
I'm out on a limb, I'm a cat up a tree
But this tree's on fire
I want that woman for the rest of my life
I don't know if I'm up to payin' the price
She's too tough
I said that she's too tough
From the moment she wakes up
Her mind is made up
She's too tough
You hear she's too tough
Well I don't believe
I'll ever leave her
She's too tough, she's too tough
Well if I'm gonna spend the rest of my life
With a woman like her, I'd better think twice
She's too tough
I said she's too tough
From the moment she wakes up
Her mind is made up
She's too tough, that's right
She's too tough
If I do what I'm told
She's gooder than gold to me
She's too tough
I said she's too tough
When push comes to shove
This must be love
She's too tough
Yeah she's too tough
Well I don't believe
I'd ever leave her, never leave her
She's too tough, she's too tough
Loading comments slowly
