Foreigner
Head Games

THE REVIEW

With a cover shot that today’s wavering social sensibility would hardly accept, Foreigner, on their third studio effort from 1979, confirm that their album covers are not yet a strong point. The music, however, is solid and continues to improve, even though internal frictions make this the last “democratic” album—the final act as a six-piece with two creative minds and both producing behind the console. One too many.

The story is clear: guitarist and composer Mick Jones increasingly finds himself working well with his singer Lou Gramm, coming up with penetrating hard rock guitar riffs for him to roar over with conviction, or alternatively, weaving sinuous and sly keyboard textures that let him unleash dramatic, theatrical tones—usually to describe the familiar love gone terribly wrong.

At the same time, the other composer Ian McDonald, now almost an outsider to the band, grows ever more detached, his mildly progressive style, saxophone, mellotron, and gentle, calm vocals all elements that don’t quite blend with the intense, passionate streak of the other two. This album thus marks the swan song within Foreigner for what was, ten years earlier, one of the prime movers behind the renowned masterpiece “In the Court of the Crimson King”: Ian will be ousted from the group, which will tighten up as a quartet and also cut the keyboard player.

Thus, the multi-instrumentalist from Middlesex has a single compositional contribution among the ten songs on this album. But it’s the best moment on the record! A worthy farewell, in short. “Do What You Like” isn’t among the songs Foreigner are remembered for, also because it stands out from the rest, being a track driven by acoustic guitar in the polymath McDonald’s hands, who, fortunately, forgoes singing it himself and lets his singer handle the mic, allowing the rhythm section to strike powerfully. The result is a vigorous and decisive ballad, superbly interpreted by Italian-American Gramm (birth name Grammatico, with all four grandparents hailing from southern Italy): a little gem.

To all those who snub Foreigner with only their bombastic 1984 mega-hit in mind—which I’m not even going to name—I recommend listening to the tough, strong rockers on this album. Like the opener “Dirty White Boy”, an obsessive and tight rock’n’roll. Right after the less interesting shuffle “Love on the Telephone” you get the remarkable “Women” with its extremely original riff alternating with another compact and powerful rock’n’roll track. I’ve never understood why songs like these performed, say, by Bruce Springsteen drive billions wild, while in Foreigner’s case only... thousands (in Italy).

After the filler “I’ll Get Even with You” and the vaguely Zeppelin-esque (in the verses) “Seventeen”, the album’s self-titled track reveals the band’s grandiose side, certainly their craftiest move. But it’s just a moment, because the following “Modern Day” is a dry little gem, perfect in its catchiness, anchored as it is by a quiet yet obsessive, tightly crafted riff.

The masterpiece “Do What You Like”, already discussed, is preceded by the dramatic “Blinded by Science”, bombastic but redeemed by Gramm’s great vocals, and followed by the filler “Rev on the Red Line”, commercial but decent.

That’s it. Four stars.