4 (Foreigner album)

4, also known as Foreigner 4, is the fourth studio album by the British-American rock band Foreigner, released on July 2, 1981 on Atlantic Records. Several singles from the album were hits, including "Urgent", "Waiting for a Girl Like You" and "Juke Box Hero".

4
Studio album by
Foreigner
ReleasedJuly 2, 1981
RecordedDecember 1980−April 1981
StudioElectric Lady Studios, New York City
GenreAOR, hard rock, soft rock
Length42:10
LabelAtlantic
ProducerRobert John "Mutt" Lange, Mick Jones
Foreigner chronology
Head Games
(1979)		 4
(1981)		 Records
(1982)
Singles from 4
  1. "Urgent"
    Released: June 22, 1981
  2. "Waiting for a Girl Like You"
    Released: September 1981
  3. "Juke Box Hero"
    Released: January 21, 1982
  4. "Break It Up"
    Released: May 11, 1982
  5. "Luanne"
    Released: July 1982
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Q[2]

The album was a success worldwide, holding the #1 position on the Billboard album chart for a total of 10 weeks. It eventually sold over seven million copies in the US alone.

Background and writing

The album was originally titled Silent Partners and later was changed to 4, reflecting both the fact that it was Foreigner's fourth album and that the band was now down to four members. In 1981, art studio Hipgnosis was asked to design a cover based on the original title, and they developed a black and white image of a young man in bed with a pair of binoculars suspended in the air overhead.[3] The resulting design was rejected by the band as they felt it was "too homosexual".[4] The replacement cover for 4 was designed by Bob Defrin and modeled after an old fashioned film leader. Hipgnosis is still credited with designing the record labels.

The album marked the completion of the band's shift to hard rock, begun in Head Games. Both Ian McDonald and Al Greenwood had left before the recording of 4. As a result, all of the songs on the album are compositions by Mick Jones and/or Lou Gramm. McDonald and Greenwood had played saxophone and keyboards, respectively, and so several session musicians were needed to replace their contributions, among them Junior Walker, who played the saxophone solo in the bridge of "Urgent", and a young Thomas Dolby, who would later have a successful solo career.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mick Jones, with additional songwriting by Lou Gramm on tracks 1-2, 4-5 and 9-10.

No.TitleLength
1."Night Life"3:48
2."Juke Box Hero"4:18
3."Break It Up"4:11
4."Waiting for a Girl Like You"4:49
5."Luanne" (On some vinyl editions, "Luanne" is listed as 3:11[5])3:25
6."Urgent"4:29
7."I'm Gonna Win"4:51
8."Woman in Black"4:42
9."Girl on the Moon"3:49
10."Don't Let Go"3:58
Bonus tracks on 2002 reissue, recorded in 1999
No.TitleLength
11."Juke Box Hero" (Nearly unplugged version)3:06
12."Waiting for a Girl Like You" (Nearly unplugged version)2:50

Personnel

Foreigner

Additional personnel

Production
  • Produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Mick Jones
  • Recorded and engineered by Dave Wittman (chief engineer) and Tony Platt (basic tracks).
  • Second engineer – Brad Samuelsohn
  • Assistant engineers – Edwin Hobgood and Michel Sauvage
  • Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound (New York, NY).
  • Art Direction – Bob Defrin
  • Design – Hipgnosis
  • Management – Bud Prager

Surround releases

4 was released in 2001 in multichannel DVD-Audio,[6] and on September 14, 2011, on hybrid stereo-multichannel Super Audio CD by Warner Japan in their Warner Premium Sound series.[7] June 2015 saw its re-release on Atlantic Records premium 180-gram vinyl with its original 1981 classic track listing.

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[8] Platinum 70,000^
France (SNEP)[9] Gold 100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[10] Gold 250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[11] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[12] 7× Platinum 7,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Charts

Album – Billboard (United States)

Year Chart Position
1981 Billboard 200 1[13]

Singles – Billboard (United States)

Year Single Chart Position
1981 "Juke Box Hero" Mainstream Rock 3[14]
"Night Life" Mainstream Rock 14[14]
"Urgent" Club Play Singles 32[15]
Mainstream Rock 1[14]
Hot 100 4[16]
"Waiting for a Girl Like You" Adult Contemporary 5[17]
Mainstream Rock 1[14]
Hot 100 2[16]
1982 "Break It Up" Hot 100 26[16]
"Juke Box Hero" Hot 100 26[16]
"Luanne" Hot 100 75[16]
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gollark: They can automatically convert formats if an upload form asks for it? I was not aware of this.
gollark: H.265 HEIFs apparently are 50% smaller at equivalent quality, which is good.
gollark: It is, but apparently you can use it on still images.

References
  1. Rivadavia, Eduardo. Foreigner: 4 at AllMusic. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  2. Taylor, Sam (March 1996). "Foreigner". Q: 114.
  3. "Hipgnosis' mind-bending album art – in pictures".
  4. "Anecdotes, "Curio Corner" - Foreigner - Silent Partners". Archived from the original on 2012-02-26. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
  5. "Foreigner - 4". Discogs.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
  6. Audio Revolution review of Foreigner’s 4 DVD-Audio.
  7. Warner Premium Sound 14 September releases Archived August 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (in Japanese). Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  8. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1999 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  9. "French album certifications – Foreigner" (in French). InfoDisc. Select FOREIGNER and click OK. 
  10. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Foreigner)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  11. "British album certifications – Foreigner – 4". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type 4 in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  12. "American album certifications – Foreigner – 4". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  13. "Foreigner Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  14. "Foreigner Chart History: Mainstream Rock". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  15. "Foreigner Chart History: Dance Club Songs". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  16. "Foreigner Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  17. "Foreigner Chart History: Adult Contemporary". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
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