(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
Foreigner, founded by former Spooky Tooth member Mick Jones (guitar) and former King Crimson member Ian McDonald (keyboards, the one who played the mellotron on their first album), and reinforced by the passionate soul/gospel singer Lou Gramm (American), added a touch of baroque flair to the formula of British hard rock, and sent all of their first four albums into the millionaire charts, with hits like Cold As Ice (Beatles-style vocal harmonies, staccato piano reminiscent of the Cars) and Feels Like The First Time (the quintessence of melodic hard rock, with gospel organ and choral refrain), from their debut Foreigner (Atlantic, 1977), a work that strikes a compromise between the schemes of Bad Company and the nascent synth-pop; Hot Blooded (their most violent track, though still tempered by a catchy melody) and Double Vision (a guitar boogie in the vein of Cochrans Summertime Blues) from the more vigorous and edgy Double Vision (1978); Dirty White Boy (anthemic hard rock la the Who) and Head Games from Head Games (1979); and the mushy Waiting For A Girl Like You and Urgent (pulsing keyboard beat and funky saxophone) from 4 (1981). The Foreigner were unsure of which path to take, torn between the arena and the discotheque.
Records (Atlantic, 1982) is an anthology of their hits, featuring what is perhaps their masterpiece, Jukebox Hero, finally boasting a searing riff and a desperate shout to a solemn rhythm.
In the 1980s Foreigner instead became a romantic disco-oriented group with Waiting For A Girl Like You (1981), arranged electronically by Thomas Dolby; I Wanna Know What Love Is, from Agent Provocateur (1984), one of the most famous ballads of the era; Say You Will and the ballad I Don't Want To Live Without You, from Inside Information (1987).
Lou Gramm had already debuted as a solo artist with Ready Or Not (1987), an old-fashioned hard-rock work containing the hit Midnight Blue, followed by the mediocre Long Hard Look (Atlantic, 1989). Mick Jones in turn released Mick Jones (Atlantic, 1989), featuring Just Wanna Hold.
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
Unusual Heat (1991) and Mr Moonlight (1994) were the last albums
made by Foreigner with Jones and Gramm.
Mick Jones was the only original member left on the
triple-disc Can't Slow Down (2009) that consists of a new record,
Can't Slow Down, a disc of remixed classics and a live DVD.
Kelly Hansen replaced vocalist Lou Gramm.
Feels Like the First Time (2011) consists of two discs: an acoustic
rendition of Foreigner classics, and a re-recording of Foreigner classics by
a new lineup led by Mick Jones.
Juke Box Heroes (2011) is an anthology.
Ian McDonald died in 2022.
