4 (Foreigner album)

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4
Foreigner - 4.jpg
Studio album by Foreigner
Released July 2, 1981
Recorded 1981 at Electric Lady Studios, New York City
Genre Rock, hard rock
Length 42:10
Label Atlantic
Producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Mick Jones
Foreigner chronology
Head Games
(1979)Head Games1979		 4
(1981)		 Records
(1982)Records1982
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: August 28, 1982
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4.5/5 stars [1]

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

The album was an immediate smash 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 United States alone.

Background and writing

The album was originally titled Silent Partners and later was changed to 4. In 1981, renowned art studio Hipgnosis was asked to design a cover based on the original title, and they developed a black & white image of a young man in bed with a pair of binoculars looming overhead. The resulting design was rejected by the band as they felt it was "too homosexual."[2] 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 Songs Copyright Somerset Songs & Evansongs, Ltd. ASCAP.

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

Surround releases

4 was released in 2001 in multichannel DVD-Audio,[4] and on September 14, 2011, on hybrid stereo-multichannel Super Audio CD by Warner Japan in their Warner Premium Sound series.[5] June 2015 saw its re-release on Atlantic Records premium 180-gram vinyl with its original 1981 classic track listing.

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia 70,000[6]
Canada (Music Canada)[7] 4× Platinum 400,000
France (SNEP)[8] Gold 100,000
Germany (BVMI)[9] Platinum 500,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[10] Silver 60,000
United States (RIAA)[11] 6× Platinum 6,000,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Charts

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Album – Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1981 Billboard 200 1

Singles – Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1981 "Juke Box Hero" Mainstream Rock 3
"Night Life" Mainstream Rock 14
"Urgent" Club Play Singles 32
Mainstream Rock 1
Pop Singles 4
"Waiting for a Girl Like You" Adult Contemporary 5
Mainstream Rock 1
Pop Singles 2
1982 "Break It Up" Pop Singles 26
"Juke Box Hero" Pop Singles 26
"Luanne" Pop Singles 75

References

  1. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r7629/review
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Audio Revolution review of Foreigner’s 4 DVD-Audio.
  5. ↑ Warner Premium Sound 14 September releases (in Japanese). Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Select FOREIGNER and click OK
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter 4 in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
August 22 – September 4, 1981
November 21 – December 25, 1981
January 16 – February 5, 1982		 Succeeded by
"Bella Donna" by Stevie Nicks
"For Those About to Rock We Salute You" by AC/DC
"Freeze Frame" by The J. Geils Band

it:4 (disambigua)#Musica

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