4 , also known as Foreigner 4 , is the fourth studio album by the British-American rock band Foreigner , released on July 3, 1981, by Atlantic Records . The album's name signifies that it is the band's fourth studio album and also the fact that the band's membership had reduced from six to four members. Musically, it showed Foreigner shifting from hard rock to more accessible mainstream rock and pop music .
17-427: "Luanne" was the fifth and final single taken from the album 4 by the band Foreigner , and the second to feature a B-side that was not available on one of their albums, a controversial live version of their hit, " Hot Blooded ". The song was written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones and reached number 75 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, but was a live staple for years to come. The live version of " Hot Blooded "
34-503: A lot of weird characters, some of them hookers, would appear. It was a big mixture of a lot of different characters – so that was the inspiration for opening song, 'Night Life.'” The editors of Classic Rock called 4 Foreigner's "masterpiece." Ultimate Classic Rock critic Matt Wardlaw rated four of the songs from 4— " Juke Box Hero ", " Waiting for a Girl Like You ", "Urgent" and "Night Life"—among Foreigner's top 10 songs. Ultimate Classic Rock critic Eduardo Rivadavia rated two of
51-763: A second fan pack with Slash in 2012 for his album Apocalyptic Love . Between 2005 and 2016, Classic Rock hosted the Classic Rock Roll Of Honour - an annual awards ceremony celebrating the achievements of some of rock music's biggest icons. Held in London annually, winners at the Roll Of Honour Awards over the years included Lemmy Kilmister , Alice Cooper , Jimmy Page , Ozzy Osbourne , ZZ Top , Gregg Allman , Queen and more. In July 2020, Classic Rock launched The 20 Million Club podcast . Hosted by British broadcaster Nicky Horne with guests from
68-433: A special edition magazine dedicated to then-former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash and packaged with a copy of his debut solo album . The partnership marked the first time a major album was released exclusively with a magazine publisher ahead of general release. Classic Rock subsequently released official 'fan packs' with Whitesnake , Alice Cooper , Motörhead , Def Leppard and Rush amongst others. The magazine released
85-418: A total of 10 weeks. It eventually sold over six million copies in the U.S. alone. Several of its singles were hits, including " Urgent ", " Waiting for a Girl Like You " and " Juke Box Hero ". 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 now consisted of four members. In 1981, art studio Hipgnosis
102-547: Is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, with the likes of Led Zeppelin , AC/DC , Pink Floyd , the Rolling Stones , Queen , Black Sabbath , Aerosmith , Deep Purple , and Van Halen amongst its most prominent cover stars. As well as veteran rock artists, Classic Rock also covers modern rock bands and releases, with Alter Bridge , Rival Sons , Halestorm , Ghost , Blackberry Smoke and
119-689: The Struts amongst the younger artists to have appeared on its cover in recent years. Classic Rock was launched by Dennis Publishing in 1998. It was sold to Future in 2000, then sold again to start-up publishing company Team Rock in April 2013. Following the collapse of Team Rock in December 2016, Future bought back the magazine and its website in January 2017. On 27 March 2018, Future re-launched Classic Rock and its sister magazines Metal Hammer and Prog under
136-565: The band hasn't revealed before." Hartford Courant critic Colin McEnroe called it a "first-class driving rock 'n' roll melody." WCSC-TV music director Chris Bailey praised it, saying that it sounded like songs from REO Speedwagon 's Hi Infidelity album. Cash Box said that it's a "pleasant departure," with a "rumbling drum fill reminiscent of ' Peggy Sue ' [by Buddy Holly ]" and with an emphasis "on melodically twangy guitar hooks rather than sheer rock force." Billboard said that it
153-494: The label. Both Ian McDonald and Al Greenwood had departed the group before the recording of 4 , partly because they wanted to take a more significant role in writing songs while Mick Jones wanted to control the songwriting along with Lou Gramm . As a result, all of the songs on the album are compositions by Jones and/or Gramm. McDonald, who had played saxophone, and Greenwood, who had played keyboards, were replaced by session musicians , including Junior Walker , who played
170-404: The saxophone solo in the bridge of " Urgent ", and a young Thomas Dolby . During the course of the 10 months in which the album was recorded, the starting time of the band's daily work in the recording studio transitioned from noon to midnight. This changing schedule inspired the opening song on the album, "Night Life." According to Jones, "The later it got at night, the bigger the buzz got, and
187-460: The songs from 4 ("Urgent," "Juke Box Hero" and "Girl on the Moon") among his 11 favorite Foreigner songs. All tracks are written by Mick Jones , with additional songwriting by Lou Gramm on tracks 1-2, 4-5 and 9-10. 4 was released in 2001 in multichannel DVD-Audio , and on September 14, 2011, on hybrid stereo-multichannel Super Audio CD by Warner Japan in its Warner Premium Sound series . It
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#1733085418918204-508: The songs from 4— "Girl on the Moon" and "Woman in Black"—among Foreigner's 10 most-underrated songs. Classic Rock critic Malcolm Dome also rated two songs from 4 among Foreigner's 10 most underrated—"I’m Gonna Win," which he compares to "Juke Box Hero," at #8 and "Night Life,"—which he praises for its "confident energy," at #1. PopMatters critic Evan Sawdey called "Night Life" a "remarkably limp album opener." Mick Jones has rated three of
221-664: The umbrella title of Louder . Classic Rock has published numerous special editions, including magazines dedicated solely to Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden , Guns N' Roses and others. Classic Rock 's sister publication, Prog , was originally issued as a Classic Rock Presents one-shot magazine in 2009 before being launched as a separate, full-time title soon after. Other off-shoots of the publication included The Blues magazine, which ran from 2012 to 2016, while Classic Rock Presents AOR ran for 13 issues between 2010 and 2014. In 2010, Classic Rock partnered with Roadrunner Records to publish Classic Rock Presents: Slash , featuring
238-497: Was a throwback to the "crisp guitar base" of earlier Foreigner hits, rather than the "synthesizer-tinged melodic pop" of their more recent hits, "Lou Gramm's vocal readings and the spare production " were consistent with their recent successful charting songs. 4 (Foreigner album) The album was a commercial success worldwide, holding the No. 1 position on the Billboard 200 chart for
255-408: Was asked to design a cover based on the original title, and it developed a black-and-white image of a young man in bed with a pair of binoculars suspended in the air overhead. The design was rejected by the band as they felt that it was "too homosexual." The replacement cover for 4 was designed by Bob Defrin and modeled after an old fashioned film leader . Hipgnosis received credit for the design of
272-544: Was later placed on the international release of their retrospective, Records , but in subsequent re-releases has been dropped in favour of the original album version due to a couple of choice words spoken in ad lib during the song's performance by its singer, Lou Gramm . Rolling Stone contributor Kurt Loder felt the song sounded like it could have been written by John Fogerty . Berkeley Gazette critic Robert Blades said it has "a mesmerizing pop hook uncommon to most of Foreigner's material" and shows "a breadth of style
289-506: Was rereleased in June 2015 by Atlantic Records as premium 180-gram vinyl with its original 1981 track listing. Sales figures based on certification alone. Shipments figures based on certification alone. Classic Rock (magazine) Classic Rock is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future . It was launched in October 1998 and
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