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Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology Foreigner Rhino Records, 2000
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Tracks Disc
Two Reviewed by Lucas Aykroyd
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"Hello. My name is Lou Gramm. As the lead singer of Foreigner, I sold 80 million records in the U.S. alone. I fought my way back from a brain tumor in 1997 and became a born-again Christian. Today, I'm suing my music publishers because no major record label will touch Foreigner and my 1975 publishing deal awards EMI 50 per cent of my earnings and total exploitative rights from my songs -- even after I'm dead." That could have been the spoken-word introduction to Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology. This new two-disc retrospective on the popular but critically maligned hard rock superstars of the late 1970s and 1980s captures what it's like to be at the top of a game nobody is playing anymore. In an AOR genre dominated by the likes of Styx, Boston, Toto and REO Speedwagon, Foreigner stood out with its lethal combination of Lou Gramm's bluesy vocals and Mick Jones' ear for a rock riff. From 1977 to 1987, they released seven platinum albums, although like their contemporaries, they were never as popular overseas as in the North American market. Part of this collection simply rehashes the greatest hits everyone knows (and may already own on 1992's The Very Best… And Beyond). You'll find beer commercial-ready rockers like "Cold As Ice" and "Feels Like The First Time," plus soaring ballads such as "Waiting For A Girl Like You" and "I Want To Know What Love Is." Where it gets interesting is after those ten years of dominance. Gramm and Jones split up after 1987's Inside Information because the singer wanted to keep rocking out and the guitarist wanted to experiment with keyboards -- the demise of many a great rock relationship. They remained antagonistic toward each other while pursuing solo careers. But here we get a taste of what they did from 1987 to 1991, and it's clear they were destined to get back together, because they just weren't as good apart. Take Gramm's best-known solo hit, "Midnight Blue." It features a great, emotional Tom Petty-meets-U2 riff and a pounding rhythm track. So, another success in the vein of 1981's "Urgent"? Well, not quite. Gramm talks his way through much of the verses and you get the feeling Jones would never have put up with that on a Foreigner album. Meanwhile, Jones can't conjure up the same level of energy on tracks like "Just Wanna Hold" or "Everything That Comes Around," let alone the Spooky Tooth material included from his pre-Foreigner days. There's barely a nod to John Edwards, who took Gramm's place on vocals for 1991's Unusual Heat. Basically a soundalike of his predecessor, Edwards lacked the other's charisma, and the album tanked at #117 on the U.S. charts. It is rumored that he has since joined John Corabi (Motley Crue) and Gary Cherone (Van Halen) in the Great-Replacement-Singers-That-Didn't-Work-Out-Studio-In-The-Sky. In fairness, the band's most recent album, Mr. Moonlight (1995), hardly did a roaring trade either (#136). Coming as it did at the height of alternative music, that was no surprise. Melody and polished production were, as always, a hallmark, unlike what Nirvana and Pearl Jam had to offer. Rhino Records deserves kudos for the packaging of this release. It combines elegantly written liner notes by Jerry McCulley with a nice selection of photos, many done up in Foreigner's characteristic shade of purple. Until the lack of new material from the band leaves more people feeling blue, it may be some time before we hear from Foreigner again. | January 2001
Lucas Aykroyd covers the rock beat for Wall of Sound, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and other leading music publications. He is the author of 1984: The Ultimate Van Halen Trivia Book. |
Gramm and Jones split up after 1987's Inside Information because the singer wanted to keep rocking out and the guitarist wanted to experiment with keyboards -- the demise of many a great rock relationship. |
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