Ranking All The Foreigner Studio Albums

Foreigner is a notable name in rock and roll. For those who are curious, it is a British-American rock band that started up in 1976. Soon enough, Foreigner had managed to release its first studio album, which was the first of four straight studio albums to go multi-platinum. Something that says much about the positive reception for the rock band. Since then, Foreigner has faded from its former position of prominence. However, there can be no doubt about the fact that it remains one of the best-selling rock bands ever, seeing as how it has managed to sell more than 80 million records over the course of its existence.

9. Unusual Heat

People will be most familiar with Unusual Heat because it was the one Foreigner studio album that had Johnny Edwards as the lead singer. Edwards was an experienced singer, as shown by how he had managed to get a record deal by working on his own band. However, he was brought on because he was someone that most Foreigner fans hadn’t heard of, meaning that he wouldn’t bring any baggage of his own. In any case, the team-up proved to be a failure.

8. Inside Information

Speaking of which, Inside Information is Foreigner’s sixth studio album, which came out in 1987. It sold well enough that it went platinum in the United States. However, Inside Information made the band’s flagging influence very clear because of the huge fall in sales. Besides this, it tends to be best-known because it was the last studio album made by Foreigner’s core group of band members from the 1980s.

7. Can’t Slow Down

The drama involving Foreigner’s lead singer didn’t end with Unusual Heat. This is because Johnny Edwards’ departure was followed by Lou Gramm’s return. However, Gramm’s return wasn’t a permanent one because he left the band a second time in 2003, with the result that he was replaced by Kelly Hansen in 2005. So far, the band has released a single studio album Can’t Slow Down with Hansen as the lead singer. It isn’t bad, but, well, suffice to say that it is most notable for being certified gold in Europe.

6. Mr. Moonlight

Chances are very good that Mr. Moonlight will be the final Foreigner studio album with Lou Gramm as the lead singer. After all, it was recorded during his second stint with the band, meaning that it was supposed to be something of a comeback for the band as a whole. Mr. Moonlight showed some creative promise. Sadly, it was entrusted to an indie imprint in the United States, which perhaps unsurprisingly, had fewer resources than its bigger and better-established counterparts. Something that played a notable part in the album’s poor performance, which doomed the band’s chances of making a successful comeback.

5. Agent Provocateur

A lot of people believe that Foreigner peaked with 4. As such, it should come as no surprise to learn that the follow-up Agent Provocateur didn’t do as well as its predecessors. In spite of this, there are a lot of people who will remember Foreigner’s fifth studio album because it contained “I Want to Know What Love Is,” which has the distinction of being the band’s most popular song ever released. Unfortunately, the other songs were less memorable.

4. Head Games

Interested individuals might be familiar with the fact that Foreigner released an album a year for their first three studio albums. A schedule that took a serious toll on a lot of bands in those times. The quality of Head Games suffered because of this, meaning that it isn’t capable of competing with Foreigner’s best of the best. Still, it came out when the band was roaring hot, so that needs to be taken into consideration as well.

3. Double Vision

Foreigner was definitely not one of the bands that fell for the sophomore slump. This is because the band’s second studio album was Double Vision, which did very well to say the least. For proof, look no further than the fact that the album went seven-times platinum in the United States. As such, Double Vision is very competitive with its immediate predecessor Foreigner. In fact, there are those who would argue that it is the better album because the band’s increased experience enabled it to focus on its best elements.

2. Foreigner

Of course, Foreigner’s debut studio album would be its self-titled album. It sold quite well. As such, it is no exaggeration to say that said album did a great deal to pave the way for the band’s further successes. However, the time of its creation is very clear. Simply put, if one values excellence over influence when evaluating these things, it isn’t unreasonable to say that Foreigner is beaten out by its immediate successor Double Vision. This is because while it is very good, it is nonetheless the product of a relatively new band with relatively little experience at the time.

1. 4

Head Games didn’t do as well as its two predecessors. As such, Foreigner took some extra time to make 4, which is called thus both because it was the band’s fourth album and because it was made when the band had four members. This proved to be a wise decision because 4 is Foreigner’s greatest album, playing to the band’s strengths while also improving upon what came before by incorporating new influences. The album was the band working at its very best. Something that Foreigner has never been able to duplicate ever since with any one of its various line-ups.

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