Foreigner (1977)


  
 
 1. Feels Like the First Time
 2. Cold as Ice
 3. Starrider
 4. Headknocker
 5. The Damage is Done
 6. Long, Long Way From Home
 7. Woman, Oh Woman
 8. At War With the World
 9. Fool For You Anyway
 10.I Need You

 

There are few bands more emblematic of the term “arena rock” than Foreigner. Their rise was swift, their popularity enduring, and yet—for all their success—they remained curiously faceless. Ask someone what made Foreigner unique, and you're likely to get a pause. They weren’t flashy. They didn’t reinvent the wheel. But they had something. And that something, at least in their early days, was the songwriting partnership between guitarist Mick Jones and vocalist Lou Gramm.

Jones wasn’t a technical wizard with the guitar, but what he lacked in flash he made up for in instinct. The man could write a riff. A big, simple, stadium-filling riff. Gramm, on the other hand, had a voice seemingly built in a lab for late ’70s FM radio—strong, clean, and able to sail over all the noise with just the right touch of grit. Neither of them was especially eccentric, but together they made an undeniable sound. Any time one of the two was missing from the equation, the cracks would show.

This debut album—released in 1977—is where it all began. The group was a transatlantic blend of Brits and Americans (three of each, hence the band's name), and while the lineup here is technically a six-piece, it sometimes feels like a bit too much. There’s a lot going on in the mix—particularly in the keyboard and synth department. You can tell it’s 1977. Rock bands were still trying to figure out just how many knobs and switches they could reasonably cram into a single track.

Still, for a debut, this is a strong start. The big hits—Feels Like the First Time, Cold As Ice, and Long, Long Way From Home—are instantly recognizable and, perhaps more importantly, have held up remarkably well. These are the tracks that built their legacy, and they’re still staples of classic rock radio for good reason. Beyond the singles, there are a few deeper cuts worth mentioning—The Damage Is Done and Fool for You Anyway remain solid listens, even decades later.

There are a couple of detours that don’t quite land. Mick Jones takes a stab at lead vocals on a few tracks (Woman, Oh Woman, Starrider), and while he’s technically capable, the contrast between his smooth, understated delivery and Gramm’s robust power vocals is too jarring to work. Add in a generous helping of spacey synths, and the effect is less arena-rock anthem and more prog-leaning lounge act.

Ultimately, Foreigner the album doesn’t quite have the polish or cohesion of their later work, but it lays the foundation well. The core formula—Jones writing the hooks, Gramm belting them into the cheap seats—is already intact, and when it clicks, it’s undeniably effective. It’s not perfect, and not everything here has aged gracefully, but the highs are high enough to cement it as one of the more memorable debuts of the era. Not a game-changer, but a strong, confident entrance onto the scene.

Go to the Next Review
Go back to the main page