Just a little over four decades ago, on March 8, 1977, Foreigner hit record shelves. The album was the self-titled Atlantic Records debut of the band consisting of Mick Jones, Lou Gramm, Dennis Elliot, Al Greenwood, Ian McDonald and Ed Gagliardi. The record would become a smash-hit, eventually going 5X platinum and launching Foreigner into superstardom right out of the gate. To celebrate this anniversary, Rhino is releasing a new 2-CD and 2-LP compilation entitled 40 on May 19.
Foreigner recorded nine studio albums between 1977 and 2009 and this set features tracks from all of them, plus more. The 40-track CD iteration of the compilation covers 1977-1984 and Foreigner's first five albums. This was the period when the band was having its greatest success on the charts, and you will find such hits as "Feels Like The First Time," "Cold As Ice," "Hot Blooded," "Double Vision," "Urgent," "Waiting for a Girl Like You," and the No. 1 "I Want To Know What Love Is." Some songs are represented in their radio edits, such as "Hot Blooded" and "Double Vision."
Disc 2 of the set picks up the story and has cuts from the four albums from 1987's Agent Provocateur through 2009's Can't Slow Down, including hits such as "Say You Will." The compilation includes all 16 of the group's Top 30 hits from different charts. (The version of 1988's No. 5 hit "I Don't Want To Live Without You" is newly recorded for this set.) Also included are some album cuts like "Women" and one-offs such as "Too Late" from No End In Sight, a 2008 2-CD retrospective. Making its CD debut is a version of "The Flame Still Burns" which was previously only available on an EP released for last year's Black Friday Record Store Day event. The song itself dates back to the 1998 film Still Crazy and a version was included on Aqoustique. In addition to the new recording of "I Don't Want to Live Without You," another song has been newly recorded for this set: "Give My Life for Love."
Foreigner has seen many reissues over the years. The band's albums have been expanded and all of their Atlantic records were put into a box by Rhino in 2014. They've also had numerous compilations released including some 2-CD ones. These include 2000's Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology, 2006's The Definitive Collection and the aforementioned No End In Sight: The Very Best of Foreigner from 2008. The tracklists for all of these cover much of the same territory with some variation once you get past the biggest hits. Please note below that the 2-LP version of 40 contains 23 of the tracks from the CD version.
As with most bands, Foreigner has seen many line-up changes over the years. Mick Jones is the only founding member still with the group. You can catch them on tour this summer in the US with Cheap Trick and Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience. If you'd like to see what this new compilation has to offer, we've got the full track listings below for the CD and LP versions together with pre-order links.
Foreigner, 40 (Atlantic/Rhino, 2017)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Disc 1
- Feels Like The First Time (Radio Edit)
- Starrider
- Cold As Ice
- Long, Long Way from Home
- Headknocker
- Hot Blooded (Radio Edit)
- Double Vision (Radio Edit)
- Blue Morning, Blue Day
- Dirty White Boy (Radio Edit)
- Head Games
- Women
- Urgent (Radio Edit)
- Juke Box Hero (Radio Edit)
- Waiting for a Girl Like You (Radio Edit)
- Night Life
- Luanne
- I Want to Know What Love Is
- That Was Yesterday
- Tooth and Nail
- Reaction to Action (Radio Edit)
- Down On Love
Disc 2
- Heart Turns to Stone (Radio Edit)
- Can't Wait
- Lowdown and Dirty
- Soul Doctor
- White Lie (Single Version)
- Rain
- All I Need to Know
- Too Late
- When It Comes to Love
- Can't Slow Down
- In Pieces
- Fool for You Anyway
- Say You Will (Acoustic)
- Save Me
- Girl On the Moon (Live)
- Break It Up (Live)
- I Don't Want to Live Without You (New Version)
- Give My Life for Love
- The Flame Still Burns
Disc 1, Tracks 1-5 from Foreigner (Atlantic SD-18215, 1977)
- Disc 1, Track 1 from Atlantic single 3394, 1977
Disc 1, Tracks 6-8 from Double Vision (Atlantic SD-19999, 1978)
- Disc 1, Track 6 from Atlantic single 3488, 1978
- Disc 1, Track 7 from Atlantic single 3514, 1978
Disc 1, Tracks 9-11 from Head Games (Atlantic SD-29999, 1979
- Disc 1, Track 9 from Atlantic single 3618, 1979
Disc 1, Tracks 12-16 from 4 (Atlantic SD-16999, 1981
- Disc 1, Track 12 from Atlantic single 3831, 1981
- Disc 1, Track 13 from Atlantic single 4017, 1981
- Disc 1, Track 14 from Atlantic single 3868, 1981
Disc 1, Tracks 17-21 from Agent Provocateur (Atlantic 81999, 1984)
- Disc 1, Track 20 from Atlantic single 89542, 1985
Disc 2, Tracks 1-2 from Inside Information (Atlantic 81808, 1987)
- Disc 2, Track 1 from Atlantic single 89046, 1988
Disc 2, Track 3 from Unusual Heat (Atlantic 82299, 1991)
Disc 2, Track 4 from The Very Best...and Beyond (Atlantic 89999, 1992)
Disc 2, Tracks 5-7 from Mr. Moonlight (Arista 74321 23285-2 (U.K.), 1994/Rhythm Safari P2-53961 (U.S.), 1995)
- Disc 2, Track 5 from Arista single 74321 23286-2 (U.K.), 1994
Disc 2, Track 8 from No End In Sight: The Very Best of Foreigner (Atlantic/Rhino R2 512130, 2008)
Disc 2, Tracks 9-12 from Can't Slow Down (Rhino R2 521324, 2009)
Disc 2, Tracks 13-14 from Acoustique: The Classics Unplugged (Razor & Tie 88765 48287-2, 2011)
Disc 2, Tracks 15-16 from The Best of Foreigner: 4 & More (Sony Music Commercial Music Group 88875 05162-2, 2014)
Disc 2, Tracks 17-19 are new tracks
- Disc 2, Track 19 from Rhino single R1 557233, 2016
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. (TBD)
LP 1
- Feels Like the First Time (Radio Edit)
- Cold As Ice
- Hot Blooded (Radio Edit)
- Double Vision (Radio Edit)
- Dirty White Boy (Radio Edit)
- Head Games
- Urgent (Radio Edit)
- Juke Box Hero (Radio Edit)
- Luanne
- Waiting for a Girl Like You (Radio Edit)
- I Want to Know What Love Is
- That Was Yesterday
LP 2
- Heart Turns to Stone (Radio Edit)
- Can't Wait
- Soul Doctor
- Rain
- Starrider
- When It Comes to Love
- Can't Slow Down
- Too Late
- Say You Will (Acoustic)
- I Don't Want to Live Without You (New Version)
- The Flame Still Burns
Paul English says
Great to see the inclusion of radio edits. I hate when album versions appear on compilations like this.
Rob Maurer says
And on the "fair and balanced" side, I hate radio (or any kind of) edits and prefer the longest, most complete versions of tracks to appear on compilations like this.
That said, 2008's "No End In Sight" does it for me. Nothing on here will make me pop for another comp.
john hughes says
Hey, Randy!
"Luanne" was actually the fifth (!!!) single from 4.
-john
Randy Fairman says
Hey John - Oops! I will correct the article. Yeah, 4 did have a lot of singles that's for sure. I'm looking forward to hearing this compilation as I'm not as familiar with the radio edits.