One Step Closer to the Danger Zone: Foreigner Sets Expanded Remix of ‘Head Games’

August 31, 2026 By Joe Marchese — 1 Comment
Foreigner Head Games Deluxe
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Following last year’s deluxe expanded edition of Foreigner’s 1981 album 4(opens in new tab) – the band’s fourth overall album – Rhino is turning back the clock to another multi-platinum album, 1979’s Head Games.  On October 30, Head Games will return in a 3CD/1Blu-ray edition as well as a standalone 1LP vinyl edition of the new album remix at the centerpiece of the full box set.

Head Games marked a time of transition for Foreigner. Co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, Dusty Springfield), Mick Jones, and Ian McDonald, it featured Lou Gramm (lead vocals, percussion), Jones (lead guitar, piano, backing vocals, lead vocals), McDonald (guitars, keyboards, synthesizers), Rick Wills (bass, backing vocals), and Dennis Elliott (drums).  The LP was Wills’ first as well as the last for founding members McDonald and Greenwood.  It was also the band’s final album to showcase a lead vocal by Jones (“The Modern Day”).  Stylistically, it found Foreigner on the cusp of a transition from forceful rock to mainstream pop, a move characterized by 4’s biggest hit, “Waiting for a Girl Like You.”  Head Games rocked hard, as can be heard on its singles “Dirty White Boy” (No. 12 Pop), the title track (No. 14), and “Women” (No. 41).  The album climbed to No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum just four months after its initial release.

The Super Deluxe 3CD/1BD edition opens with a newly remixed presentation of the original 10-track studio album.  The second disc dives into the recording sessions with 16 Outtakes, Rough Mixes, and Alternative Versions including instrumentals of “Zalia” and “Happy Hour with Al,” the outtake trouble “Trouble” with Peter Frampton on newly-added guitar, a remix of the vocal version of “Zalia,” and the outtake “I Want You II.”  (The basic tracks of “Trouble” were recorded in May 1979 at Atlantic Studios in NYC with Roy Thomas Baker co-producing.)

Foreigner Head Games Remixed LP
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The third CD premieres a previously unreleased concert from the Head Games tour recorded at the Rochester Community War Memorial in Rochester, New York on October 27, 1979.  The setlist boasts songs from Head Games (“Dirty White Boy,” “Head Games,” “The Modern Day,” “Women,” “Love on the Telephone”) plus classics such as “Cold as Ice,” “Feels Like the First Time,” and the climactic “Hot Blooded.”  The set is rounded out by a Blu-ray Audio Disc with the 2026 stereo remix in high-resolution and a new Dolby Atmos mix.  The Frampton version of “Trouble” is included as a bonus, too.

This collection (also available as a digital Super Deluxe Edition) has been overseen by current Foreigner bassist Jeff Pilson as well as the group’s longtime collaborator Wyn Davis. For the physical box, Ken Sharp has provided a new essay chronicling the history of Head Games.  The previously unreleased “Trouble” is now streaming.

A seven-inch single of “Trouble” b/w “Zalia” is available for pre-order as a Rhino.com exclusive(opens in new tab).  The full Head Games box also arrives on October 30, and you’ll find the track listing and pre-order links below.  (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

Head Games (Super Deluxe Edition) (Atlantic/Rhino, 2026)

3CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab)
1LP: Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab)
7″: Rhino.com(opens in new tab)

CD 1: Head Games 2026 Stereo Remix (originally released as Atlantic SD 29999 (U.S.)/K 50651 (U.K.), 1979)

  1. Dirty White Boy
  2. Love on the Telephone
  3. Women
  4. I’ll Get Even with You
  5. Seventeen
  6. Head Games
  7. The Modern Day
  8. Blinded by Science
  9. Do What You Like
  10. Rev on the Red Line

CD 2: Outtakes, Rough Mixes & Alternative Versions (previously unreleased except where noted)

  1. Trouble (2026 Remix feat. Peter Frampton)
  2. Zalia (2026 Remix) (original mix released on CD reissue – Atlantic/Rhino R2 78198, 2002)
  3. Love on the Telephone (aka Slip Away) (Instrumental)
  4. Zalia (Instrumental)
  5. Happy Hour with Al (Instrumental)
  6. Rev on the Red Line (Early Version)
  7. Rev on the Red Line (Complete with Lead Vocals
  8. Blinded by Science (Complete with Edit)
  9. Head Games (Early Version)
  10. Rev on the Red Line (aka Go Down)
  11. Blinded by Science (Alternate Take)
  12. Seventeen (Early Mix)
  13. I’ll Get Even with You (aka Low Blow)
  14. I Want You II (Take 35)
  15. The Modern Day (aka If I Don’t Have You)

CD 3: Live at Rochester Community War Memorial, Rochester, NY – 10/27/1979 (previously unreleased)

  1. Long, Long Way from Home
  2. Blue Morning, Blue Day
  3. I’ll Get Even with You
  4. Head Games
  5. I Need You
  6. The Modern Day
  7. Women
  8. Cold As Ice
  9. Feels Like the First Time
  10. Dirty White Boy
  11. Starrider
  12. Double Vision
  13. Love on the Telephone
  14. Headknocker
  15. Hot Blooded

Blu-ray Audio: Dolby Atmos and 2026 Stereo Remix of original album and “Trouble”

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Joe Marchese
Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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