Is Foreigner underrated?

I've been listening to Foreigner's No End In Sight: The Very Best Of lately and it's been a pleasant experience to watch this band unfold. It seems like from 1977-1987, this was a very hot hitting group and one that I would have paid money to have seen live. "Cold As Ice", "Hot Blooded", "Feels Like The First Time", "Double Vision" etc. are all staples of rock radio, and also mandatory to be in rotation. Arguably, during a time when disco was waning and right before 'new wave' had exploded on the map, this was a highlight act, am I right?

I think certain bands like Foreigner and Journey are plagued by the time period in which they were active. It's true that the 1980's saw rock acts with heavy synthesizer usage, and more than a fair share of a power ballads. Shortly after the beginning of the 1990's, grunge took over and it feels like a whole era of music has become pushed into a disposal unit.

Anyways, I was wondering what the general consensus on Foreigner is around here. I think Mick Jones and Lou Gramm teamed up to write some great stuff, and Lou Gramm really was an incredible singer. The band itself also had chemistry and everything fell into place nice and smoothly. Perhaps things started to fall out around Agent Provocateur, and some of their singles felt generic in form, but I don't think enough damage was ever done to degrade the band overall.

For an act that spawned sixteen top 40 hits and five consecutive albums with sales of 5 million+ each, can it be fair to say this was a leading act?

 

"No, but perhaps they are overrated

DEFINITELY overrated

 

Nope

 

Only the albums featuring Ian McDonald

 

Foreigner aren't nearly as underrated or ignored in comparison to bands such as The Grass Roots.

 

They're rated just about right. If anyone thinks they're over-rated, they may not have listened closely enough to Urgent, I Want To Know What Love Is, or Lou Gramm's voice.

 

Just in the last several months I've gotten the albums and realized how underrated they are.

 

Ian McDonald was a great asset to the group. I liked the group best in its larger configuration.

 

I'm not sure how a band who had the success that you spell out there be considered underrated. Their brand of AOR was incredibly popular, so obviously millions of people rated them very highly. The critics didn't....but who really cares what the critics think? They get it wrong all the time. Personally, I thought their first two albums were good, and the third one, Head Games, was pretty weak. I didn't really listen to much after that.

 

The albums with Ian McDonald have nice musical elements. Yesterday I was nostaligically listening to Foreigner's first album and was reminded of the sound quality. They managed to capture some heavy hitting drums, and the guitar playing is exemplary. "Starrider" has some nice instrumental sections. Foreigner had a "big" hard rock sound with remnants of prog here and there, and Lou Gramm was a strong vocalist. Even the keyboards manage to not sound too cheesy to my ears.

Unfortunately, I find a lot of Foreigner's lyrics to be a bit embarrassing. "You're digging for gold, but throwing away a fortune in feelings, but someday you'll pay" being a typical example. It's not kind, clever, cool, funny or profound IMO.

 

only yes because lou gramm is underrated

 

Underrated? Not at all. They're as rated as they deserve to be.

 

They're a poor man's Led Zeppelin but they are ok.... I like them

 

In about 1982, just getting old enough to get into "my own" music, I was visiting my cousin who is a year older. He had a few 45s of his own, and showed me one that said "Foreigner" on the sleeve. He said, "These ones that say 'Foreigner' are usually pretty good" when we were discussing what records were good.

I didn't understand what "Foreigner" meant; I thought it was probably the record label. Or just some phrase used to mark good music . I'm not sure he understood either. But I did eventually get Foreigner Records and liked and played it quite a lot. Even now I "respect" the music, not just for nostalgia but it's pretty interesting. I did hate "I Want To Know What Love Is" when it came out, and still do. Dreck. But "Urgent", "Juke Box Hero", those weird timings in "Head Games" – lots of fun. I voted "underrated to a point".

So anyway if you ever see a record that says "Foreigner" on it, that's record industry-speak for "enjoyable music". Or something.

 

I saw them live in '82 and was kind of burned out on them by the time. However, they snagged me again with the great songs on Agent Provocateur and Inside Information and I've continued to dig them ever since.

Lou Gramm was their secret weapon...I recall Fee Waybill from The Tubes commenting in the early 80s that he envied Lou's vocal abilities - every time he opened his mouth good sounds came out.

I concur with a poster above; they're rated about right.

 

They're probably rated about right, but Lou is an amazing vocalist.

 

Sure, they're up in the pantheon of underrated titans with Bad Company, Toto and Dire Straits.

 

The debut is really good, and it holds up. On subsequent albums there ares some good songs, but no album ever came close to the debut. Four was the big big hit, but nope, that's not as good as the debut, either.

Underrated? Maybe the debut. But as a band I'd say they're rated about right.

 

The 1st album is a masterpiece to me.

No.4 is a pop hit album.

 

Hey now, one of these things is definitely not like the others.

Dire Straits made some beautiful music.

 

I'm not slamming any of these bands, just the notion that they're somehow underrated--whatever that means--despite being hugely successful.

 

And Bad Company actually rocked!

 

I think Lou Gramm is underrated as a vocalist for sure. He's one of the very best Rock singers that's ever picked up a mic. You listen to something like "I'm Gonna Win" from "4" and deny it...LOL! He could do the heavier Rock stuff that gets over in these parts and then do sensitive balladry like "Until the End of Time" without sounding sappy and ridiculous. He's quite versatile and until the tumor got him, he was hard to beat.

Ed

 

Foreigner's strengths were really nifty hooks, memorable guitar riffs, great songwriting and musicianship. Lousy but memorable lyrics. They also have an original sound quite unlike anyone else. Yes... and Ian McDonald provides a Midas touch to any song. Lou Gramm was an awesome vocalist.
It is Mick Jones vehicle, and I think, considering his non-mainstream (Spooky Tooth) beginnings that it was calculated effort on his part to pander at bit, okay a lot to the mainstream and turn a profit. Out of the gate with a hit debut album.... and a pretty decent one at that. Subsequent albums were weaker, but it always bummed me that Blue Morning, Blue Day was not included on Records.
They are not in the same league as Mark Knopfler, but definitely a step above Journey, REO, Toto, Styx, or whatever other late seventies-early 80s AOR bands you can think.

 

Foreigner? Meet shark:



Even with elevator fare like this, Lou still manages to sound compelling. I doubt he was into this (he didn't like the softer stuff it's said) but he did what he could with it.

Ed