Foreigner - 4 (Deluxe Edition)
by Kevin Wierzbicki
Foreigner fans will love delving into the material on this deluxe edition of
4, the band's massive hit album from 1981. The collection includes lots of rarities and also presents the album's original 10 songs in brand new (2025) remixed versions, meaning you'll hear rockers "Juke Box Hero," "Break it Up," "Urgent" and the ballad "Waiting for a Girl Like You" with new clarity, making it more fun than ever to sing along and maybe shred on air guitar too. Plenty of studio outtakes for these favorites are included; like "Juke Box Hero" in instrumental form and in two alternate versions, one of which is an early version called "Take One Guitar" which has lots of different lyrics and doesn't have the words "juke box hero" at all; fans who know all the words will really get a kick out of that one. Similarly "Waiting for a Girl Like You" appears in an early version as well as an instrumental version and a piano and vocal mix only, there's an instrumental rough mix of "Break it Up" and two instrumental rough mixes of "Urgent." In all there are 28 alternate versions for fans to explore (and maybe find one they like more than the original.) Also included is the "new" Foreigner song "Fool if You Love Him." That song is actually an oldie that was never finished until now after singer Lou Gramm wrote some additional lyrics. Topping off the music is a selection of live cuts from 1981 and 1982 that finds the guys playing ferocious versions of hits "Dirty White Boy," "Cold as Ice," "Hot Blooded," "Blue Morning Blue Day," "Head Games," "Double Vision," "Feels Like the First Time" and biggie "Juke Box Hero" and "Urgent" from
4. So this 59-track collection is built to please. There are different deluxe editions of
4 available including on vinyl, a 5-disc CD + Blu-ray set, and digital and Atmos versions. All are put together with care by the reissue specialists at Rhino and the CD + Blu-ray edition holds a booklet with 60 photos exclusive to the set.
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