FOREIGNER FOREIGNER 4 MFSL 1-343 180 gram Audiophile LP • This #1 1981 album teems with hits: “Urgent,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You” and “Juke Box Hero” Do you want to be a juke box hero?   Here’s your chance.   Featuring Mutt Lange’s spotless production, contributions from Motown legend Junior Walker and new-wave icon Thomas Dolby, no less than three huge singles, and Foreigner's most economical performances, 4 is classic-rock nirvana, a model of crystalline pop-rock melodies and lighter-flicking balladry.   More than six million copies later, the 1981 record is still rightly discussed as a front-to-back masterpiece of precision, power, and economy.   It's an album that demands to be experienced in the highest-possible fidelity. Half-speed mastered from the original master tapes, our 180g LP presents 4 in a room-filling, stadium-big sound that simply crushes what's heard on all prior versions.   Replete with energetic rockers such as “Urgent,” “Night Life” and “Woman In Black,” the record benefits from a sonic facelift that opens up the previously compressed dynamics, expands the dimensions of the soundstage, dials in a clear path to the instrumental images, and erases the ceiling that pressed down on Lou Gramm’s superhuman vocals.   For the first time, Lange's obsessive, detail-oriented production can be enjoyed in all its splendid glory. Fresh off blockbuster success with AC/DC's Back In Black, Lange uses his magic touch on 4, pairing with guitarist Mick Jones who, armed with the best batch of riffs of his career, shared a the producer’s sentiment for discipline, efficiency, and cleanliness.   And so, on crisp tunes like “Break It Up,” pianos and hard-hitting guitars share the same space without ever impinging on one another or overstepping boundaries.   The winning formula also propels Top 5 hits like the wildly funky “Urgent,” sent to new heights by Walker's dazzling saxophone solo, and the touching “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” a crossover smash that introduced Foreigner to soft-rock and adult-pop audiences. Simply stated, 4 has everything: Rowdy frustration-releasing cuts, fiery rock'n'roll tunes, heartfelt torch songs, and synth-drenched pop numbers.   The playing throughout positively smokes, as the one-two punch of Gramm and Jones lands with both emotional and musical impact every time.   There's not a single wasted note.   And, reduced to a quartet, Foreigner seems bent on making more with less, just as Lange does with the polished production.   This is 42 minutes of hard-rocking bliss. SIDE 1 1. Night Life (Jones, Gramm) – 3:48 2. Juke Box Hero (Gramm, Jones) – 4:18 3. Break It Up (Jones) – 4:11 4. Waiting for a Girl Like You (Jones, Gramm) – 4:49 5. Luanne (Gramm, Jones) - 3:25 SIDE 2 1. Urgent (Jones) – 4:29 2. I'm Gonna Win (Jones) – 4:51 3. Woman in Black (Jones) – 4:42 4. Girl on the Moon (Jones, Gramm) – 3:49 5. Don't Let Go (Jones, Gramm) – 3:48 Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab recordings are distributed in Australia by Rockian Trading