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Anteater · 12-15-2015, 06:17 PM

07. Foreigner - Double Vision (1978)

After their diverse yet auspicious debut, English/American early AOR heavyweights Foreigner were looking for the next flight up the stairway to stardom heaven. That came courtesy of a change in producer to up-and-coming hotshot Keith Olsen, a man who had the golden ears for this sort of material. He proved to be the ideal mentor for Lou Gramm, Mick Jones and Ian McDonald, the core songwriters at this point in time. It was the right match, and Double Vision hit shelves in late '78 and went on to sell 5 million copies and spawn a few hit singles in the process.

What separated Foreigner from most of their competitors at the time was the heavy influence of traditional blues-rock in their sound, an element that comes more to the fore here than the debut. While the prog-rock and more eclectic influences are scaled back a bit, Lou Gramm in particular took enormous strides to become one of the finest frontmen of all time. You still get your occasionally grin-inducing nuance on many tracks here, with notable examples being the haunting, orchestral-tinged closer 'Spellbinder' and the soulfully backed 'I Have Waited So Long', an acoustic ballad that wouldn't have been out of place in the mid 90's mainstream grunge scene, sax and all.

The more atypical AOR material however, such as the pure ballads or the uptempo oriented pieces is where the band was still a bit hit 'n miss. Of these numbers, the title track and 'Hot Blooded' are the best, while the ball was dropped a bit on 'You're All I Am' and a few others. This was a weakness they would sharpen up as they came into juggernaut superstardom in the early 80's, but it holds this album back from being a bona fide classic.

Like many bands in the late 70's, Foreigner were still trying to find their true path amidst changing trends. They had gotten off to a great start however, and with this album under their belt they would continue to refine their sound. Their greatest triumph, of course, was yet to come...