Foreigner – 4 (180g Vinyl LP) * * *

Featuring Mutt Lange’s spotless production, contributions from Motown legend Junior Walker and new-wave icon Thomas Dolby, no less than three huge singles (“Urgent,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You” and “Juke Box Hero”), 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. 4 truly has it all – rowdy frustration-releasing cuts, fiery rock ‘n’ roll tunes, heartfelt torch songs and synth-drenched pop numbers – and to put it into perspective it spent more weeks on the Billboard chart at No. 1 than any album by AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, U2, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Genesis, Phil Collins, and Eric Clapton!