Top 10 Alert!
Song#: 3453
Date: 03/19/1988
Debut: 64
Peak: 5
Weeks: 17
Genre: Soft Rock
Pop Bits: Foreigner's sixth album, Inside Information, started off well with the #6 hit "Say You Will" (#1 Rock). To follow it up, this ballad was released. It would do slightly better than their previous single peaking one notch higher to become their ninth Pop Top 10. It wasn't as well received at Rock where the song stalled at #18. However, it was highly successful at AC where it became their first and only #1 on that chart. The single certainly helped sales of the album, which would be certified platinum in April of '88. However, it didn't push the album further up the chart and it remained the band's first LP to not reach the Top 10 (#15). While a platinum album was nothing to sneeze at, it was their first to not go multi-platinum. All of their previous releases had at least reached 3x platinum, so the singular platinum level was a bit of a disappointment. This song would be the band's last to reach the Pop Top 10.
ReduxReview: "Say You Will" wasn't as rock-oriented as their earlier hits, but it was a good mainstream single that kept their streak of hits going. The change in sound was apparent throughout a chunk of the album, but not as much as on this dreamy mid-tempo ballad. The atmospheric verse kind of reminded me of 10cc's 1975 hit "I'm Not in Love." Not a bad comparison, but this song wasn't nearly as good and 70s soft rock wasn't something that I expected from Foreigner in the late 80s. I'm guessing band member Mick Jones had his sights set on the charts when he wrote this tune. It was melodic, hooky, and prime for mainstream crossover action. I'm sure the pop tune frustrated longtime fans of the band's rock sound and that seemed to be reflected in the slower album sales . This song was well-crafted and perfect for pop/AC radio, but I was never a big fan. It was like Foreigner's bid to be included in the corporate yacht rock club.
ReduxRating: 5/10
Trivia: Band member Lou Gramm had success with a solo album in '87, so following Inside Information, the band's guitarist and other main songwriter Mick Jones decided to give it a go. He would record a self-titled solo disc and release it in '89. It's first single, "Just Wanna Hold," which featured a guest appearance by Billy Joel, would get to #16 at Rock, but fail to make the Pop chart. A second single, "Everything That Comes Around," didn't get anywhere and with those results the album peaked at a very minor #184. It would end up being Jones' only solo effort.
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I give this song a 5/10 as well, this was my least favorite of their Top 40 singles, for some reason I associate this song with Mike & the Mechanics' "Taken In" more than their two previous ballads, I read somewhere that Lou Gramm purposely phoned in his vocal performance on this song so it wouldn't get released as a single.
ReplyDeleteYes, very reminiscent of "Taken In." Gramm doesn't sound all that vested in the tune.
DeleteLou Gramm definitely didn't put his heart into it, I was even surprised it was Foreigner who did this song because Gramm sounded a lot different here than in previous singles.
ReplyDelete