Customer Reviews

Agent Provacateur

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Agent Provocateur(1984). Foreigner's fifth studio album.

After the band's pinnacle release of the "4" album in 1981, Foreigner decided to implement more keyboards into their traditional classic rock sound, and came off with Agent Provocateur three years later. While not the huge success that "4" was, it did spawn the band a couple of chart topping classics in the form of "That Was Yesterday" and the famous ballad "I Want To Know What Love Is". The rest of the album measures up very nicely as well. Most fans tend to only look at the softer Foreigner material from the 80's, but the period did also sport numerous rockers. Foreigner is generally a band which critics love to hate, but why is this album still loved by many fans? Let's see:

1) Tooth And Nail- Excellent mid-paced rocker which kicks off the album. Comparable to some of the band's earlier material. 9/10

2) That Was Yesterday- The album's sleeper hit, a very melodic mid-paced semi-ballad, which contains a strong synth melody. Excellent. 10/10

3) I Want To Know What Love Is- Foreigner's very first #1 single. A slow ballad which builds up the background vocals as the chorus draws in. Nicely done. 10/10

4) Growing Up The Hard Way- One of my two favorite rockers off the album. Mostly a synth/rock number, but it's still very underrated in Foreigner's catalogue. 10/10

5) Reaction To Action- My other favorite rocker here. The keyboards take backseat to an all out classic electric guitar anthem. Also very underrated. 10/10

6) Stranger In My Own House- Here's where the album takes a slight downhill turn. This song is slower, but still rocking, similar to what the band Loverboy would do. 8/10

7) Love In Vain- Another mid-paced keyboard driven tune, almost like the track "Growing Up The Hard Way". Very catchy. 9/10

8) Down On Love- This track is more of an optimistic ballad, which stands out a little from some of Foreigner's sad ballads. Not bad. 8/10

9) Two Different Worlds- Yet another ballad, but more mellow like "I Want To Know What Love Is". Good, but not outstanding. 8/10

10) She's Too Tough- The album closes with a faster pop rock track which also sounds like a Loverboy song. Upbeat and catchy. 9/10

Overall, Agent Provocateur is a noteworthy Foreigner album, which gets 4.5 stars. It may not be as hard rocking as some of their earlier 70's albums, but it is still a strong collection of rockers and ballads which offer a bit of variety throughout the disc. If you're just a casual fan getting into Foreigner, I recommend listening to "4" first, and then proceeding onto this album and the others. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Also, check out their 1987 album, Inside Information.

After the massive success of 1981's "4" and it's subsequent tour, Foreigner took a couple of years off before returning in 1984 with "Agent Provocateur." Although it didn't do the business that "4" did (and how could it have?), "Agent Provocateur" was still a big hit album for the band, and it finally gave them their long sought-after #1 single in the form of "I Want To Know What Love Is." With the exception of that beautiful ballad plus a few others, "Provocateur" has an even more rocking feel to it than it's legendary predecessor, with Mick Jones' scorching guitar and Lou Gramm's full-throttle lead vocals at the forefront. Ah, but Foreigner wouldn't be Foreigner without their trademark keyboards or the band's fine sense of melody, which "Provocateur" has both of in great abundance, too. Once again, Foreigner rock the house in great style on songs like "Tooth And Nail," "Growing Up The Hard Way," "Reaction To Action," "Stranger In My Own House," and "She's Too Tough." And the softer, keyboard-led stuff is wonderful too---"I Want To Know What Love Is" is an instant Foreigner classic, and "That Was Yesterday" (a Top 20 hit), "A Love In Vain," "Down On Love," and "Two Different Worlds" are also great songs. Powerful rockers and ballads throughout, excellent production work, and electrifying performances from the band, not only Jones & Gramm but also bassist Rick Wills and drummer Dennis Elliott. From end to end, "Agent Provocateur" is a solid Foreigner album.

This CD is solid 80s. To some extent it is reminiscent of numerous other 80s hard rock groups. And yet, it also contains unique compositions that are among Foreigner's better contributions to rock music.

The most memorable and perhaps longest lasting songs on this CD are the ballads and quasi-ballads. Songs like "That Was Yesterday" and "I Want to Know What Love Is" continue to get airplay on 80s stations and now some classic rock stations. "I Want to Know What Love Is" is not only a ballad, but a POWER ballad.

However, in addition to these ballads are less memorable efforts that are okay, but distract from the better songs. "A Love in Vain" and "Two Different Worlds" are also ballads, but while not bad songs they are clearly filler songs stuck in to fill out a CD.

While the ballads are what will keep Foreigner in the minds of many people, Foreigner really was a hard rock group. "Tooth and Nail," "Growing Up the Hard Way," "Reaction to Action," "Stranger in My Own House" and "She's Too Tough" are the kind of hard rock songs that defined Foreigner. Most have a flavor of the 80s, though for some songs the flavor may be a taste, for many the songs are easily detectable as 80s. However, just because the songs are 80s, they remain decent songs, and even decent hard rock songs.

Because this album was a follow up to the monster album "Foreigner 4 and because of some of the weaker songs on the album, the album has been maligned by a number of reviewers and critics. Fortunately we live in the CD age, and you can program this CD to match your musical tastes. If you like Foreigner the hard rock group, just program the five or six rocking songs, and skip the ballads. If you like most of the music except for the weaker ballads, program them out. If you take off the weakest songs, what remains is a pretty good album. If we take off the weakest five songs of the ten, you end up with an album that, while short on songs, has the kind of strength that "Foreigner 4" had.

I've enjoyed Foreigner's music for many years, though I am not as big a Foreigner fan as many others that have reviewed this album. Comparing this album to other Foreigner albums, I think it's one of their better albums. Admittedly it doesn't reach the peak of "Foreigner 4," but every group has an album that just seems to be a definable peak that they either do not hit again, or that it takes a long time to reach again. If Foreigner had not released "4," it may well be that some fans would have regarded this album as their best, or one of their best. Because of the weaker songs I give this CD 4 stars. Conversely, some of the better songs on this CD pull it past 3 stars into a solid 4 star range. If you like 80s power rock then I think you will find this CD interesting.

Sure, Lou and Mick weren't even speaking to each other when they made this album, but the results were certainly inspiring. At times, synths undermine some of the rawness that would have been preferred, but some of Foreigner's best songs are here. Of course, "I Want to Know What Love Is" is genius, but "That Was Yesterday" is also an amazing mid-tempo ballad. The three ballads in a row on the second half of the CD feature some of Lou Gramm's most emotional vocals, and they're all top-notch. Add to that smoking rockers like "Tooth and Nail," "Reaction to Action" and "Stranger in my Own House" and you have a great record, that's been unfairly maligned over the years.

Agent Provocateur was a change from the gritty hard rock foreigner had been known for.Agent is filled with synthesizers and great Mick Jones lyrics.Of course I want to know what love is is the biggest hit and most well known of the album.The sleeper hit of the album is that was yesterday which hit #12 on the charts.Though it doesnt get much airplay,that was yesterday is a perfect blend of heartbreakingly powerful lyrics which are sung perfectly by Lou Gramm and great keys playing by Jones.Down on love is another great foreigner ballad with great lyrics.Stranger in my own house,tooth and nail,and reaction to action are great hard rockers that are more typical of foreigner.A love in vain is a very strong song with intense synthesizers and powerhouse Gramm vocals.Agent Provocateur is another terrific album from a very special band.

The synthesizers are heavy on this album, but it sounds great. "That Was Yesterday" and "Love In Vain" are smokin' rock songs. The songs are solid and filled with energy on this album. Mick Jones does a great job and guitar and keyboards and Lou Gramm's vocals are strong and inspired. This CD really brings back the memories of mid 80's.

do you want to know what love is, well this is the cd you need.
like the music from this group, this is one of the best that's why you don't find it no where, no even in the stores any more. must if you like this group and must have for your collection.

This CD is solid 80s. To some extent it is reminiscent of numerous other 80s hard rock groups. And yet, it also contains unique compositions that are among Foreigner's better contributions to rock music.

The most memorable and perhaps longest lasting songs on this CD are the ballads and quasi-ballads. Songs like "That Was Yesterday" and "I Want to Know What Love Is" continue to get airplay on 80s stations and now some classic rock stations. "I Want to Know What Love Is" is not only a ballad, but a POWER ballad.

However, in addition to these ballads are less memorable efforts that are okay, but distract from the better songs. "A Love in Vain" and "Two Different Worlds" are also ballads, but while not bad songs, are clearly filler songs stuck in to fill out a CD.

While the ballads are what will keep Foreigner in the minds of many people, Foreigner really was a hard rock group. "Tooth and Nail", "Growing Up the Hard Way", "Reaction to Action", "Stranger in My Own House" and "She's Too Tough" are the kind of hard rock songs that defined Foreigner. Most have a flavor of the 80s, though for some songs the flavor may be a taste, for many the songs are easily detectable as 80s. However, just because the songs are 80s, they remain decent songs, and even decent hard rock songs.

Because this album was a follow up to the monster album "Foreigner 4", and because of some of the weaker songs on the album, the album has been maligned by a number of reviewers and critics. Fortunately we live in the CD age, and you can program this CD to match your musical tastes. If you like Foreigner the hard rock group, just program the five or six rocking songs, and skip the ballads. If you like most of the music except for the weaker ballads, program them out. If you take off the weakest songs, what remains is a pretty good album. If we take off the weakest five songs of the ten, you end up with an album that, while short on songs, has the kind of strength that "Foreigner 4" had.

I've enjoyed Foreigner's music for many years, though I am not as big a Foreigner fan as many others that have reviewed this album. Comparing this album to other Foreigner albums, I think it's one of their better albums. Admittedly it doesn't reach the peak of "Foreigner 4", but every group has an album that just seems to be a definable peak that they either do not hit again, or that it takes a long time to reach once again. If Foreigner had not released "4", it may well be that some fans would have regarded this album as their best, or one of their best. Because of the weaker songs I give this CD 4 stars. Conversely, some of the better songs on this CD pull it past 3 stars into a solid 4 star range. If you like 80s power rock, then I think you will find this CD interesting.

Agent Provocateur is Foreigner's follow up to their number one hit, 4. It was tough task to follow up that great album and they don't manage to do so with this album. While there are some very good songs, overall the album is just average. "I Want To Know What Love Is" is the band's biggest hit and it is a very pretty song that contains singing from the Newark Gospel Choir that adds a beautiful and heartbreaking touch to the song. It became the band's only number one single. Despite the balladry of that song, the album is basically made up of rockers that are drenched too heavily in synthesizers with "That was Yesterday" and "Reaction To Action" standing out.

this is my second favorite cd of all time, it is the 4th time i have bought this album, love it! i would definely reccomend this to a friend. thanks amazon for good quality music cds!