Customer Reviews

Records

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A short consise retrospective of the hits from the first four albums. I must note that many of the songs are the 45 versions which are generally shorter and the mixes of some of the songs are markedly different from the actual albums they're culled from. Most notably are Cold as Ice, Waiting for a Girl Like You, and Long Long Way From Home. Also disappointing to many and maybe interesting to others is the omission of the studio version of Hot Blooded. A live recording from the "4" tour is presented instead. Sadly, Blue Morning Blue Day isn't featured on the record. Leaving at least one hit off a best of has always seemed to be the thing for record companies to do. My guess is that it's a marketing ploy so you will go out and maybe buy that missing hit off an artist's greatest hits album.

For what it is, Records is a great album. It was Foreigner's first greatest hits album. It has a lot of their hits from "Double Vision" to "Waiting For A Girl Like You." However, it's far from being Foreigner's best compilation collection. It's not a complete compilation like Very Best....And Beyond is.

If you only like a few of Foreigner's songs and they're on this album, you might want to just get this one. But if you like some Foreigner songs that aren't on Records such as "I Want To Know What Love Is" or "Say You Will," I recommend getting Very Best.. And Beyond.

I'm a huge Foreigner fan and love every song on this set. HOWEVER, I cannot stand it when a greatest hits collection has edited versions of the hits! Granted, these probably were the versions played on the radio, but 'Feels Like The First Time' has been butchered! Still, if you're looking for an introduction to one of the best pop/rock groups of the '70's and '80's, this would be a great place to start. And the live version of 'Hot Blooded' ROCKS!!

For the casual listener this compilation will deliver all of the Foreigner songs that you will ever need in your collection. "Cold As Ice", "Double Vision", "Head Games", "Feels Like The First Time", "Waiting For A Girl...", "Jukebox Hero" and "Urgent" are all here as well as a live version of "Hot Blooded" that isn't as good as the original studio version. Foreigner knows how to make some really catchy songs and all of there best can be found on this collection.

Ahh, the 80's. When - before the CD era - a ten song greatest hits album was considered loaded. That was the state of things when Foreigner, riding high with "Foreigner 4" and the hit "Waiting For A Girl Like You" put this out for the holiday season of 1982.

However, Foriegner had a few more hits left in them, including the incredible "I Wanna Know What Love Is." To that end, there are three other superior anthologies available. Look for the Rhino box set "Juke Box Heroes," the double disc "Ultimate Collection" or the single disc 2002 "Complete Greatest Hits." They include the post-4 material and nix the live version of "Hot Blooded." You will also frequently get the album length versions over the short versions (why would you want to miss Jr. Walker's amazing full sax solo on "Urgent?").

Make no mistake, "Records" is a solid collection. Just be aware that you can do better.

You would think that this record would get 5 stars given the songs that are on it, the very cream of the first four Foreigner albums. However, multiple reviewers have given this rather excellent compilation of songs as little as one star. The reason isn't that the music is bad, the reason is that this collection is very incomplete, and for a few dollars more you can have "The Complete Greatest Hits" which has double the number of songs. The other problem with this collection is that the songs are the radio version, not the album version. There is a third problem with this particular version in that there is a re-master available for it.

You know these songs; they are great songs. The radio versions, true, but still great. The ever awesome "Feels Like the First Time", the mellow "Waiting for a Girl Like You", and rocking standards like "Cold as Ice" and "Hot Blooded"; ten selections that are truly greatest hits.

Now, unless you like only early Foreigner, or must have every Foreigner CD because you are a super fan, go buy one of the newer greatest hits collections that have all these songs plus many more, for only a little more money. I still rate this CD 4 stars because the music is so good, but for value it rates 2 stars, because much better exists.

After reading the other reviews, I didn't realize that the "Hot Blooded" version on the disc was live. I never play it! Frankly, I never get beyond "Cold as Ice", "Double Vision", "Urgent", "Waiting for a Girl like You" and, finally, "Feels Like the Very First Time". Thanks all you "hard-core" fans for passing on this very useful information - It gives me the excuse of updating my collection! However, I will keep my CD, for old times' sake! Four stars!!

A summation of the band's history through their first four albums, "Records" does casual fans the favor of separating out the nuggets from the filler material that usually surrounded them on their original studio albums. What you get here are ten singles that were inescapable on rock radio in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Foreigner was a prototypical arena rock band, placing two or three singles on each album and then touring behind it. All the highlights from the peak of their career are here, from "Cold as Ice" to "Feels Like the First Time" to "Hot Blooded," to the power ballad "Waiting for a Girl Like You." Lots of synthesizers, non-threatening guitar solos and Lou Gramm's meaty vocals. As nostalgia trips go, this is about as good as it gets.

Overall, an uncluttered, brief anthology that neatly sums up Foreigner's classic period.

You would think that this record would get 5 stars given the songs that are on it, the very cream of the first four Foreigner albums. However, multiple reviewers have given this rather excellent compilation of songs as little as one star. The reason isn't that the music is bad, the reason is that this collection is very incomplete, and for a few dollars more you can have "The Complete Greatest Hits" which has double the number of songs. The other problem with this collection is that the songs are the radio version, not the album version.

You know these songs; they are great songs. The radio versions, true, but still great. The ever awesome "Feels Like the First Time", the mellow "Waiting for a Girl Like You", and rocking standards like "Cold as Ice" and "Hot Blooded"; ten selections that are truly greatest hits.

Now, unless you like only early Foreigner, or must have every Foreigner CD because you are a super fan, go buy one of the newer greatest hits collections that have all these songs plus many more, for only a little more money. I still rate this CD 4 stars because the music is so good, but for value it rates 2 stars, because much better exists.

It's a shame this collection only contains 10 songs...this collection feels like those ...cds you find in the bargain bins released by obscure/generic record companies that have somehow bought the rights to sell such compilations ! That said and out of the way, Records does represent Foreigner's strongest hits during the late 70's early 80's period. The sound is undeniably late 70's pop rock. Still, the music was and is very energetic with a few memorable tunes (Cold As Ice, Double Vision, Waiting For A Girl Like You, and Urgent). So popular the music of Foreigner that Burger King used Double Vision for one of their campaign commercials a few years back. Urgent was remade a few years later (after it's initial release) by R&B/dance singer Shannon in the mid 80's...the awesome thing about Foreigner is that their music and lyrics were catchy and easily accessible; they were not heavy metal or hard rock, but by no means were they pop fluff either ! They maintained a very sophisticated edge without letting their artistry become compromised by refusing to create tunes just to follow a music fad or just sell records !