Essentials

Audio Remasterer: Ted Carson.
The best place to savor the high-octane, hard -rocking hit-making machine that was Foreigner at their prime is the 1982 collection Records. Because it was released before their hard rock turned soft, it beats out both Rhino's Complete Greatest Hits and Warner Music Canada's Essentials, if all you want is the hard stuff. Essentials focuses mainly on the pre-'84 rockers like "Urgent," "Double Vision," "Cold as Ice," and "Hot Blooded," but some synth-infested ballads like "I Want to Know What Love Is," "Say You Will," and "I Don't Want to Live Without You" creep in and dilute the power of the disc. Of course it works the other way too. If the aspect of the band you like is the romantic, easy listening side of the band, the rockers will curl your toes. Essentials is okay if you just want a surface skimming overview of the band, but you can do much better elsewhere. ~ Tim Sendra