Unusual Heat

Artist: Foreigner
Label: Atlantic / Wea
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 075678229923
EAN: 0075678229923
ASIN: B000002IRR

Release Date: 1991-06-17

Unusual Heat

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CDs $7 - $10

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CDs $7 - $10

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CDs $7 - $10

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Tracks:

Only Heaven Knows
Lowdown And Dirty
I'll Fight For You
Moment Of Truth
Mountain Of Love
Ready For The Rain
When The Night Comes Down
Safe In My Heart
No Hiding Place
Flesh Wound
Unusual Heat

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Inside Information
Agent Provocateur
Mr. Moonlight
Dangerous Age
Long Hard Look

Customer Reviews:

A medicore album by a band calling themselves Foreigner.......2007-04-14

If you consider this the first album by a new band in 1991, it wasn't bad. But when you attach the name Foreigner you expect more than this can deliver. The good move by Mick Jones was getting Terry Thomas (Giant, Bad Company)to produce the record. He gives the Foreigner guitar sound a harder edge. "Lowdown and Dirty" was the first single and "I'll Fight For You" received some airplay in a remixed version. If you want a good laugh, search YouTube for these videos. Foreigner made a silly move by promoting Johnny Edwards as some kind of sex symbol. Put a shirt on dude. Edwards isn't anyhwere close to being as good a singer as Lou Gramm. The only track that I find myself listening to on this album is the ballad "Safe In My Heart." It has the classic Foreigner keyboard sound and would have been a big hit if Lou Gramm had sung it. In 1991, Lou Gramm and his new band Shadow King put out an album that was a critical success and much better than this album. I can't help thinking that half the tracks from Unusual Heat and half from the Shadow King debut could have been put together to make a killer Foreigner album.

What the hell is the matter with you people?!.......2006-10-04

Look....as a die hard Foreigner fan, sure....I mourned Lou's departure.....but HELLO?!?!?! GET OVER IT!!! NO ONE likes change.....change sux. This album IS a tad different from Foreigner Mark I.......but still......IT ROCKS. Johnny is NOT Lou Gramm.....but WOW....and this is a cliche......but....HERE'S JOHNNY!!!!!!!!! This guy can do stuff with his voice I'd LOVE to see ANYONE try these days. He put a new trademark sound to this self-destructive band.....and this album IS one of the best. It is sad that the sniffling change-phobia babies never gave it a chance. The FIRST listen to the title track has EVERY one of the people I have listen to it tapping their toes and banging the steering wheel by the time the chorus makes it's kick-butt presence known.
"I'll Fight For You" is a damn good ballad and SHAME on you for calling it WEAK. "Ready For the Rain to Fall?" HELLOOOOO???? Classic Rock alert!!!!!! "When the Night Comes Down" would have been number one had it been done by ANYONE else....but some cry babies decided to NOT let this album see the light of day. Grow up people.
SOME people need an education on music......and if an Ego driven Leader decides to take off....let him go....better things JUST MIGHT happen without him.........

Worthy addition to the Foreigner legacy.......2006-07-13

It's a real shame that 1991's Unusual Heat has such a bad reputation. This, of course, is the only Foreigner album that does not feature longtime vocalist Lou Gramm. Gramm was off launching a fairly successful solo career, so one-time King Kobra singer Johnny Edwards steps in. Of course Edwards is no Lou Gramm, but he still did a damn fine job. He's got a rich, strong voice that is not very far removed from what Foreigner fans are used to. The songwriting on Unusual Heat was quite good as well. The songs on this album could just as easily have fit on Agent Provocateur or Inside Information, and the track "When the Night Comes Down" is one of the band's best songs. Overall, this is a very solid album, and is an example of late 80's/early 90's AOR at its best.

I understand that Gramm's absence has a big impact on how people view this album, but if you listen to it objectively, I believe it stands the test of time quite well. Of course, I tend to prefer the Brian Howe-era Bad Company albums as well, so take that for what it's worth!

The best album possible, given the circumstances.......2005-11-25

Getting right to the point, 'Unusual Heat' was the infamous Foreigner album from 1991, featuring a replacement singer. Lou Gramm had left the band to pursue a solo career and Mick Jones made an effort to carry on with new singer, Johnny Edwards. Edwards, previously with King Kobra, was one of several singers who Jones was considering for the spot. At one point, Sean Harris from Diamondhead was in the running.

Given the complete failure of 'Unusual Heat' commercially, one would not expect very much from listening to this album. However, fans of good melodic rock or AOR from the late 1980's and early 1990's won't be disappointed. The first three cuts from this album all got a little airplay, though none of them charted.

Johnny Edwards is not Lou Gramm and there isn't anybody who will dispute this. Now that we've established this, Edwards has some fine pipes and doesn't drag down this release. Sure, Edwards is the type of singer who was a dime a dozen in 1991 and doesn't do anything to distinguish himself, unlike Gramm. However, it isn't the fault of Edwards that 'Unusual Heat' failed to sell.

The eleven songs included are the textbook rockers and ballads that Foreigner were known for with Lou Gramm. Granted, there is some stuff here that doesn't sound like classic Foreigner. A few tunes could have easily been recorded by the Brian Howe version of Bad Company, Damn Yankees, Tesla or perhaps Night Ranger. Johnny Edwards is one of the key contributors on the songwriting, so he leaves his own stamp on the band and this album. However, it isn't hard to imagine Lou Gramm singing some of these songs. This material isn't that far removed from his very own Shadowking project, around this time.

"Only Heaven Knows" opens the album in strong fashion, with a catchy chorus. "Lowdown and Dirty" is the big rocker from the album, with a good riff. "I'll Fight For You" is one of the ballads from the album and a fairly good one. "Moment of Truth" is another rocker, this one could have easily been sung by Lou. "Ready For The Rain" has arguably the best chorus on 'Unusual Heat' and could have had success if pushed as a hit. "When The Night Comes Down" tends to be the favorite from most Foreigner fans who were receptive to this album. "Safe In My Heart" could have been used on 'Inside Information', the previous album. It is probably the strongest of the ballads from this release. "No Hiding Place" suffers lyrically but probably boasts the most attitude. "Flesh Wound" may qualify as the weakest track here, but it isn't completely terrible. The title track, closing this album, is a more seductive number that never would have worked as a single but could have been a fan favorite if this album had sold a few more copies.

Truth is, there isn't a bad song on here. While overall, this isn't the strongest Foreigner release, it has less filler tracks than some of the other albums. 'Unusual Heat' quickly went into the bargain bin across the country and it is a shame. If Lou Gramm had been singing these songs or if Mick Jones had chosen to do this album under a different band name, I see no reason why this couldn't have gone gold.

Lou Gramm returned to Foreigner a year later, to reunite with the band for some new songs on a best of release. 'The Very Best and Beyond' was released only a year after this album but did not include a single cut from 'Unusual Heat.' Lou and the band never performed anything off of this one live. You only would have heard material from 'Unusual Heat' in concert if you happened to catch the Johnny Edwards lineup live. Of course, record sales have something to do with it. To promote the release of this album, Foreigner also released a promotional cd called 'Profiled', in which they related that the plan was to carry on long-term with Johnny Edwards in Foreigner. How quick things change.

Later on, Foreigner did issue an anthology or two that represented 'Unusual Heat' with one cut ("Lowdown and Dirty", I believe). Not too long ago, Lou did an interview with the web site Classic Rock Revisited, in which he gave his opinion of this lineup of Foreigner. It is still archived and an interesting read for any fans who stumble on this review.

As of the fall of 2005, Lou Gramm is no longer in Foreigner and has again been replaced. The current singer is Kelly Hansen, formerly of Hurricane, and they have been touring with a revamped lineup. It is interesting to see, with Mick Jones being the only remaining original, if the new version of Foreigner decides to dust off something from this album in their future setlists. I'm sure they might do it, just to spite Gramm.

Ultimately, 'Unusual Heat' brings to mind Steve Augeri replacing Steve Perry in Journey. There are the good points and the bad points. Despite that, I highly recommend this to someone who enjoyed Damn Yankees or the 1980's-90's edition of Bad Company. Foreigner fans, with an open mind, will also like this fairly well. To be honest, the best songs here are superior to some of the cuts that Lou recorded after he returned to the band. There are a few moments on here that are better than the Foreigner swan song, 'Mr. Moonlight' in 1995. Furthermore, the three new cuts Gramm recorded with Foreigner in 1992, for 'The Very Best and Beyond' are no better than what you'll find here. Some people might not enjoy reading that but it is the truth.

THE ONE WITH THE OTHER GUY........2005-11-14

Thank goodness the last two reviewers keep open ears and minds,To music.

UNUSUAL HEAT, Is a damn fine album in it's own right, It was also Mick Jones answer too Lou Gramm.
If FOREIGNER Fan's don't know the story of why Lou left,
I'll tell ya', After the huge '4' Album, with the three hits on it, The big one being " Waiting for a girl like you" Jones had noticed that other huge bands like :"JOURNEY" Were having heaps of hits with what we now call Power Ballads, Jones went straight to work doing ballad after ballad then giving them to Lou to write the lyrics, At this stage both Lou and Jones had a 50/50 partnership in the bands sound and direction, Lou said to Mick from the start of production that was "AGENT PROVOCATIVE" That the Foreigner sound had to stay, If we are puting more keyboards onto songs then we have to even it up with more guitars on the rock songs,Lou stressed to Mick that he didnt' want to make Foreigner a soft rock band, only known for it's love songs. So out comes "AGENT PROVOCATIVE" Half rockers "Tooth and nail","Reaction to action" And the other half "That was yesterday",and the massive "I want to know what love is" Which Lou loved doing because of the vocal parts.
Anyway after a break after the tour, Lou meets Jones in the studio to find the rest of the band with jones just playing ballads, And after singing his parts,Lou thought there was more songs to do, Anyway as you all know to lou's fury ! Out came "INSIDE INFOMATION" Gone were the up front guitar, instead it was drowned in a sea of synth and keyboards with pop sounding drums, even the so called rockers ended up sounding like pop songs. as we know Lou went and told the music media that He was leaving because Foreigner cant make classic rock anymore, And even though the album had 2 hits, The critic's were saying the same as Lou.
3 years went by Lou had done 2 solo albums with one hit. Mick Jones did a solo album with no hits, The only thing Mick could do was reform Foreigner, but because of the way it ended with Lou, And maybe a huge ego to go with it, Mick went looking for singers telling the new 90's media that because of nirvana and the like, It was time to show everyone that Foreigner can rock with the best of them, And Atlantic put their backing behind the band.
Thats how "UNUSUAL HEAT" Was born, poor Jonny Edwards did the best he could, And yes he's a fine singer in his own right. Just maybe fans might have liked him more if he was more well known, Mick Jones had even asked Michael Bolton to join the band, before saying yes to Jonny! The album has a more modern edge too it, The big high-light to it all is Micks great guitar playing, Its his best since "HEAD GAMES". To me its got that classic 70's Foreigner sound With a mix of "HOT BLOODED" And "DIRTY WHITE BOY" But modern sounding. The band sound great but the production is abit thin, Why Jones picked Terry Thomess to produce it, and not someone big like Mike clink I don't know, The only thing of Terrys work that I like is what he did with GIANT( Anyone who likes Foreigner would love this band.)

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