Maps of Music

Agent Provocateur (1984)

Where the lyrics of Agent Provocateur take you, and where it was really made.

The producer who started this album left before it was finished, and the band later admitted his production style did not suit them.

Key places

Recording studio in New York (1984)

Recording site MSR Studios — The album was recorded in New York. Right Track Recording is listed as one of the studios used for the recording sessions. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording studio in New York (1984)

Recording site The Hit Factory — The album was recorded in New York. The Hit Factory is listed as one of the studios used for the recording sessions. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Agent Provocateur: fifth studio album by British-American rock band Foreigner
• Released in December 1984
• The band's only UK number-one album
• Reached the top five on the US Billboard 200
• Contains the band's biggest hit, “I Want to Know What Love Is”
• Japanese record notes describe it as a concept album about a spy who sees life from inside and outside

Background

• Writing and preproduction began in June 1983 in New York with producer Trevor Horn
• Official recording started in early October in New York with Horn
• Sessions fell apart around Christmas, when the band joined Horn in England to resume recording
• Horn left the project, feeling he and the band were heading in different directions
• The band later recognised that Horn's production style was not really suited to their music
• Horn also chose to work with Frankie Goes To Hollywood on the follow-up single to Relax

Recording

• Another month was spent looking for a new producer before the band hired Alex Sadkin
• Sadkin was busy finishing the Thompson Twins album Into the Gap at that time
• Sadkin helped revive the project when it was close to total collapse
• Sessions still dragged on, with songs not ready and lyrics still being written during mixing, according to Sadkin
• Horn claims to have cut most backing tracks, including those for “I Want To Know What Love Is”
• Singer Lou Gramm said only two tracks cut with Horn were kept on the record
• A total of nine months was spent recording the album
• Producers credited: Mick Jones and Alex Sadkin

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Foreigner is a British-American rock band formed in New York City in 1976.
• Mick Jones led the band from the start; the original lineup included Lou Gramm, Dennis Elliott, Al Greenwood, Ian McDonald and Ed Gagliardi.
• The name came from the band's mix of British and American members: at least three members were foreigners in any country they played.
• The band's debut album came out in March 1977 and reached No. 4 in the US.

Members

• Mick Jones (guitar, keyboards, vocals) is the founder and only constant member.
• Lou Gramm (vocals) was an original member who left in 1990, rejoined in 1992, and left again in 2003.
• Gagliardi was replaced by Rick Wills in 1979; Greenwood and McDonald were dismissed in 1980.
• Kelly Hansen became lead singer in 2005; Luis Maldonado took over lead vocals in 2025.

Career

• Foreigner is one of the best-selling bands of all time, with worldwide sales exceeding 80 million records.
• The 1981 album 4 was its first and only US No. 1 album.
• The 1984 single "I Want to Know What Love Is" topped the charts in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
• The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Creem wrote that the band kept struggling with an all-too-turgid identity crisis
• Creem said the record was simply jammed with one dull defeat after another
• Billboard said the band flexed post-punk power chords with gusto on “Tooth and Nail”

Reappraisal

• Ultimate Classic Rock critic Eduardo Rivadavia ranked “A Love in Vain” as Foreigner's fifth most underrated song
• Rivadavia called it a synth-powered cry of desperation and a dark-horse favorite of fans
• Classic Rock critic Malcolm Dome ranked “Stranger in My Own House” sixth and “Tooth and Nail” second among Foreigner's most underrated songs
• Dome described “Tooth and Nail” as the antidote to “I Want to Know What Love Is”

Records

• UK Albums Chart: number one, the band's only UK number-one album
• US Billboard 200: top five
• France chart: 1st on UK Albums Chart, 4th on Billboard 200, 49th on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
• “I Want to Know What Love Is”: number one on the UK singles chart and the US Billboard Hot 100, for three and two weeks respectively
• “That Was Yesterday”: peaked at number 12 in the US
• UK: BPI Platinum
• US: RIAA triple Platinum

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ja.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Drummer Dennis Elliott said the band felt Horn's production style pushed them toward being more electronic than they wanted to be
• Horn left the project before it was finished, and he chose to work with Frankie Goes To Hollywood on the follow-up single to Relax
• Horn claims to have done most of the backing tracks, including for “I Want To Know What Love Is”
• Lou Gramm said only two tracks cut with Horn were kept, though it is unclear which ones
• Japanese record notes describe the album as a concept album about a spy who sees life from inside and outside

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ja.wikipedia.org

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