Agent Provocateur (album)

Within nearly two years of releasing 4, writing and preproduction for this album began as early as June 1983 in New York, with producer Trevor Horn. Then, once writing had been completed, official recording began in early October in New York with Horn. In hindsight, the band recognised that Horn's production style wasn't really suited to their music, according to drummer Dennis Elliott: "he tried to make us more electronic than we wanted to be". Sadkin helped rekindle the project when it was on the verge of total collapse, but despite that, according to Jones, recording still never seemed to end: the sessions had been dogged from the very start and continued to remain unfocused. According to singer Lou Gramm, owing to the difference in production styles between Sadkin and Horn, only two of the tracks that had been cut with the latter were kept on the record, though it is unclear which ones. A total of nine months had been spent on recording the album. ==Critical reception==

By the time of Agent Provocateur, Foreigner was frequently savaged by the contemporary rock music press. A review in Creem read: "On this, their latest excursion into the gaping jaws of pulverizing mediocrity, our boys continue to wrestle with an all-too-turgid identity crisis — they still can't decide whether it's stupider to aspire to poor man's Led Zep status or settle for being a weightier version of Chicago. Some swinging choice, huh? Either way they lose and this record is simply jammed with one dull defeat after another." Ultimate Classic Rock critic Eduardo Rivadavia rated "A Love in Vain" as Foreigner's fifth-most underrated song, calling it a "synth-powered cry of desperation" and a "dark-horse favorite of fans." Classic Rock critic Malcolm Dome rated two songs from Agent Provocateur as being among Foreigner's 10 most underrated – "Stranger in My Own House" at #6 and "Tooth and Nail" – which he describes as "the antidote to 'I Want to Know What Love Is'" – at #2. Billboard said that in "Tooth and Nail" the band flex "post-punk power chords with gusto." == Track listing ==

Foreigner • Lou Gramm – lead vocals, percussion • Mick Jones – guitars, bass, keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals • Rick Wills – bass, backing vocals • Dennis Elliott – drums Additional personnel • Wally Badarou – analogue and digital synthesizers • Tom Bailey – synthesizers on "I Want to Know What Love Is" • Brian Eddolls – synthesizers • Larry Fast – synthesizers • Dave Lebolt – synthesizers • Bob Mayo – keyboards, acoustic piano, backing vocals • Jack Waldman – synthesizers • Mark Rivera – saxophone, backing vocals • Thompson Twins – backing vocals • Ian Lloyd – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals • Don Harper – violin on "I Want to Know What Love Is" • Jennifer Holliday – backing vocals and arrangement on "I Want to Know What Love Is" • New Jersey Mass Choir of the GMWA – backing vocals on "I Want to Know What Love Is" == Production ==

• Producers – Mick Jones and Alex Sadkin • Chief Engineer/Mixing Engineer – Frank Filipetti • Additional Engineers – Josh Abbey, Larry Alexander, Jason Corsaro, Joe Ferla and Howie Lindeman. • Assistant Engineers – Bobby Cohen, Tim Crich and Scott Mabuchi. • Original Mastering and Digital Remastering – Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, NYC. • Art Direction and Design – Bob Defrin • Management – Bud Prager, E.S.P. Management Ltd. == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==