THE GUITAR OF FOREIGNER TOOK A LYRICAL DETOUR TO THE WRONG SIDE OF THE LAW

https://youtu.be/J4GPCfwceqs?si=fw9HvukYbOEjI8AW

Probably not the coolest thing to admit but I have always admired Foreigner, the Anglo-American band accused of inventing the power ballad and even miming during live performances. 

Ask my `ol mate Buddy Wilson, the guy who has made comments on Lost Treasures, the only one who has made comments on here (get the hint everyone), he said in a comment to a previous post I wrote about Foreigner that back in about 1978 when he went to a Foreigner concert at Festival Hall in Brisbane and a malfunction occured with sound equipment and the band members of Foreigner stopped singing that strangely enough the music kept playing complete with vocals. 

Talk about a musical conspiracy, we`ll just call it FOREIGNERGATE. I know Buddy is sticking to his story because he was there and I was 3 and half years old back in mid `78 so I concede he knows more than me.

Anyhow, whether or not Foreigner cheated in a live setting or not, which most likely they did, on vinyl or disc I still really like the finished result of so much of what the band recorded. 

In the late 80`s, when vocalist Lou Gramm and guitarist Mick Jones were having an artistic and personal rift, Gramm recorded two solo albums and unbeknown to a lot of Foreigner fans Mick Jones also recorded a one off little known solo album with him singing as well. 

He was never a great singer but in Foreigner`s early days he actually sung a couple of songs on the first two albums. 

The solo album I am talking about is self titled and was released in 1989, and the song I highly recommend off it is a progressive rock guitar, sweeping keyboard, atmospheric epic called WRONG SIDE OF THE LAW. 

Unlike a few of the more too try hard songs which characterised this `keeping up with Gramm` solo outing, Jones adopts a lot less
structured approach to playing this song and sings within his limited capabilities in a convincingly troubled manner which reflects the lyrics perfectly. 

The song is the story of someone who finds themselves `inside these four walls`and on the `wrong side of the law`. 

He is singing about a jailbird who has regrets. Mick proved he did not need Lou this time round.