"Break It Up" was the fourth single taken from the album '' 4'' by the band Foreigner. The song was written by Mick Jones and the first to feature a B-side that was not available on one of their albums, a live version of their hit, " Head Games."

Background

The song has a more melodic, slightly ballad-oriented sound mixed with their traditional hard rock. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' contributor Kurt Loder described the song as a "classic cruncher." '' Cash Box'' called it "another dose of bluster from the band that, along with

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

, virtually created pomp rock" but said that there is "nothing here that the band hasn’t done before," specifically comparing it to " Cold as Ice." '' Billboard'' described it as a "melodramatic mid tempo rocker forceful enough for the band's earliest AOR allies and melodic enough for pop formats." Producer "Mutt" Lange wanted to use a click track for timing the drum part. Foreigner drummer

Dennis Elliott Dennis Leslie Elliott (born 18 August 1950, in Peckham, London) is a British musician and artist, who was the original drummer for the rock band, Foreigner. He played with the band from 1976 until leaving between 1991 and 1993. He went on to ...

got fed up about that so eventually he and Jones recorded the basic track themselves with Elliott on drums and Jones on piano. According to Jones "Then we turned round to ‘Mutt’ and said, ‘Okay? Happy now?!’ We wanted to prove the point that this band could play and keep time, too."

Chart performance

"Break it Up" reached number 26 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Cover versions

*Norwegian hard rock/ heavy metal singer

Jørn Lande Jørn Marumsrud Lande (born May 31, 1968) is a Norwegian hard rock and heavy metal singer and songwriter. He is known for his work with the bands Ark, Beyond Twilight, Millenium, Vagabond, The Snakes, and most notably with power metal band Ma ...

has covered this song on his first album '' Starfire''.

References

1982 singles 1981 songs Foreigner (band) songs Songs written by Mick Jones (Foreigner) Atlantic Records singles Song recordings produced by Mick Jones (Foreigner) Song recordings produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange {{1980s-rock-song-stub