''Double Vision'' is the second studio album by the British-American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band Foreigner, released on 20 June 1978 by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. Recorded between March - May 1978, it was Foreigner's only album co-produced by

Keith Olsen Keith Alan Olsen (May 12, 1945 – March 9, 2020) was an American record producer and sound engineer, who worked with Magnum, Rick Springfield, Fleetwood Mac, Ozzy Osbourne, Grateful Dead, Whitesnake, Pat Benatar, Heart, Santana, Saga, For ...

and the last recording with bass guitarist

Ed Gagliardi Edward John Gagliardi (February 13, 1952 – May 11, 2014) was an American bass guitarist, best known as the original bass player for the 1970s rock band Foreigner. He was a member of Foreigner from the beginning in 1976. Gagliardi, most notably ...

who would be later replaced by

Rick Wills Richard William Wills (born 5 December 1947) is an English bass guitarist. He is best known for his work with the rock band Foreigner and his associations with the Small Faces, Roxy Music, Peter Frampton, Spooky Tooth, David Gilmour, Bad Compa ...

. ''Double Vision'' was the first in the line of many other recordings in which A&R executive

John Kalodner John David Kalodner is a retired American A&R (artists and repertoire) executive. History John David Kalodner was born in Philadelphia; he was a writer and photographer at ''Concert'' magazine. Then by 1972 he became a photographer for various re ...

would simply have his name listed twice in liner notes, as a play on the title of this album. The phrase "John Kalodner: John Kalodner" originated when the producer Olsen was wondering just how to credit Kalodner's involvement in the band and the album. In keeping with the double vision theme, guitarist Mick Jones came up with an idea of doubling the name. "Tramontane" is the only instrumental track Foreigner have released to date on a studio album. Mick Jones takes the lead vocals on "Back Where You Belong" and "I Have Waited So Long".

Release

The album peaked at number 3 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and earning

platinum certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

a week after its release. It has now been certified 7× platinum for sales in excess of 7 million units and along with the compilation '' Records'' (1982) is counted as Foreigner's best selling album. In Europe, however, ''Double Vision'' reached the Top 40 only in the United Kingdom. The lead single, released in June 1978, was " Hot Blooded," which reached number 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. In September, it was followed by "

Double Vision Diplopia is the simultaneous perception of two images of a single object that may be displaced in relation to each other. Also called double vision, it is a loss of visual focus under regular conditions, and is often voluntary. However, when occ ...

," which charted at number 2. This was the highest position Foreigner had attained to that time. The third and final single, " Blue Morning, Blue Day," was released in December and climbed to number 15 on the chart.

Reception

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' critic

Robert Hilburn Robert Hilburn (born September 25, 1939) is an American pop music critic, author, and radio host. As music critic and editor at the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays, and profiles have appeared in publications worldwide ...

described ''Double Vision'' as "slickly produced, commercially powerful, but artistically vapid." ''

The Record The Record may refer to: Music * The Record (Fear album), ''The Record'' (Fear album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Record (Boygenius album), ''The Record'' (Boygenius album), a 2023 studio album by the indie rock supe ...

'' critic Rick Atkinson said of the album that it used the same formula as Foreigner's debut album such that "Foreigner's Clone" would have been an appropriate title. According to Atkinson, "Tramontane" was the only "new and different track" on the album. Atkinson describes "Tramontane" as having a "heavy keyboard line" but that all members of the group "get a quick shot at the spotlight." On the other hand, '' The Morning News'' critic Gary Mullinax described "Tramontane" as "a densely textured instrumental that is pleasant enough but doesn't really go anywhere." Unlike most Foreigner songs, Tramontane was written primarily by

Al Greenwood Alan Greenwood (born October 20, 1951) is an American rock musician who was a founding member and keyboardist of the rock band Foreigner from 1976 to 1980. He performed on the albums '' Foreigner'' (1977), '' Double Vision'' (1978) and '' He ...

. Ian McDonald played a lyricon on the track. ''Murfreesboro Press'' critic Van West also recognized ''Double Vision'' as having similarities to ''Foreigner'', but said that there are important differences; in particular, ''Double Vision'' has "more individualistic interpretations" and a " heavy metal tonal structure" instead of some of the "careful harmonies" of the debut album. New York ''Daily News'' critic Ace Adams called ''Double Vision'' "a fine collection of songs" that is "hard rock at its best." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that, besides the hit singles, "'Back Where You Belong' and 'Spellbinder' shows oreigner'sexpertise and maturity as a band." ''PopMatters'' critic Evan Sawdey commented on the non-single album tracks, saying that "the gloomy 'Tramontane' and the rewrite of 'The Damage is Done' that was 'Spellbinder' did little to expand the band’s sound so much as it was a pushing of its existing abilities into more commercial shapes" but praised "the shimmering acoustic wonder that was 'Back Where You Belong.'" Jones has rated two songs from the album (" Blue Morning, Blue Day" and "Spellbinder") as among his 11 favorite Foreigner songs.

Track listing

Personnel

Foreigner

Lou Gramm Louis Andrew Grammatico (born May 2, 1950), known professionally as Lou Gramm, is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known as co-founder and original frontman of the rock band Foreigner from 1976 to 1990 and again from 1992 to 2003, ...

– lead vocals, percussion * Mick Jones – lead guitar, backing vocals, acoustic piano, lead vocals (4, 8) * Ian McDonald – guitars, keyboards, reeds, vocals *

– keyboards *

– bass, vocals *

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

– drums

Additional musicians

* Ian Lloyd – backing vocals *

David Paich David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist, and secondary vocalist of the rock band Toto (band), Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrot ...

– string arrangements

Production

* Producers – Mick Jones, Ian McDonald and Keith Olsen. * Engineers – David De Vore and Keith Olsen * Mixing – Jimmy Douglass, Mick Jones and Ian McDonald. * Mastered by

George Marino George Marino (April 15, 1947June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He attended ...

at Sterling Sound (New York, NY). * Technicians – Troby Laidlaw, Randy Mason, Mac McCollum and Michael McConnell. * Design and Photography –

Norman Seeff Norman Seeff (born 5 March 1939) is a South African photographer and filmmaker. Since moving to the United States in 1969, his work has been focused on the exploration of human creativity and the inner dynamics of the creative process. Early l ...

;Remastering credits *

– John Kalodner * 1995 digital remastering by

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

at Sterling Sound. * Dan Hersch – 2002 digital remastering * Shawn R. Britton – 2011 MFSL mastering (at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, Sebastopol, California)

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

The Official Foreigner Website
{{Authority control Foreigner (band) albums 1978 albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Keith Olsen Albums produced by Mick Jones (Foreigner) Albums produced by Ian McDonald (musician) Albums recorded at Sound City Studios