"Down On Love" | ||||
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Single by Foreigner | ||||
from the album Agent Provocateur | ||||
B-side | "Growing Up the Hard Way" | |||
Released | August 1985 (US) [1] | |||
Recorded | 1984 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 4:08 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Foreigner singles chronology | ||||
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"Down on Love" is the fourth single taken from the album Agent Provocateur by the band Foreigner, and released in August 1985.
The song was written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones, and the B-side, "Growing Up the Hard Way", was itself released as an A-side single in Europe.
Billboard said that the single "returns the group to the massive power ballad sound that's propelled their biggest pop hits." [2] Cash Box said that "heart tugging sentimentality meets slickly professional rock" and predicted a "fast rise up the pop singles chart" based on Foreigner's "knack for slow rocking love tunes." [3] Pitssburgh Press critic Pete Bishop described it as an "'I-can-heal-your-heartache' ballad" that he compared to the lead single from Agent Provocateur, "I Want to Know What Love Is." [4] Daily Record critic Jim Bohen described it as "synthesizer-orchestrated pop [ballad] of towering melodrama." [5] Marquee music critic Alan Schmidt noted that while two other ballads from Agent Provocateur that were released as singles, "I Want to Know What Love Is" and "That Was Yesterday," are "full of the blues" then "Down on Love" provides a "ray of hope" with lyrics like "They've given up on finding someone new/But new love comes, it's gonna come for you." [6] Gazette writer Chris Rubich similarly wrote that it's a "song of reassurance that love deserves another chance." [7]
Allmusic critic Bret Adams later praised the song's "pleasant chorus" and "warm keyboard melody." [8] Tri-City Herald critic Jim Angell praised the synthesizer playing. [9] But Accent music write Curt Anderson criticized the fact that the slow keyboard buildup goes nowhere, "as if the mere sound of a synthesizer is all the song needs." [10]
"Down on Love" reached #54 on the Billboard Hot 100. [11] It reached #59 on the Cash Box Top 100 Singles chart. [12] Fort Worth Star-Telegram pop music writer Roger Kaye stated that the song was a hit in the Dallas, Texas area even though it did not perform very well on the national charts. [13] It was also a Top 20 hit in the Akron, Ohio area. [14]
Agent Provocateur is the fifth studio album by the British-American rock band Foreigner, released on December 7, 1984. The album was the band's first and only number one album in the United Kingdom, and it reached the top 5 in the United States. Although album sales were lower than their previous work in the U.S., it contains the band's biggest hit single, "I Want to Know What Love Is", which is their only #1 single in the UK and the U.S., staying at the top spot for three and two weeks respectively. The follow-up single, "That Was Yesterday", also proved to be a sizeable hit, peaking at #12 in the U.S. The album was certified Platinum in the UK by the BPI, and triple Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA.
"I Want to Know What Love Is" is a power ballad by the British-American rock band Foreigner. It was released in November 1984 as the lead single from their fifth album, Agent Provocateur. The song hit number one in both the United Kingdom and the United States and is the group's biggest hit to date. It remains one of the band's best-known songs and most enduring radio hits, charting in the top 25 in 2000, 2001, and 2002 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Recurrents chart. "I Want to Know What Love Is" has continued to garner critical acclaim, and is listed as one of Rolling Stone magazine's greatest songs of all time at number 476 in 2004 and at number 479 in 2010. The song is also featured in a number of films.
"Babe" is a song by the American rock band Styx. It was the lead single from the band's 1979 triple-platinum album Cornerstone. The song was Styx's first, and only, US number-one single, spending two weeks at No. 1 in December 1979, serving as the penultimate number-one single of the 1970s. "Babe" also went to No. 9 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It additionally held the number-one spot for six weeks on the Canadian RPM national singles chart, charting in December 1979 and becoming the opening chart-topper of the 1980s. It was also the band's only UK Top 40 hit, peaking at No. 6. It also reached No. 1 in South Africa.
"Glory of Love" is a 1986 song performed by Peter Cetera, which he wrote and composed with his then-wife Diane Nini and David Foster. The song was recorded by Cetera shortly after he left the band Chicago to pursue a solo career. Featured in the film The Karate Kid Part II (1986), it was Cetera's first hit single after he left the band, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and it was included on his album Solitude/Solitaire (1986), which Michael Omartian produced.
"Urgent" is a song by the British-American rock band Foreigner, and the first single from their album 4 in 1981.
"Hot Blooded" is a song by the British-American rock band Foreigner, from their second studio album Double Vision. It was released as a single in June 1978 and reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that September. The single was also certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It is also the theme song to the truTV scripted series Tacoma FD.
"Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" is a power ballad performed by the American musician Meat Loaf. It is a track off his 1977 album Bat Out of Hell, written by Jim Steinman. It spent 23 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #11, and earned a million-selling Gold single from the RIAA, eventually being certified platinum. It remains his second-highest charting hit in the US, behind "I'd Do Anything for Love " (1993), and stands as one of his career signature tunes.
"Cold as Ice" is a 1977 song written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones that was first released by British-American rock band Foreigner from their eponymous debut album. It became one of the best known songs of the band in the US, peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was initially the B-side of some versions of the "Feels Like the First Time" 45 rpm single.
"Feels Like the First Time" is the debut single by British-American rock band Foreigner. It was written by Mick Jones and released in 1977 from the band's eponymous debut album. It reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Double Vision" is a single by Foreigner from their second album of the same name. The song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks in 1978, behind "MacArthur Park" by Donna Summer. It became a gold record. The song was also a top 10 hit in Canada.
"Blue Morning, Blue Day" is a song written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones that was first released as the third single on Foreigner's second album, Double Vision, reaching #15 on the Hot 100, the band's sixth top 40 single in two years, and #45 in the U.K. The song was backed with the Mick Jones song "I Have Waited So Long". "Blue Morning, Blue Day" is also available as downloadable content for the Rock Band series and was released on clear blue vinyl.
"Women" is the fourth single taken from the third album, Head Games by the band, Foreigner. It was written by Mick Jones, and released in February 1980. The song's B-side, "The Modern Day" is also sung by its writer, Jones.
"Head Games" is the title-cut and second single taken from the band Foreigner's third release. It was written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones, and released primarily in the U.S. in November 1979 while at the same time, "Love On The Telephone" was being released elsewhere. The song's b-side, "Do What You Like" uses multi-layered harmony vocals along the lines of their earlier single, "Cold as Ice."
"Luanne" was the fifth and final single taken from the album 4 by the band Foreigner, and the second to feature a B-side that was not available on one of their albums, a controversial live version of their hit, "Hot Blooded". The song was written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones and reached number 75 in the U.S. charts, but was a live staple for years to come. The live version of "Hot Blooded" was later placed on the international release of their retrospective, Records, but in subsequent re-releases has been dropped in favour of the original album version due to a couple of choice words spoken in ad lib during the song's performance by its singer, Lou Gramm.
"That Was Yesterday" is the second single taken from the album Agent Provocateur by the band Foreigner. This song was available in four versions, as a remixed single, an extended remix, an orchestral version, and the original mix. The song was written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones, and the B-side "Two Different Worlds" is also of note for being the first solo-written Lou Gramm song to appear on a single.
"Reaction to Action" is the third single taken from the album Agent Provocateur by the band Foreigner. It was written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones.
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