| "Reaction to Action" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Foreigner | ||||
| from the album Agent Provocateur | ||||
| B-side | "She's Too Tough" | |||
| Released | May 1985 [1] | |||
| Recorded | 1984 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:57 (album version) 3:32 (single version) | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
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| Foreigner singles chronology | ||||
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"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.
Foreigner bassist Rick Willis thought that "Reaction to Action" should have been the 2nd single from Agent Provocateur following up on "I Want to Know What Love Is" rather than "That Was Yesterday." [2]
The song was remixed for the single release. The B-side, "She's Too Tough", a rockin' Elvis Presley-type song, is also featured on the European single release of "Growing Up the Hard Way".
Cash Box said of the single that it "sounds like a winner for CHR and AOR," saying that "this hard-edged latest single amply displays Foreigner’s remarkable musical range and variety." [3] Billboard said that after the band had released two ballads from Agent Provocateur ("I Want to Know What Love Is" and "That Was Yesterday"), Foreigner "now reclaims its alternate identity as ultimate headbangers." [4] Courier-Journal staff writer Michael Quinlan called it a "tough-minded, energetic" song that he thought should have been released as the first single from Agent Provocateur over "I Want to Know What Love Is." [5]
Gazette writer Chris Rubich called it a "typical heavy-metal anthem" with "heavy, choppy guitar chording" that serves as "counterpoint to [lead singer] Gramm's insistence that his lover respond." [6] Daily Record critic Jim Bohen described it as "grinding guitar rock." [7] Pitssburgh Press critic Pete Bishop said that guitarist "Mick Jones's power chords burst out into winning lead guitar." [8] Herald-News writer Sean Daly regarded "Reaction to Action" as one of the "more forceful recordings" on Agent Provocateur. [9] Music critic Alan Schmidt regarded "Reaction to Action" the best of the "heavy tunes" on the album. [10] Kingsport Times-News critic Tom Matthews similarly called it "the strongest – and maybe the strangest – of the band's hard edge," calling it "loud, urgent-sounding, thudding rock that cries out for volume." [11]
Morning Call critic Bob Sharpe said that "Reaction to Action" has "more in common with Billy Squier's 'Emotion in Motion' than just its title. [12] Knight-Ridder critic Ken Tucker similar said that it's "a loud, urgent squawk that beats posers like Billy Squier at their own game." [13] The Chilliwack Progress critic Matt Rogalsky felt John Cougar Mellencamp was a heavy influence, with the song's "choppy guitar lines and scratchy vocals." [14] Rogalsky said that "This is rock built to sell." [14] Knight-Ridder critic Rick Shefchik felt that it "sounds like the kind of hard rock they play in Third World countries where Led Zeppelin's first album just hit the stores. [15] Allmusic critic Bret Adams later called the song "the epitome of bland, formulaic AOR." [16]
Gramm considered "Reaction to Action" his favorite song from Agent Provocateur. [17]
"Reaction to Action" reached #54 on the Billboard Hot 100. [18] It also reached #44 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. [19]
Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in New York City in 1976 by veteran British guitarist and songwriter Mick Jones and fellow Briton and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald, along with American vocalist Lou Gramm. Jones came up with the band's name as he, McDonald and Dennis Elliott were British, whereas Gramm, Al Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi were American.
Double Vision is the second studio album by the British-American rock band Foreigner, released on 20 June 1978 by Atlantic Records. Recorded between December 1977 and March 1978, it was Foreigner's only album co-produced by Keith Olsen and the last recording with bass guitarist Ed Gagliardi who would be later replaced by Rick Wills.
Head Games is the third studio album by the British-American rock band Foreigner, released on 10 September 1979 by Atlantic Records. Recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York, with additional recording and whole mixing taking place at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, it was the only Foreigner album co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker, best known for working on Queen's classic albums. It marked the first appearance of new bass guitarist Rick Wills who replaced Ed Gagliardi, and was the last album with founding members Ian McDonald and Al Greenwood, who would leave the band after the recording. Head Games is also the last Foreigner album to feature a lead vocal by guitarist Mick Jones.
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.
Lou Gramm is an American singer-songwriter, best known for being the lead singer of the rock band Foreigner from 1977 to 1990 and 1992 to 2003 during which time the band had numerous successful albums and singles.
"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.
"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.
"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 No. 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.
"Dirty White Boy" is a song recorded by British-American rock band Foreigner, written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones, and produced by Roy Thomas Baker, Jones, and Ian McDonald. It was the first single taken from the band's third studio album, Head Games (1979). The B-side, "Rev on the Red Line" has also proven to be very popular among fans, but was never released as an A-side. Lou Gramm's trademark scream at the end of the song is missing from this abbreviated version of "Dirty White Boy". The song spent nine weeks in the Top 40.
"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.
"Love on the Telephone" was the third single from the third album, Head Games by the band, Foreigner. The song was written by Lou Gramm & Mick Jones, and released as a single in Europe. It reached No. 34 in the Netherlands. The song's b-side, "Women" was chosen as the next single for the American market.
"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.
"Growing Up the Hard Way" is the fifth and final single taken from the album Agent Provocateur by the band Foreigner, and subsequently released only in Europe in September 1985. The song was written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones, and the B-side, "She's Too Tough", a rockin' Elvis Presley-type song, is also featured on the American single release of "Reaction to Action".
"Down on Love" is the fourth single taken from the album Agent Provocateur by the band Foreigner, and released in August 1985.
"One Lonely Night" is a song performed by the American band REO Speedwagon. The song is the third single from the band's 1984 album Wheels Are Turnin'. It peaked at No. 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100, making it the second best performing single from the album in the United States, although very far from the success of "Can't Fight This Feeling".