I Cried a Little....As My Heart Turned to Stone

Review Score: (4/10)
After showing off their egos with the scattershot AGENT PROVOCATEUR, it seemed that Mick Jones and Lou Gramm were making compromises with INSIDE INFORMATION, as it is a full-fledged effort at melodic pop music. But even though both members had more or less adapted to this style- and thus acted their age-, they were still not cooperating: Gramm was still trying to show his rockin' side in the harder-hitting songs, while Jones was trying to scale back Gramm's rocking tendencies while throwing in the occasional ballad. INSIDE INFORMATION may still be far more consistent than AGENT PROVOCATEUR, but it's still not as good as that album, let alone any of their previous albums.

The big problem was that Jones and Gramm were in songwriting slumps. They still had some relatively good hits in the forms of "Say You Will"; "I Don't Want to Live Without You"; and "Heart Turns to Stone," but there was nothing more than that. Yes, in the other seven songs, there was the occasional nice chorus, like in "Face to Face" and "Out of the Blue," but it still didn't save these particular songs from being tuneless and bland. And speaking of melody, another problem in this equation was Gramm himself. Since he was pursuing a successful solo career at the time, it apparently seemed that he didn't really care about Foreigner the band itself anymore. OK, maybe that's a bit too harsh, but while listening to this album, it sure sounds that way- through the entire set, Gramm is pretty much going through the motions, keeping his emotion level at a very low state. That becomes all too obvious on the big hit "I Don't Want to Live Without You," which is as tepid as "I Want to Know What Love Is" three years back was passionate and heartfelt.

The melodies and arrangements (not to mention the oh-so-1987 production) of the songs may camouflage these detriments somewhat, but outside of the three big hits, the songs are still bland, tepid, and a bit too predictable. Fans of the group may not be disappointed by the "melodic rock" heard here- after all, even at their worst, the members of Foreigner are still professionals-, but the less devoted would be better advised to steer clear of this and just stick to a greatest hits collection.

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