Lou Gramm’s decision to record a solo album in 1986 while still engaged as frontman of arena-rock institution Foreigner did not occur in a vacuum. After years of quiet tension between Gramm and Foreigner bandleader/co-founder/guitarist Mick Jones, the last straw arrived when Jones cut Gramm out of any credit (and thus songwriting royalties) for co-writing the band’s #1 hit “I Want To Know What Love Is” from 1985’s Agent Provocateur.
“That put a wedge in us that was the beginning of the end,” Gramm would say later. Gramm’s next step was to test the waters as a solo artist, reuniting with old friend and former bandmate Bruce Turgon of Black Sheep, with the latter serving as both songwriting partner and bassist/multi-instrumentalist on the resulting solo debut album Ready Or Not. With Atlantic’s blessing, Gramm and Turgon assembled a notable band around them: Nils Lofgren on lead guitar (Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen), Phil Ashley on keyboards (session player for Tina Turner, KISS and many others), and behind the kit, Lou’s brother and fellow drummer Ben Gramm.
What seems apparent in hindsight is that while Gramm itched to assert his independence, he didn’t have a lot to say outside the Foreigner context. Most of these tracks are easy to imagine ending up on a Foreigner album: hooky, commercially produced ’80s AOR numbers with big choruses and little substance. What’s perhaps more interesting is just how uneven this album is; the first half is reasonably strong, and includes two charting singles, whereas the second half is a sinkhole of cliché-packed filler.
The leadoff title track harks back to 
Head Games-era Foreigner with macho posturing and turned-up guitars, albeit with the synths that had come to dominate Foreigner’s sound relegated to a background role; the song is both pure cheese and a welcome showcase for Gramm’s prodigious pipes. The big guitars carry over to “Heartache,” joined by bright synths and one of Gramm’s better lyrics and lead vocals; it’s dated now, but still solid.
Track three—a song Stephen Thomas Erlewine called “the last great single of the album-rock era”—is in fact better than much of Foreigner’s output during the decade. “Midnight Blue” opens with stereotypical ’80s clickety-clackety synthesized percussion, then effects-laden guitar, but rises above these dated elements with urgency, strong hooks, and a passionate lead vocal from Gramm. “Time” follows with more fat guitars and drums, a genuine rocker with punchy dynamics and a driving chorus.
It’s hard to say if there’s actual passive-aggressive intent behind the subsequent “If I Don’t Have You,” but there’s no denying it follows the Foreigner formula for a synthy ballad with a steady pulse and echo-drenched lead vocal. Like “Time” before it, though, it becomes repetitive in the later going—a trend that accelerates as we move into the considerably weaker second half of this album.
And in fact, the drop-off in quality is sharp enough that there’s little to say about the latter five songs beyond this: formulaic ’80s AOR with bland lyrics, professionally performed and produced, yet still less interesting than the terms and conditions on that software you just installed.
Here’s what little I can add to that: “She’s Got To Know” (strong bassline, horns add dimension, repetitive); “Arrow Thru Your Heart” (propulsive guitar riff, silly “helpless man dominated by the woman he’s infatuated with” lyric); “Until I Make You Mine” (dull other than the uber-cheesy synth); “Chain Of Love” (generic AOR, weightless other than the prominent bass); “Lover Come Back” (an ’80s horror show of chilly synths and gated drums, with a splash of winsome Mark Rivera sax at the fade).
Gramm’s musical partnership with Turgon would carry forward to a second solo album (1989’s Long Hard Look), the short-lived supergroup Shadow King with Vivian Campbell of Def Leppard, and Gramm’s 1994 return to Foreigner, this time with Turgon taking over on bass for the departed Rick Wills.
In the long run, Lou Gramm’s solo debut is mainly remembered for its strong singles and overall unevenness. Gramm’s powerhouse vocals deliver what memorable moments exist here before the album sinks into Foreigner-adjacent ’80s AOR mediocrity. That said, as a statement of independence from a frontman itching to assert himself outside the band context, Ready Or Not does just enough to achieve its modest goals.