This box set from Sony UK features five of the Champaign, Illinois-bred AOR rockers' most notable albums, including Live You Get What You Play For (1977), You Can Tune a Piano But You Can't Tuna Fish (1978), Hi Infidelity (1980), Good Trouble (1982), and Wheels Are Turnin (1984).
Due to it's album title, REO Speedwagon's 1976 release, REO, is often mistaken as being the band's debut album–but it was their sixth overall (1971's REO SPEEDWAGON was their inaugural release). The album marked the return of original singer Kevin Cronin, who would eventually help the band scale the top of the charts in just a few short years. But on REO, the newly reinstated vocalist had just begun to help the hard rockin' band hone their craft. "Keep Pushin'" would soon become a perennial concert standard, while other highlights include the hard-edged "Lightning" and "Our Time is Gonna Come."
You Can Tune a Piano, But You Can't Tuna Fish was a breakthrough album for REO Speedwagon in a sense, gelling the guitar craft of Gary Richrath and the vocals of Kevin Cronin with songs that rambled and rolled and never stopped for air. Richrath's style finally formed some catchy hooks, and Cronin's songwriting is solid, while his voice sounds rejuvenated and downright fiery. "Roll with the Changes" and "Time for Me to Fly" only made it to number 58 and number 56 on the charts, but the album's sales trumped all of the chart statistics, giving REO its second platinum-selling album.
The Blu-ray includes renditions of 13 REO tunes, including hits like 'Keep On Loving You,' 'Take It On The Run,' and 'Time For Me To Fly' along with the classic gem '157 Riverside Avenue' plus first ever live versions of 'In Your Letter,' 'Golden Country,' and 'Like You Do.' Live At Moondance Jam also contains an interview with lead vocalist/guitarist, Kevin Cronin.
Live: You Get What You Play For is a live album by rock band REO Speedwagon, released as a double-LP in 1977 (and years later as a single CD omitting "Gary's Guitar Solo" and "Little Queenie"). It was recorded at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas, the Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, Kiel Auditorium in Saint Louis, Missouri and Alex Cooley's Electric Ballroom in Atlanta, Georgia. It peaked at number #72 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1977. The song "Ridin' the Storm Out" reached #94 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The album went platinum on December 14, 1978. The Japanese CD reissue, released in 2011, restores the album and songs to its original full length by including both "Gary's Guitar Solo" and "Little Queenie", which were omitted in the original single CD release due to time constraints.
A Decade Of Rock And Roll 1970 To 1980 is a compilation album from REO Speedwagon. This is a well-chosen recap of REO's dues-paying years. These electrifying guitar licks and razor-sharp pop hooks would soon send Speedwagon to arena-rock superstardom! Here are Ridin' the Storm Out; Roll with the Changes; Time for Me to Fly; Only the Strong Survive; Music Man; Reelin'; Keep Pushin'; Breakaway; Ridin' the Storm Out , and more from the band's formative years.
Many albums have scaled to the top of the American charts, many of them not so good, but few have been as widely forgotten and spurned as REO Speedwagon's Hi Infidelity. In a way, the group deserved this kind of success. They had been slogging it out in the arenas of the U.S., building up a sizeable audience because they could deliver live. And then, in 1980, they delivered a record that not just summarized their strengths, but captured everything that was good about arena rock. This is the sound of the stadiums in that netherworld between giants like Zeppelin and MTV's slick, video-ready anthems.