Track Listing

1. I Don't Want to Lose You
2. Here With Me
3. Roll With the Changes
4. Keep on Loving You
5. That Ain't Love
6. Take It on the Run
7. In My Dreams
8. Don't Let Him Go
9. Can't Fight This Feeling
10. Keep Pushin'
11. Time for Me to Fly
12. One Lonely Night
13. Back on the Road Again
14. Ridin' the Storm Out

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #921 in Music
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2002-04-30
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Customer Reviews

These Guys Just KEEP Plugging
Everyone misses the point about REO Speedwagon: the critics who call their music corporate and faceless, even fans looking for a 70s-80s nostalgia trip every summer with Frampton Comes Alive XXIII.

Unlike studio-born contemporaries such as Toto and Journey, REO came from the midwest and built its reputation on non-stop touring. Even amidst changes in personnel and musical tastes, their music, reflected in their best and most popular songs contained here, reflect persistence and perserverence. Look down the titles: "ROLL with the Changes," "KEEP on Loving You," "KEEP Pushing," "Don't Let Him Go," "Ridin' The Storm Out." (Not to mention "Keep The Fire Burnin'" a great 1982 hit which didn't make it here.) These songs are about staying in the game (whether the game is love or career) when many feel it's no longer necessary. It's no accident that their breakthrough 1977 live album was called, "You Get What You Play For"; REO's success was belated but earned. This is more than a best-of CD. Even with the hit ballads it's a mission statement that rocks.

REO's best from late 70's to 80's
The groups Foreigner, Foghat, Styx, Journey, Air Supply, and the subject of this review, REO Speedwagon, can cause a lot of debate among music fans due to the "corporate rock" effect that took place in the 1970's, where artists' albums were guaranteed platinum sales if they became part of the well-oiled machinery that may have yielded hits on the radio, but remained in an uninspired and uninnovative cozy rut. As someone into all kinds of music, I find myself in a very untenable position. I like REO Speedwagon, yet I like classic punk and disco, two genres of music that broke the musical cul-de-sac America seemed to be going into.

Having established that, the Hits, which came out a year after REO's last studio album of the 80's, 1987's Life As We Know It, encapsulated material from their R.E.O. 76 album up to Life As We Know It, with two new songs. The first one, the intense and yearning "I Don't Want To Lose You," was written by the team of Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg (Heart, Bangles) and the languid "Here With Me," which was a close cousin to "In My Dreams" released the previous year.

Life As We Know It was released when I first got into them and,"That Ain't Love" was quite a rocker by their standards, as I had the preconception that they were mellow rock like latter day Chicago, but no, this fiery affirmation that "say what you want to hear, do what you want to do" ain't love, told me otherwise.

However, the third single, co-penned by lead singer Kevin Cronin and ace songwriter Tom Kelly, "In My Dreams" sounded more what I expected to hear, soaring lead vocals, inoffensive harmonies, in other words, the mainstream rock ballad. The two singles represented the two kinds of songs mainly done by REO, love songs and leaving songs.

Now, for their two signature tunes, "Keep On Lovin' You" and "Can't Fight This Feeling" their two #1s from Hi Infidelity and Wheels Are Turning respectively. A fiery guitar on the first and the trademark 80's synths and lovey-dovey vocals on the second. There was a time when I couldn't tell them apart from Chicago, the harmonies and sound were so alike. That has been rectified.

Speaking of Hi Infidelity, one of my favourites by them, "Take It On The Run" with that "heard it from a friend" rumour-mongering that leads to a fed up "I don't want you around." This sports one of their best fiery guitar solos.

Of course, they got started on the road to big status with the boisterous "Roll With The Changes" from You Can Tune A Piano..., which was their first Top 40 hit. Yes, there is a piano in this song. Also on that album was "Time For Me To Fly," which set the standard for the #1 songs they eventually made. But the sound that places them in the 70's is best represented by "Keep Pushin'" from R.E.O., as does the hard-rocker "Back On The Road Again," which the most hard-driving track here.

A live version of the title track to their Ridin' The Storm Out album finishes this collection, which seems to overlap the First Decade and Second Decade compilations, but for someone who grew up in the 80's, the Hits will do just fine. While not innovative, at least REO comes through with a consistent and familiar sound, slightly altered with synths in the 80's, be it harder stuff or rock ballads.

REO Speedwagon keeps speeding with The Hits
I always liked a lot of REO Speedwagon's songs, but I didn't really become familiar with them until last year. When I heard "Take It On The Run" and "Ridin' The Storm Out" on the radio, I knew I had to get this cd. There's not a single bad song on this album. It has a lot of songs that anybody who knows their classic rock should recognize right away such as "Can't Fight This Feeling," "Keep On Lovin' You," and "Roll With The Changes." All the other songs are also great ones, I especially liked "Here With Me" and "I Don't Want To Lose You."

REO Speedwagon thrives on the catchy vocals and the good musicians who make them a good band. After you listen to this album, you'll know why they're so popular. I think they should make it to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame one day along with many of the other great classic rock groups such as Boston, Journey, Foreigner, and Huey Lewis & The News. If you like good classic rock music, I recommend getting "The Hits" by REO Speedwagon.