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REO Speedwagon - R.E.O./T.W.O. Audio CD

A fair review of the REO Speedwagon "R.E.O./T.W.O." Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all REO Speedwagon reviews here, or go back to the REO Speedwagon tabs.

REO Speedwagon Band: REO Speedwagon
Title: R.E.O./T.W.O.
Rating:
Release Date: 1989-12-19
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Let Me Ride 2: How the Story Goes 3: Little Queenie 4: Being Kind (Can Hurt Someone Sometimes) 5: Music Man 6: Like You Do 7: Flash Tan Queen 8: Golden Country

the early stuff is good, maybe even better than the popular period
W. The first time I heard T. O. I thought it was going to sound like the commercial balladry/guitar chord stuff that REO Speedwagon made popular in the late 70's/early 80's.

It's actually more like early 70's hard rock with the guitar solos, keyboard, strong songwriting, great production, etc.

"Golden Country" has become a minor hit over the last 10 years, even receiving play on FM radio stations from time to time. No kidding! See that? Radio hasn't *completely* turned awful yet, haha. With such a brilliat chorus and vocal work, I can see why radio stations chooose to play it occasionally.

"Little Queenie" has some really good piano playing and a nice guitar solo. I'm not particularly thrilled with the vocals, but I guess that's the intention of the lead singer to sing it like the original version.

"Let Me Ride" has EXCELLENT vocal work. Seriously, if you're not impressed with this song, just play it four more times, and hear what happens as you remember more and more of those vocals, and before you know it, you'll be agreeing with me that it's a classic.

"Like You Do" should have been one of the bands biggest hits because of the memorable vocal melody. The song actually sounds familiar so maybe I DID hear it before, like, a long time ago. Or maybe because the band tends to write songs that sound very similar from time to time might be confusing me and perhaps I never heard it before after all. Who knows?

I like this album. It's surprising that REO Speedwagon would soon turn into a hit-pumping machine and become an arena rock favorite when you give one of their early albums a spin. They could have just been a regular rock band from Illinois, and would have been a success based on an album like T. W. O.
.


Never better.....
Solid songs and musicianship from start to finish,Gary Richrath at his sharpest and the intro of Kevin Cronin as vocalist. REO never topped this release. These were the REO tunes of my high school days; the tunes they were playing when I first saw them live. "Golden Country","Like You Do", "Music Man", "Being Kind (Can Hurt Someone, Sometimes)" and all the rest--classic. This is a band that was a touring demon, building it's fan base one city and one great live show at a time. How these guys became the ballad singing wusses they were in the MTV years is beyond me.


Reo Speedwagon
I loved it and so did my friends. I remember buying and listening to this great album back in 73' when I was just 22. Had some great parties with this music. Reo Speedwagon came to town in 74' back in Missoula, Montana and what a fantastic concert that was to be remembered. Time just goes by too damn quick. Can't go wrong buying this album.


REO's Best Work!!
Throw it in an Ipod and hit a tread mill you will improve your time and distance, just watch your heart rate. The drive and energy this Cd produces is amazing. Gary R's work on this CD is probably his best. It one of my top 20 favorite CDs of all time.


Great Early 70's Rock Album
But, if you want to hear how they used to Rock, you need to go back to the early days, before their music became an AOR staple. Most people's introduction to REO Speedwagon is from the highly popular 80's Hi-Infidelity album, which is good, don't get me wrong. (That's Adult Oriented Rock) also known as "Corporate Rock", a highly-polished and easliy digested product for the masses.

R. E. O. /T. W. O. , the bands second album, released in 1972, is basically were it all started. Their long-time lead singer, Kevin Cronin, was introduced to us on this album. It is one solid bunch of Rock 'n Roll songs. Many have become concert favorites. These guys were originally from the mid-west, Illinois I think, so some of their early stuff has a slight country feel to it. REO have always been known for good musicianship and being great on-stage performers. This is why they "Made it" in the first place. They were basically an excellant bar band (just like the Rolling Stones) that endlessly toured around their local area honing their craft. After ten years of doing something steadily, if you're not bored with it by then, you're great at it. And they were. REO routinely showed-up headliners with their energitic showmenship.

I didn't see REO until 1982 when I was in High School and they were on their Hi-Infidelity Tour. Luckily for me I had older siblings and received alot of musical influence from them, mainly an introduction to earlier music than I would have normally been exposed to. One of my sister's friends let me record some of their albums way back when I was too young to even buy music. One of the first albums I ever put on cassette tape was R. E. O. /T. W. O. (Flat as a Pancake by Head East went on the other side). I listened that tape thousands of times, so the music from those two albums will forever be cemented in my memories. Great Stuff, Highly Recommended for any Classic Rock fan.

Note: I'm giving this 4 1/2 stars actually, just because the production quality is not as good as it should be. The music though, is fantastic.

Also, this album has just recently been re-released by BGO Records, a British production company that specializes in remastering and releasing early classic recordings. They offer a "two-fer" with REO's first album and this one on one compact disc for around $20. That's not bad for an Import, and it's upgraded with modern remastered sound.


You can see a complete list of all REO Speedwagon discography, or go back to the REO Speedwagon tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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