REO Speedwagon 'The Essential'

REO SPEEDWAGON ‘The Essential’ Legacy (2004) www.speedwagon.com

A double CD set containing 33 tracks from one of the US giants of AOR/melodic rock. It has never been trendy to like REO Speedwagon, certainly in the UK where the press wrongly dismiss them as a bland ballads band but hey what do the press know? The ballads in question are all on here including the truly awesome ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’ and ‘Take It On The Run’. It also includes two of my favourite REO ballads ‘One Lonely Night’ and ‘In My Dreams’, both which see vocalist Kevin Cronin on top form. But the band knows how to rock out and guitarist Gary Richrath certainly laid down some smokin’ solos on the likes of ‘Roll With The Changes’ and ‘Say You Love Me Or Say Goodnight’. This collection covers all eras of the band right from the early days with vocalist Tery Lutrell right up to the ‘Ballads’ collection the band released a couple of years ago. There are informative sleeve notes penned by Kevin Cronin and all in all it is a pretty essential collection for fans of the band and those willing enough to ignore all the clichés surrounding this band.