REO Speedwagon – The Hits

It is an accepted fact that REO Speedwagon were hitmakers. At the mere mention of the band's name, non-musos can just about strain themselves to reel off the two standards that defined them: "Keep On Lovin' You" and "Can't Fight This Feeling". Since so many are wholly unaware of the band's chart history beyond the ubiquities, "The Hits" generally serves the purpose of familiarizing the uninitiated with the lesser-known essentials of a bygone musical domain. Fundamentally summarizing the career of an Illinois outfit who, akin to their contemporaries Journey and Styx, experimented with different genres and line-ups in the '70s before streamlining their sound and reaching a wider audience that way, this relatively short but sweet collection is the definitive introduction to a long and complicated story. ittedly, its single disc conciseness guarantees glaring omissions, nevertheless, what is included is comprehensive enough for burgeoning fans looking to hear more than just the hits courtesy of a jewel in the AOR crown.

Widely accepted as a singles band with an astonishing 24 Billboard hits under their belt, REO Speedwagon also released a 10 million-selling classic album in 1980 - "Hi Infidelity" - now largely forgotten despite featuring four US Top 40 hits. Fully deserving of the success that they earned through extensive touring and toil, the band were catapulted into the public consciousness via the then-rock-music-based youth entertainment station MTV. With most previsual-leaning productions side-lined in favour of an act's fervently mainstream output, the song and its accompanying video had to be catchy and worthy of regular rotation. Indeed, MTV lent a hand to many an indistinct unit who had come up in the radio era. Initially turning listeners onto the albums from which these video-ready singles were pulled, it also had the unfortunate effect of eventually overshadowing them. Consequently, pathos-heavy soft rock LPs received ephemeral success on the Billboard 200, fading into obscurity due to their creators failing to make the grade in of coolness and sustained popularity. Contained herein are 14 exemplars of one such group's pervasive professionalism and propensity for pop-oriented power ballads, with several being overlooked stone-cold classics, most notably the storming "Take It On The Run," and crowd-pleasing "Here With Me". Usually recognized for the emotional core of their songs, "I Don't Want to Lose You" and "Don't Let Him Go" - both disregarded with the age of time, not as a question of merit, but their target audience's sentimental attachment to romantic earworms instead of surging deep cuts - are insistent, driving rockers that bring a welcome measure of variance to the proceedings.

All 14 tracks offer up major melodicism and arena-ready sheen, facilitating an entirely satisfying collection. Only the incongruous closing track - a live version of "Ridin' The Storm Out", included to illustrate how exciting their stage shows were - disrupts the flow and feels anti-climactic rather than euphoric. Now had they elected the infinitely superior studio version, the final product would be flawless. Aside from that singular fault, if one remains intent on expanding their scant knowledge of REO Speedwagon, then this decade-spanning overview receives my seal of approval. Effectively released as a last-ditch cash grab before the band hit the skids, this suitably compact run-through of their emotionally resonant, instantly appealing '80s material sequenced to near-perfection somehow still hits the spot.

Rating: 4.5/5

Just noticed the letters on the cover spell-out "SHIT." Subversive art?