Search - Reo Speedwagon :: Reo

Big Head Todd and the Monsters owe a great debt

Patrick F Clifford | 12/04/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As on REO fan for something like 25 years, I would rate this album with their best. "Hi InFidelity" broke them to the masses, but this one marked Kevin Cronin's return to the fold and (in my mind) established them as one of the best west coast influenced jam bands of the 70's. Mighty big words, but listen to "Lightning" and "Our Time is Gonna Come". The only thing (in my mind) that kept them from going on and on was the restrictive time constraints of the LP format. Gary Richrath really goes to town on all of those major scale solos at the end of each of these songs, and the deceptively simple song structures ("Breakaway" and "Keep Pushin'") ring as true as anything the Eagles were doing. I just picked up the live Big Head Todd and the Monsters cd without ever hearing anything other than their radio hits and was struck by the similarity of much of their material to this mid-period REO stuff. The influences are definately there: the big guitar solos, the (seemingly) simple song structures, the emotional punch of the melody.... REO Speedwagon obviously did influence many bands playing today and "REO" is probably the best example of what made that band so great and, uh, meaningful."

LOOK WHO'S BACK

Eric J. Weik | Dyersburg, TN | 02/17/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Kevin markes his return to the group,after a three album gap in singing on their recordings, his first one out of the group, his vocals were recorded over, but the songs he wrote were still included. REO is not a great cd. It has some good songs, but the production on this outing is horrible, killing most of the songs. Keep Pushin, and (I Believe) Our Time is Gonna Come, are to very good songs. Any Kind of Love, and Summer Love deserve mention, showing that they are heading toward the "big ballad" days to come. Rest of this disk is weak, and does not show the promise of the Speedwagon ahead."

Kevin returns!

Gitters | Allendale, IL United States | 09/04/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In 1976 Mike Murphy was booted out, and Kevin Cronin rejoined Reo Speedwagon. R.E.O. or C.O.W. as some like to call it, is one of Reo's most solid early efforts. The tape opens with one of Reo's best rockers Keep Pushin'and it pretty much keeps rockin through until the end. Buy the time this album had came out the members of Reo where becoming very good songwriters. This is a great album for all REO fans."