REO Speedwagon Albums Ranked

REO Speedwagon (originally stylized as R.E.O. Speedwagon) is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. The group’s best-selling album, Hi Infidelity (1980), contained four US Top 40 hits and sold more than 10 million copies.
Over the course of its career, the band has sold more than 40 million records and has charted 13 Top 40 hits, including the number ones “Keep On Loving You” and “Can’t Fight This Feeling”. REO Speedwagon’s mainstream popularity waned in the late 1980s, but the band remains a popular live act. Here are all of REO Speedwagon’s albums ranked.

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10. Life as We Know It (1987)

“I can’t understand why Life as We Know It has lower ratings than other REO Speedwagon albums. It has been recorded exactly in the same vein as Wheels Are Turnin’ or Good Trouble. Well maybe the point is that we all knew what will come out. Anyways I still enjoy it. ‘That Ain’t Love’ is another classic hit & ‘In My Dreams’ another classic ballad. My favourite is very catchy ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Heart’. ‘Screams and Whispers’ is very enjoyable & on ‘Variety Tonight’ the band even rocks harder.”

9. R.E.O. Speedwagon (1971)

“It sounds mostly typical, but nothing bad, it’s listenable. And while most of the songs are mediocre, there are great moments here: 1.The first is funky radio tune “Lay Me Down” (its also presented on 77 live album) 2. Sophisticated lady – a fast and energetic hard rock number. The rest is only for fans.”

8. R.E.O. (1976)

“All songs on this album are very good, but the album is mediocrely produced. Hearing that this album was their poorest seller doesn’t surprise me, based on my own experience with REO at the time. I had bought REO Two which was a great album. I bought the next 3 albums which got progressively worse, to almost bad. Kronin and the band parted ways and Mike Murphy couldn’t sing and the songs were not very good. So when this album came out, even seeing that Kevin was back, I did not buy it.”

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7. Good Trouble (1982)

“In a minority of probably one again , not unusual for me, this is astonishingly my fave Reo album! The only track I don’t like particularly is “Let’s be bop” nuff said, the inane subject matter dreadful vocals and the least scanning lyrics ever cost this 1/2 a star! The anthemic choruses are here “Girl”, “I’ll follow you” are the best of those light melodic numbers whereas “Good trouble” in a MOR rocks out nicely. The 60’s style of Hi Infidelity has been replaced by a more typical 80’s AOR style. A really good AOR album.”

6. Wheels Are Turnin’ (1984)

“I had a thoroughly excellent time listening to this one tonight; it’s pretty consistently high in quality, reaches hugely satisfying emotional and melodic peaks with the ballad tracks, and provides an uplifting (if at times goofy) rocking time the rest of the time! None of the tracks let me down; maybe I’m just feeling so positive about it because I needed a bit of cheerful distraction tonight, and this album provided it! But anyway, for mainstream 80’s pop/rock lovers who are looking for something less tough than, say, Bon Jovi, this album should be just the ticket!”

5. Ridin’ the Storm Out (1973)

“Riding The Storm Out Song and album were probably the first things I had heard of REO Speedwagon’s. Over all it is good album but the bare bones sound of the recording sounds lifeless and does not do the band or the songs justice. Kevin Cronin, current REO frontman contributes 2 song writing credits, and Gary Richrath the original power behind the “Speedwagon” authors all of the rest except for one Stephen Still song titled “Open Up”, which I don’t remember what it sounds like. Over all a fine album which has REO Speedwagon “Rolling With The Changes.””

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4. Nine Lives (1979)

“REO Speedwagon’s Nine Lives LP is worth owning for the kick ass driving anthem “Back on the Road Again”, which features the vocal work of bassist Bruce Hall and Gary Richrath’s cool guitar work. Buried at the end the of Nine Lives, the rubber burnin’ “Back on the Road Again” is a five-minute cruising cut, that rocks out and rolls on, and proves Hall packed more balls than Kevin Cronin. The nine song Nine Lives LP was REO’s last stab at straight-up rock ‘n’ roll. With the eightie’s taking over, it was all commercial driven, pre-sweetened sounding pop rock and lame ballads from REO Speedwagon, as the group shifted gears with the release of Hi Infidelity in 1980.”

3. R.E.O. / T.W.O. (1972)

“Excellent straight-up Rock album from R.E.O. Speedwagon. A lost classic from the days long before R.E.O. Speedwagon gained popularity, or went Pop. The albums’s centerpiece is the Hard Rock epic Golden Country, which is a wondrous journey of swirling organ and snarling guitar. I’d recommend this album to anyone that loves 1970s Rock, it’s a winner.”

2. You Can Tune a Piano, But You Can’t Tuna Fish (1978)

“It seems that many bands start out with weakish efforts, then climb to a peak, then decline into pop-ish mediocrity. At the beginning the die hard fans love it, toward the end the Top 40 fans (mostly women?) like it more. Styx fans find Grand Illusion to be the peak, yet girls like “Babe”. Rush fans find “Moving Pictures” to be the peak, with softer radio songs to follow. To hard core metal fans, Metallica’s first few albums are their best, peaking with Master of Puppets, while the black album is the peak for more mainstream fans. ZZ Top, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith had similar paths.”

1. Hi Infidelity (1980)

“Well worth it for the original demos in this expanded edition. The original album is thankfully intact (I don’t even think they remastered it, which is just fine with me). The bonus material, however, provides fascinating glimpse into the origins of this music REO fans have been listening to for nearly 35 years. Of the “Crystal Demos,” some (like “Tough Guys”) you can tell were essentially the final released versions, with some instrumental overdubbing and re-recorded vocal tracks, suggesting that the Crystal Sessions were quite impressive to be able to produce nearly completed final product. “In Your Letter,” on the other hand is remarkable. The released version always had a sunny 50’s pop vibe, but Gary’s jangly, arpeggiated—almost playful—guitar lines in the Crystal Demo give a vastly expanded dimension to both Gary’s highly underrated playing and to this song, helping me to appreciate them both even more. I don’t think these guitar lines would have fit at all with the pathos of the final album so they were probably right to redo those tracks for the final record release, but hearing them now is a real treat.”