After 20 years on Rock N' Roll's gruelling highway REO SPEEDWAGON are still going strong, and show no signs of letting up! They crop up every so often with massive chart hits such as "Keep on Loving You" and "Can't Fight this Feeling," but even when they are not on TOTP you can be sure they're out there somewhere plugging away on tour and knocking out album after album. Their early 80s breakthrough opus, Hi-Infidelity is a classic of its time and genre, and has sold millions of copies all over the world. Now, they're back with another compilation retrospective album celebrating two decades of success.
The Second Decade of Rock N' Roll contains 17 tracks, most of which are culled from the bands albums recorded between 81 and 91. Eleven of the tracks have been recorded live, on various dates, over a period of years; on assorted US tours, so it's basically a live/greatest hits album!
The album kicks off in fine style with the opener from the aforementioned Hi-Infidelity album "Don't Let Him Go," and this sets the scene for an excellent guide to Speedwagon's last 10 years. Anyone who is already a fan, or anyone who has experienced the band live will already know why they have been so successful; they write great, unique songs, and play them with style and passion, and this is apparent throughout the album.
The live recordings add even more of an edge to the record, and the hits just keep coming; "Take It on the Run", "Can't Fight This Feeling," and even a reggae version of "Keep on Loving You," which offers a new approach to what is perhaps Speedwagon's best song.
Studio cuts include "One Too Many Girlfriends" and "Variety Tonight" from the 87 album Life As We Know It, and three tracks from 1990s release The Earth a Small Man His Dog and a Chicken, which ensures that none of the band's albums are omitted.
The album kicks off in fine style with the opener from the aforementioned Hi-Infidelity album "Don't Let Him Go," and this sets the scene for an excellent guide to Speedwagon's last 10 years. Anyone who is already a fan, or anyone who has experienced the band live will already know why they have been so successful; they write great, unique songs, and play them with style and passion, and this is apparent throughout the album.
The live recordings add even more of an edge to the record, and the hits just keep coming; "Take It on the Run", "Can't Fight This Feeling," and even a reggae version of "Keep on Loving You," which offers a new approach to what is perhaps Speedwagon's best song.
Studio cuts include "One Too Many Girlfriends" and "Variety Tonight" from the 87 album Life As We Know It, and three tracks from 1990s release The Earth a Small Man His Dog and a Chicken, which ensures that none of the band's albums are omitted.
With the final combination adding up to what essentially is a live-album-cum-greatest-hits-package-cum-sampler from everything the band has released over the past decade, you can't really go far wrong. Excellent by anyone's standards.
Grade A
Nick Douglas
Riff Raff
January 1992
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