The Hits | ||||
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Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | May 31, 1988 (US) [1] April 30, 2002 (Remastered) | |||
Recorded | January 1976–April 1988 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 52:55 | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Producer |
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REO Speedwagon chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Hits | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
Robert Christgau | C [3] |
The Hits is a compilation album from REO Speedwagon. It contains hits such as "Can't Fight This Feeling" and "Keep on Loving You", as well as new tracks "Here with Me" and "I Don't Want to Lose You". "Here with Me" cracked the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. [4] and the top ten on the Adult Contemporary chart; however, it would be the last single to feature drummer Alan Gratzer and guitarist Gary Richrath, as they each left the band within the year following this album's release. The album has sold over 4 million copies in the U.S. which led it to go 4× Platinum.
A conspicuous absentee from the album is "Keep the Fire Burnin' ", which reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982. The collection is one of several released by the band's label. The album was remastered and reissued in 2002. The album was also re-released in 2020 on black and white vinyl. [5]
Cash Box called "Here with Me" a "power ballad that lifts you up where you belong, a majestic and sweeping effort that has romanticism, leavened with pop sensibility." [6] Cash Box called "I Don't Want to Lose You" a "hard-driving, corporate-sounding rocker." [7]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Album | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "I Don't Want to Lose You" | Tom Kelly, Billy Steinberg | 3:08 | |
2. | "Here with Me" | Rick Braun, Kevin Cronin | 5:05 | |
3. | "Roll with the Changes" | Cronin | You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish (1978) | 5:37 |
4. | "Keep on Loving You" | Cronin | Hi Infidelity (1980) | 3:21 |
5. | "That Ain't Love" | Cronin | Life as We Know It (1987) | 4:02 |
6. | "Take It on the Run" | Gary Richrath | Hi Infidelity | 4:02 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Album | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
7. | "Don't Let Him Go" | Cronin | Hi Infidelity | 3:48 |
8. | "Can't Fight This Feeling" | Cronin | Wheels Are Turnin' (1984) | 4:55 |
9. | "Keep Pushin'" | Cronin | R.E.O. (1976) | 4:06 |
10. | "In My Dreams" | Cronin, Kelly | Life as We Know It | 4:31 |
11. | "Time for Me to Fly" | Cronin | You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish | 3:44 |
12. | "Ridin' the Storm Out" (live) | Richrath | Live: You Get What You Play For (1977) | 5:51 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "I Don't Want to Lose You" | Kelly, Steinberg | Keith Olsen | 3:08 |
2. | "Here with Me" | Cronin, Braun | Olsen | 5:05 |
3. | "Roll with the Changes" | Cronin | Kevin Cronin, Gary Richrath | 5:37 |
4. | "Keep on Loving You" | Cronin | Kevin Beamish, Cronin, Richrath | 3:21 |
5. | "That Ain't Love" | Cronin | David Devore, Cronin, Richrath, Alan Gratzer | 4:02 |
6. | "Take It on the Run" | Richrath | Beamish, Cronin, Richrath | 4:02 |
7. | "In My Dreams" | Cronin, Kelly | Devore, Cronin, Richrath, Gratzer | 4:31 |
8. | "Don't Let Him Go" | Cronin | Beamish, Cronin, Richrath | 3:48 |
9. | "Can't Fight This Feeling" | Cronin | Cronin, Richrath, Gratzer | 4:55 |
10. | "Keep Pushin'" | Cronin | John Stronach | 4:06 |
11. | "Time for Me to Fly" | Cronin | Cronin, Richrath | 3:44 |
12. | "One Lonely Night" | Neal Doughty | Cronin, Richrath, Gratzer | 3:23 |
13. | "Back on the Road Again" | Bruce Hall | Beamish, Cronin, Richrath | 5:29 |
14. | "Ridin' the Storm Out" (live) | Richrath | Stronach, John Henning, Richrath | 5:51 |
Total length: | 61:07 |
REO Speedwagon
Additional personnel [8]
Studios
Chart (1988) | Peak position |
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Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [9] | 62 |
US Billboard 200 [10] | 56 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA) [11] | 4× Platinum | 4,000,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [12] | Silver | 60,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
REO Speedwagon, or simply REO, 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. Their best-selling album, Hi Infidelity (1980), contained four US Top 40 hits and sold more than 10 million copies.
Hi Infidelity is the ninth studio album by American rock band REO Speedwagon, released on November 21, 1980, by Epic Records. The album became a big hit in the United States, peaking at number one on the Billboard 200, spending 15 weeks at number one. It went on to become the biggest-selling album of 1981, eventually being certified 10 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
The Ballads is a 1999 compilation album by REO Speedwagon. It features some of the band's previously recorded hit ballads as well as two new songs, Just For You and Til The Rivers Run Dry.
The Earth, a Small Man, His Dog and a Chicken is the thirteenth studio album by REO Speedwagon, and was released in 1990.
Wheels Are Turnin' is the eleventh studio album by REO Speedwagon, released in November 1984. It reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200. The lead single was "I Do' Wanna Know," which stalled at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Can't Fight This Feeling," was REO's second and longest-running number one single. Other singles released were "One Lonely Night" and "Live Every Moment". These singles also reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #19 and #34, respectively. The singles from the album also had success on other Billboard charts: "Can't Fight This Feeling" and "I Do' Wanna Know" each reached #5 on the Mainstream Rock chart, with "One Lonely Night" reaching #17, and "Can't Fight This Feeling" and "One Lonely Night" reached #3 and #10, respectively on the Adult Contemporary chart.
"Keep On Loving You" is a ballad written by Kevin Cronin and performed by American rock band REO Speedwagon. It features the lead guitar work of Gary Richrath. The song first appeared on REO Speedwagon's 1980 album Hi Infidelity. It was the first REO Speedwagon single to break the top 50 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, reaching the number-one spot for one week in March 1981. The single was certified platinum for U.S. sales of over one million copies. It peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart.
R.E.O./T.W.O. is the second studio album released by the Illinois-based rock band REO Speedwagon, released in 1972. Under the leadership of guitarist Gary Richrath, this album continued the musical direction set on 1971's REO Speedwagon with Richrath's own compositions carrying the record.
You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish is the seventh studio album by REO Speedwagon, released in 1978. It was their first album to be co-produced by lead singer Kevin Cronin and lead guitarist Gary Richrath. The album was REO's first to make the Top 40, peaking at No. 29. The album sold over 2 million copies in the US, which led it to being certified 2× Platinum.
"Take It on the Run" is a song by American rock band REO Speedwagon off the band's ninth studio album Hi Infidelity (1980). The song was written by lead guitarist Gary Richrath. "Take It on the Run" was the follow-up single behind the group's number-one hit, "Keep On Loving You". The single went gold on April 17, 1989. "Take It on the Run" has appeared on dozens of "various artists" compilation albums, as well as several REO Speedwagon greatest-hits albums. The 2017 song "Messin' Around" by Pitbull featuring Enrique Iglesias interpolates "Take It on the Run".
Live: You Get What You Play For is a live album by rock band REO Speedwagon, released as a double-LP in 1977. It was recorded at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Building in Kansas City, Kansas, the Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, Kiel Auditorium in Saint Louis, Missouri and Alex Cooley's Electric Ballroom in Atlanta, Georgia. It peaked at number #72 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1977. The song "Ridin' the Storm Out" reached #94 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, but has since become a classic rock radio staple. The album went platinum on December 14, 1978.
Good Trouble is the tenth studio album by REO Speedwagon, released in 1982 as a follow-up to Hi Infidelity. It peaked at #7 on the Billboard charts. The single "Keep the Fire Burnin'" gave the band a #7 hit on Billboard's Pop Singles Chart and a #2 hit on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, their highest-charting hit on this chart.
R.E.O. Speedwagon is the debut studio album by American rock band REO Speedwagon. Released in 1971, it was the only album recorded with singer Terry Luttrell, who would go on to join Starcastle. Kevin Cronin joined the band for R.E.O./T.W.O. This album concluded with a progressive rock song unlike the later arena rock songs that made them famous.
Nine Lives is the eighth studio album by REO Speedwagon. It peaked at number #33 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1979. The album went gold on December 5, 1979. The title Nine Lives was chosen because the album was the band's ninth, including their live album, and it also featured nine songs. It was the last REO album to prominently feature a more hard rock sound. The group would turn to more pop-oriented material with 1980's Hi Infidelity. In 2013, the album was released on CD by UK-based company Rock Candy Records, with expanded liner notes and photos.
R.E.O. is the sixth studio album by REO Speedwagon, released in 1976. It peaked at number 159 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1976. It marked the return of Kevin Cronin to the band after a four-year absence. Five of the songs were featured on the band's subsequent live album, Live: You Get What You Play For. Many fans refer to the album as C.O.W. due to the background of the cover art.
Ridin' the Storm Out is the third studio album by REO Speedwagon, released in 1973. It peaked at number 171 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1981, and reached platinum status in 1989. It was the first album to feature Mike Murphy on vocals. The sessions started out with Kevin Cronin, but he left the band before the album was finished, due to creative differences. The title track would later become a hit for the band on their live album, after Cronin had returned to the band. The song refers to the band being stuck in a harsh winter blizzard after a show in Boulder, Colorado, at a bar named Tulagi.
Life as We Know It is the twelfth studio album by REO Speedwagon, released in 1987.
"Keep the Fire Burnin'" is a song by REO Speedwagon from their 1982 album Good Trouble. This single was the only track from the Good Trouble album to make the top ten on the pop charts, cresting at number seven.
"Don't Let Him Go" is a song written by Kevin Cronin. It was originally released as the opening song for REO Speedwagon's #1 album Hi Infidelity. It was also released as a single, reaching #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Don't Let Him Go" has appeared on several REO Speedwagon greatest hits albums.
"In Your Letter" is a song written by Gary Richrath that was first released on REO Speedwagon's 1980 album Hi Infidelity. It was released as the fourth single from the album and just made the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #20. It also reached #26 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It also had some chart success in Canada, reaching #34.
"I Do' Wanna Know" is a song written by Kevin Cronin that was the lead single from REO Speedwagon's 1984 album Wheels Are Turnin'. It was more of a rocker reminiscent of the songs REO Speedwagon had released in the 1970s than the ballads the band had been successful with in the early 1980s. It had limited success on popular music charts, which was blamed for delaying sales of the album until the release of the follow-up single, the ballad "Can't Fight This Feeling." The video to the song was nominated for several awards.