REO Speedwagon
The boys of REO Speedwagon are persistent. In their 13-year recording career they have had such radio hits as Keep On Loving You and Roll with the Changes. By any commonly accepted pop or rock criteria, they are tripe-mongers. They play shabby music, poorly delivered. Wheels Are Turnin' opens with I Do' wanna, and things deteriorate from there. Vocalist Kevin Cronin is smarmy and monochromatic. Although guitarist Gary Richrath and keyboardist Neal Doughty are competent musicians, neither plays a charged lick anywhere on this record. Kudos to drummer Alan Gratzer: He's the only one who didn't contribute to the composing, such as it is. Fans of metaphor will slobber over this typical chestnut from Can't Fight This Feeling: "You're a candle in the window on a cold dark winter's night." There's more poetry and feeling on the label of a can of creamed corn. (Epic)
Your Reaction
