Classic Years 1978-1990

5 stars for Gary Richrath. 1 star for Kevin Cronin. I never listened to any of these albums when they were new because of his voice and wimp rock songs and lyrics but he made somebody a pile of money. I like the REO records that came before these much better but Gary is still all over the place here. And he makes them infinitely listenable. Great package along with Early Years box.

A must have for any REO Speedwagon fan

Even though most of what anyone knows about REO in the 1980s will say they are a pop band but really they are a rock and roll band that found big success in the mainstream after years of slugging it out on the touring circuit. For ten years they had a strong following and moderate success but they hit the big time with Hi Infidelity and four hit singles and paired up with You Can Tune a Piano But You Can't Tuna Fish and Nine Lives you have three of their strongest pre pop albums. After Hi Infidelity they had consistent pop radio hits but a continuing spiral of more pop and less rock but still good albums overall. The box set itself gives you 129 songs ( some will repeat in live, edited or demoed versions), seven studio albums with bonus tracks which may include some live tracks or edited shorter or longer versions of album tracks, one disc of just Hi Infidelity demos, edits, promo and a couple live tracks, a disc of live music 1980 - 1990 and additional live music 1978 on the Tuna album and an informative 38 page booklet with comments from the band members, track listings, songwriter credits, special thanks and contributors to the albums and some photos. REO also has another box set of all the albums not included here and I'm sure it's also well worth it and includes a booklet which I think many will appreciate. Most box sets out there are just mini carboard sleeves and disc and nothing else. Great box set.

First of all, the value of this set can't be beat. When you take into account the demo versions and live versions of songs that have been added, it's an even better bargain. The team that put this box set together deserves a lot of credit for digging deep and getting some gems that die-hard fans have only been able to enjoy on vinyl until now.For me the big plus of this set is getting the live version of "Don't Let Him Go" from the "Live And In Color" 12" promo DJ vinyl single that I owned about 3 decades ago. This version has Gary Richrath unleashing some pretty fierce feedback and tones from his Gibson at the beginning of the song, giving it a harder rock sound than all other live versions I've heard. Plus, the rest of the band is in perfect form - thank goodness they had the tape machine rolling that night!Even if you already own all of the studio CDs (which I do), getting all the extra live and demo material plus the CDs makes this a must-have addition to your collection.

The Classic Years is the 2nd CD Boxset from Cherry Red Records after the Early Years set a few months back. (See my review) and again they have done a great job. Remastering, Info booklet, mini lp style replica sleeves housed in a sturdy clam shell box plus lots of bonus tracks and rarities. For me this set contains their 3 best albums You Can Tune A Piano But You Can't Tuna Fish from 1978, on which the band begin to really find their own sound that would launch the band to super stardom just a few short years later. Nine Lives From 1979 (is My personal favorite) Gary and the band really rip it up in AOR hard rock glory. The heavy rock album we hard rock lovers back in the day kept waiting for from the guys had finally arrived. Although it under preformed sales wise and was not a favorite of band members themselves, we loved it. Then Hi InFidelity from 1980 which finally put them over the top and made them into world wide superstars. All albums from 1978 to 1990 are included. Cherry Red has done another excellent job. Highly recommended🤘

While the early, bar band years of REO are more my thing, I couldn’t resist getting this companion set to the Early Years box set. Between the two, I spent very little money and ended up with every Epic label album in the band’s back catalog. But more than that— tons of live material that that is often superior to the studio tracks, beautiful, heavy gauge CDs featuring the HNE logo in a rainbow of colors, highly entertaining and generous booklets full of photos and biographical info, fantastic sound quality and all wrapped up in two sturdy, glossy little clamshell boxes. The CD jackets are just the typical thin cardboard LP replicas you get with such sets— unlike Cherry Red’s gorgeous Level 42 box sets where they are heavy sleeves with spines— but that’s a minor quibble considering everything else you get. They even added in the hard-to-find Live Again live EP as bonus tracks at the end of the Tuna Fish album, and the two-track Live Promo at the end of another disk. The Hi-Infidelity bonus tracks get their own disk and include the legendary demos which are basically the same recordings as the album, just not quite as touched up. (If you never heard the story on those, the booklet explains.) So, I have to give four stars because of how well the set accomplishes what it’s supposed to do. It even includes the two “new” tracks from The Hits and the two “new” ones from the 1999 compilation, The Ballads, again as bonus tracks on two different discs. However, not everything from this major hit-making period is a master work. I say this mostly because of the period’s final album, The Earth, a Small Man, His Dog and a Chicken. While I actually greatly enjoy less-popular albums like Life as We Know It and Good Trouble, I can’t get into that 1990 record. It sounds like too many other of the hard rock bands of that day who ended up going adult contemporary— the Starships, the Lou Gramms, the Richard Marxs— the airwaves were saturated with that style in the late 80s and early 90s, and people were just sick of it anymore. Gary Richrath’s departure really affected that band. But, the record has to be there or it wouldn’t tell the whole story. You can judge for yourself. In any case, though, don’t pass this up while it’s still a good price. Even if like me you like the rougher, earlier stuff, those big arena years still pushed out some true classic material, as the set’s title says. It’s one of the catalogs that built classic rock and 80s AOR, so if you have a taste for the style, your library is not complete without The Classic Years.