R.E.O./T.W.O.
View on Discogs
View on Wikipedia
Album Summary
REO Speedwagon's second studio album, commonly known as 'R.E.O./T.W.O.', came roaring out of the heartland on Epic Records in 1972, and baby, this one had grease under its fingernails from the moment the needle dropped. Produced by Bill Halverson, a man who understood how to capture raw, unfiltered rock and roll energy on tape, the record was cut with the core lineup that had been tearing up stages across the Midwest night after night, anchored by a young Kevin Cronin in his first studio run with the group. These boys out of Champaign, Illinois weren't chasing trends — they were building something brick by brick, and this album is the sound of a band forged in the fire of relentless touring, laying down eight tracks of hard-driving rock that proved REO Speedwagon was the real deal long before the mainstream caught on.
Reception
- The album found modest commercial footing at best, never making a significant dent in the national charts — but that wasn't the game REO Speedwagon was playing in 1972. Their currency was the live show, and the record was just another reason to hit the road.
- Critical attention at the time was sparse, with the national music press largely sleeping on the Midwest rock scene. The band's most devoted audience was regional, the kind of fans who showed up early and stayed late every single night.
- Where recognition did come, it centered on the raw, honest energy captured in these performances — reviewers of the era understood they were hearing a road-hardened band that meant every note it played.
Significance
- 'R.E.O./T.W.O.' stands as a vital early document of the Midwest hard rock sound — the kind of blue-collar, guitar-forward rock that would eventually fill arenas across America, and REO Speedwagon was one of the cats who laid that foundation.
- The album captures Kevin Cronin's earliest studio work with the band before his brief departure from the group, making it an irreplaceable piece of the puzzle in understanding how REO Speedwagon's vocal identity evolved over the decade.
- The record is a testament to the grassroots touring model that defined early-1970s album-oriented rock — a band betting everything on the power of the live show to build a following one town at a time, a strategy that would pay off in a very big way before the decade was through.
Tracklist
-
A1 Let Me Ride 181
5:55
-
A2 How The Story Goes 87
3:29
-
A3 Little Queenie 124
6:36
-
A4 Being Kind (Can Hurt Someone Sometimes) 106
6:01
-
B1 Music Man 134
4:35
-
B2 Like You Do 90
5:52
-
B3 Flash Tan Queen 135
4:18
-
B4 Golden Country 181
6:34
Artist Details
REO Speedwagon burst onto the scene out of Champaign, Illinois back in 1967, a hard-driving rock and roll machine that spent years grinding through the Midwest club circuit before the whole world finally caught up to what they were laying down. They carved their sound right out of the heart of American heartland rock — equal parts muscle and melody — and when the 1980s rolled around, albums like *Hi Infidelity* turned them into bona fide superstars, proving that years of dues-paying on the road could absolutely pay off in gold and platinum. REO Speedwagon stands as a testament to the blue-collar spirit of rock and roll, bridging the raw energy of the seventies with the polished, emotionally charged anthems that would define an entire generation's soundtrack.
