REO Speedwagon: 9 Lives
Heavy on Your Love
Drop It (An Outdated Cover)
Best the Sturdy Live on
Simple Cash
Rock & Roll Song
Take Me
I Want You This night
Meet Me at the Mountain
Again at the Highway Once more
Guitarist Gary Richrath set the tone for 9 Lives, REO Speedwagon’s 9th album, with a easy remit. “Gary felt that we will have to rock a bit of tougher,” frontman Kevin Cronin mentioned.
The guitarist were given what he sought after. In this album, they performed it tricky. And whilst this way didn’t translate into hit singles, it did make for a smokin’ challenging rock report.
Heavy On Your Love is probably the most badass track REO ever recorded. The momentum carries thru riff-based tracks equivalent to Best The Sturdy Live on and Take Me. And to complete, there’s Again On The Highway Once more, an REO anthem, written and sung by means of bassist Bruce Corridor and lit up by means of Richrath’s guitar heroics.
They even do a killer duvet of Chuck Berry’s Rock & Roll Song. What makes 9 Lives actually stand out, despite the fact that, is the truth that it has all of the power of Aerosmith and the aptitude of Van Halen on the time. Moderately merely, it’s some of the ideally suited American challenging rock albums of the generation
Each and every week, Album of the Week Membership listens to and discusses the album in query, votes on how nice it’s, and publishes our findings, with the purpose of giving other folks dependable critiques and the broader rock group the risk to give a contribution.
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Different albums launched in July 1979
- Rust By no means Sleeps – Neil Younger and Loopy Horse
- The B-52’s – The B-52’s
- Low Finances – The Kinks
- Freeway to Hell – AC/DC
- Uncovered – Mike Oldfield
- John Cougar – John Cougar
- Bop until You Drop – Ry Cooder
- Can – Can
- Accountability Now for the Long run – Devo
- First Beneath the Twine – Little River Band
- Gamma 1 – Gamma
- No Guarantees… No Money owed – Golden Earring
- New Values – Iggy Pop
What they mentioned…
“The necessary ballad, I Want You This night, is one among REO’s ideally suited cuts ever with helpful piano from Neal Doughty, probably the most unsung keyboardist alive. The entire quintet chefs at the stony nugget Meet Me at the Mountain, the Led orgasm Heavy on Your Love, barroom showoff Drop It, and unheard unmarried Best the Sturdy Live on. REO’s subsequent report sparked a phenomenon, and the band by no means kicked out a collection as rocking and carefree as 9 Lives once more. (AllMusic)
“Omit concerning the somewhat evident, chintzy sleeve, 9 Lives displays its sharp claws from the outlet monitor Heavy On Your Love, with some vicious lead guitar from Richrath. On thru Drop It and Best The Sturdy Live on the primary aspect continues to get your ft stamping into over-drive. This aspect solely falters with the somewhat leaden Simple Cash earlier than final with good-time model of Chuck Berry’s ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Song, which provides not anything to the unique however is not any much less stress-free. (Report Reflect)
“The song is a some distance cry from a few of their later stuff. It’s even heavier that their 1978 spoil You Can Track a Piano, However You Can’t Tuna Fish. Even the album duvet suggests heavy steel. In the event that they didn’t do it in 1979, some heavy steel band within the 80s would have no doubt used a canopy picture like this on their album. I can cross on a limb and speculate that perhaps Motley Crue were given a few of their symbol concepts from this.” (80s Steel Guy)
What you mentioned…
Justin Amrhein: The definition of “nice” will also be debated, however any REO album with Gary Richrath’s taking part in is on the very least a nice REO album. Gary used to be a criminally underrated participant that were given overpassed by means of such a lot of because of REO going a “softer” path after this album and gaining popularity from the larger hits going ahead.
Douglas Mackenzie: Wow, its incredible. I gave up on REO Speedwagon after the riduclously overvalued Hello Infidelity, which bored me to tears . However this can be a excessive power 70’s rock album with a variety of power, incredible power nice songwriting and nice songwriting. 9/10 these days and 10/10 if i used to be round in 1978.
Mickel Knight: Some nice stuff in this album however asymmetric in my view. The brink the band shows sounds nice. The bookends in this, Heavy On Your Love and Again On The Highway, are nice. Drop (An outdated Cover) is unhealthy. Rock & Roll Song is generic. I would level to the self-titled R.E.O. as a better option of REO rocking out.
Gary Claydon: Arduous rock? REO Speedwagon? Do not know about ‘challenging’, musically talking those boys have been strolling spherical with a semi on at ideally suited, as a rule. Positive, there will be the occasional glimpse of rampant, totally engorged rock’n’roll however they have been few and some distance between. After they found out the formulation for area standing stardom, they might change into completely – and terminally – flaccid.
No, REO Speedwagon spent the ’70s peddling this sort of anodyne, ultra-conservative stuff that all the time turns out to discover a sizable target market, in particular within the U.S.
From that, you would assume I do not care a lot for REO Speedwagon, would not you? Reality is, I am lovely ambivalent towards them, in a lot the similar means as I’m towards bands like, say, Nickelback. They hit on a mode that suited them, they went with it and so they constructed up a faithful fanbase alongside the way in which. The ‘in a single day’ good fortune that may in the end come their means used to be years within the making and used to be earned the ‘proper’ means – thru challenging paintings and tough gigging. I’ve not anything however admire for that, although it used to be the results of a pointy left flip in the case of taste. In addition they had Gary Richrath, a in point of fact superb guitarist, even supposing one that used to be very a lot beneath utilised.
If you wish to have proof of Richrath’s prowess, glance no additional than the bookends of 9 Lives. Album opener Heavy On Your Love is a kind of uncommon occasions that the lads from Champaign, Illinois actually do lower unfastened and far of this is right down to Richrath, in addition to some tidy paintings from drummer Alan Gratzer. The opposite stand-out is perennial favorite and album nearer Again On The Highway Once more. In between, the tracks are all lovely forgettable (and anyone actually will have to have advised them to fail to remember the quilt of Rock & Roll Song). I have by no means been partial to Kevin Cronin. I don’t believe his vocals raise sufficient weight or energy and are a lot more fitted to the shit-with-sugar-on that used to be simply across the nook. Having mentioned that, he does a good process at the album opener.
9 Lives is far better than what would observe however that is damning with faint reward and nonetheless does not carry it above being OK. 5/10.
Evan Sanders: This tougher rock model of REO Speedwagon ends up in a amusing album, which will stand alongside many different midwestern bands of the time, together with April Wine and pre-Most sensible 40 Styx. If truth be told, Styx is a great comparability for a band that had a tougher rock sound that went away with business good fortune.
At the down aspect, I did not in finding any of the songs status out as ones that I’d wish to pay attention to time and again. I’d experience this model of REO as a bar band, opening act, or some of the afternoon bands in a song pageant. And I do need to subtract one level for the regrettable model of Rock & Roll Song, about as unhealthy because the Seashore Boys’ strive within the 70s. 6/10.
Adrian Smith: Their 9th album and 9 tracks. This used to be the album earlier than the band broke giant with Hello Infidelity. It begins promisingly with Heavy On Your Love, Drop It (An Outdated Cover) and the superb Best The Sturdy Live on. Just right using rock songs, the one gripe actually being Kevin Cronin’s excessive pitched vocals.
The album then loses its means, with the following 3 tracks being in an instant forgettable (together with an absolutely useless duvet of Rock & Roll Song), earlier than choosing up for the general 3 songs, the spotlight of which is the nearer, Again On The Highway Once more. This used to be written by means of bassist Bruce Corridor, who additionally took on lead vocals – and confirmed so a lot more grit than Cronin.
Its no longer a foul album in any way, however I’d somewhat pay attention to Two, R.E.O. (the cow album) or Tuna – or higher nonetheless the reside You Get What You Play For. Gary Richrath used to be a very good guitar participant who by no means seems on any best guitarist lists, however may play with the most efficient of them. Take a look at the reside variations of Again On The Highway Once more on YouTube. Ranking smart 7.5/10 I believe.
Chris Downie: Surely, 9 Lives is a vintage showcase within the annals of ‘the only earlier than they were given giant’ albums. Like many such albums, it deviates considerably from the sound that later made the band in query a family identify (cue the inevitable ‘sell-out’ debates) and as such, has been relegated to one thing of, at ideally suited, a interest amongst vintage rock lovers and at worst, a diehards-only position in relative obscurity.
The ones somewhat aware of REO Speedwagon’s again catalogue might be conscious that, for each and every AOR staple like Can not Struggle This Feeling there’s a challenging rock vintage equivalent to Ridin’ The Hurricane Out and a undying anthem like Take It On The Run. The foremost debating level used to be steadily how neutered the superb guitar paintings of Mr. Richrath used to be from album to album.
Taking a look again at this actual album with a recent point of view, this is a forged continuation of its predecessors, whilst foreshadowing the spoil hit-laden decade to come back. It’s bookended by means of advantageous slabs of vintage, melodic challenging rock, whilst Best The Sturdy Live on is a standout hit. The one drawback is a useless (if honourable) duvet model of Chuck Berry, which arguably serves to do little instead of pad out the quick working time. 7/10.
Greg Schwepe: REO Speedwagon is a real Midwestern band. Of their quest to make it, they possibly crisscrossed the Midwest states from their authentic house base in central Illinois, taking part in in each and every small school the town bar, school basketball gym, and minor league hockey area. And in the event you grew up within the Midwest the place I did, likelihood is that your first time to peer them early of their profession used to be at a kind of venues (or a fair greater one when they hit the large time), and the FM rock station you listened to performed a couple of in their songs. And so they did in the end graduated to complete blown arenas and massive out of doors amphitheaters.
9 Lives is a fascinating album. I can state prematurely that it’s possibly the toughest rocking REO album of their catalogue, palms down. Bother is, whilst I wouldn’t name this a “misplaced album,” it’s wedged between the album that introduced them their first style of extra radio airplay (You Can Track A Piano…) and the album that introduced them a lot of radio airplay (Hello Infidelity). The common song fan would possibly move this one by means of and omit the band at their rockin’ ideally suited.
Proper out of the gate Heavy On Your Love makes a remark; “yeah, this album will be heavy.” With Neal Doughty’s Hammond organ and Gary Richrath’s wah-infused guitar solo, they permit you to know you are going to be pumping your fist whilst being attentive to this.
Drop It (An Outdated Cover) follows and the accelerator continues to be as regards to the floorboard. Numerous rowdy guitar and Kevin Cronin’s vocals set the tone. The chugging Best The Sturdy Live on comes subsequent and is tasty rock and roll bread and butter; extra loud guitar, sing alongside refrain, and every other stellar Gary Richrath solo. And following this is Rock & Roll Song from the guitar participant around the Mississippi River in St. Louis that possibly impressed REO and plenty of different artists; Chuck Berry.
Simple Cash tells the story of a bit of around the border pharmaceutical money-making undertaking that went awry. Sure, it seems that you’ll be able to put illicit issues in a guitar case instead of a guitar; however simply don’t get stuck. Take Me and I Want You This night in finding REO slowing issues down a bit of. Meet Me On The Mountain as soon as once more has the REO staple of Neal’s Hammond organ and Gary’s Les Paul.
The album closes with Again On The Highway Once more, sung by means of bassist Bruce Corridor and may well be my favourite REO track. To nowadays it’s the one monitor from this album of their set.
So, if you’re solely acutely aware of REO’s output from Hello Infidelity or after, your preliminary inclination of the band is also “gee, don’t they play a host of syrupy ballads?” Smartly, sure, however in the event you play 9 Lives in its entirety you are going to unquestionably pay attention a band that may rock out and feature an target market on their ft many of the night time.
Complete disclosure, REO Speedwagon used to be a band that my shut circle of highschool pals all appreciated (amongst different tougher rocking bands too!). Whether or not it used to be this album or every other, if a cassette that includes REO used to be caught in one among our aftermarket automobile stereos to be performed; no one complained. Heck, our oldsters even allow us to go state traces from Ohio into Michigan on a college night time to peer them for the primary time at the excursion for this album (smartly, commencement used to be only some weeks away, so college used to be an afterthought by means of then!).
9 out of 10 for me in this one. REO displays that they in point of fact rocked earlier than the ballads took them to the following degree with long term albums.
Paul Roberts: Nice rocking album. The ultimate hurrah earlier than the insipid Hello Infidelity. The richer choosing are a lot previous of their profession. REO Two, Cronin’s first album, used to be an actual uncooked rocker with a smattering of prog, or the double reside from 1977 You Get What You Play For. Gary Richrath in all his unmuted glory. 9 lives I will cross 9. The opposite two are forged 10s.
Mike Canoe: REO Speedwagon are every other a kind of vintage rock bands that you must speak about sooner or later. Sooner than the never-ending ballads, they trafficked in unpretentious rock’n’roll, lifted by means of the upbeat songwriting of frontman Kevin Cronin and lead guitarist Gary Richrath and forged musicianship during.
Ironic, then, that the one track I knew getting in used to be bassist Bruce Corridor’s superb radio staple, Again at the Highway Once more, which is of the most efficient “Babe, I were given to ramble” songs ever recorded.
Lots of the remainder of the album is amusing with the lyrics most often about relationships or doing your individual factor however with out getting maudlin or offended. It is all the time a excitement to listen to Richrach play and his interaction with keyboardist and drummer Alan Gratzer is superb. New favourites come with Best The Sturdy Live on, Meet Me On The Mountain, Heavy On Your Love, and Drop It (An Outdated Cover).
As I have gotten older, I have received a better appreciation for the shortness of albums in the beginning launched on vinyl. Nonetheless, with solely 9 songs – and a kind of an inessential Chuck Berry duvet, 9 Lives feels undercooked. It appears they have been seeking to make a connection between the 9 songs and the identify of the album nevertheless it being their 9th album – and 9 other folks (together with catwomen) at the album duvet – have been nice sufficient for me. .
9 Lives is a brilliant “cusp” album – the vintage lineup had solidified and the songs and taking part in have been solely getting more potent, paving the way in which for the spoil good fortune of Hello Infidelity
Mark Herrington: 9 Lives is a high-octane, good-time, using rock album. There’s just a trace of the softer, radio-friendly trail that REO Speedwagon would therefore observe within the subsequent decade.
Wearing a canopy that wouldn’t be misplaced within the overdue Nineteen Eighties, that is an album ideally suited taken by itself deserves. The LP identify refers to this being their 9th liberate, in conjunction with 9 tracks and 9 people at the duvet (plus a large cat, supposedly with 9 lives). It alerts its intentions from the beginning, with Heavy On Your Love, a hard-pounding rocker, entire with swirling guitar solo.
The pace continues on this vein with Drop It and Best the Sturdy Live on, each good-time rockers. Simple Cash has hints of the trademark sound to come back, however nonetheless carries that tougher edge. The quilt of Chuck Berry’s Rock & Roll Song sits a bit of uncomfortably right here in its familiarity however does proceed the total rocking theme of the LP.
Take Me will get issues again not off course with its catchy pounding sound and air guitar solo. I Want You This night feels misplaced, a bit of too tacky for my liking. Meet Me On The Mountain carries a virtually Eagles-type vibe, and delivers additional guitar noodling.
REO Speedwagon save the most efficient to ultimate, with one among their best-ever rockers in Again At the Highway Once more, an exhilarating, pounding anthem and every other air-guitar staple.
A beautiful nice album , and most definitely their toughest, maximum constant rocker, capping this level in their profession. All of it modified after this. 8/10.
Philip Qvist: Confession time – there used to be lots about REO Speedwagon that appealed to me and that incorporates Hello Infidelity, which is an AOR Vintage. But I do agree that that they had a tougher rock sound that the mainstream solely stuck glimpses of – and 9 Lives is no doubt a kind of moments.
It does are compatible in with what used to be taking place to the USA song scene within the overdue Seventies, and whilst it by no means set new barriers that is nonetheless an stress-free album. Guitarist Gary Richrath is on nice shape, Kevin Cronin is in advantageous voice whilst Neal Doughty introduced some nice moments at the piano.
Bruce Corridor could have solely written one track on 9 Reside, however this is a scorcher with the final monitor Again On The Highway Once more. Different highlights have been Heavy On Your Love and Drop It, whilst the quilt of Chuck Berry vintage Rock & Roll Song suits in fairly effectively. I Want You This night is most definitely the weakest monitor at the album. It is not unhealthy, nevertheless it does trace the place the band goes sooner or later. 9 Lives is a great amusing, rocking album. A 7 from me.
John Davidson: Having been uncovered to the singles off Top Infidelity I by no means actually felt the urge to discover REO Speedwagon’s again catalogue, assuming it used to be extra of the similar, even supposing I take note seeing the quilt to You Can Track a Piano (used to be it by means of Hipgnosis?) and considering it used to be horrible. I do not recall ever coming throughout 9 Lives.
Heavy On Your Love is an out of this world opener, surroundings the tone as a birthday celebration rock album with a number of guitars. I don’t believe the remainder of the album fairly lives as much as the primary monitor however it is not unhealthy in any respect.
It is a little little bit of a foul signal when your album is lower than 35 mins lengthy and one your tracks is a mediocre duvet of Rock & Roll Song, however I would somewhat a band performed a couple of nice tunes than be confronted with 88 mins of most commonly filler (because the 90s will testify).
Total, a 7/10. No longer unhealthy in any respect and can most definitely upload Heavy On Your Love to my birthday celebration rock playlist.
Gary Furtrapper: Top water mark for those guys. They took Richrath off his leash and the effects have been epic. Eternally neutered after this, no less than they went out with a bang.
Ultimate rating: 5.65 (47 votes solid, general rating 266)
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