Reo Speedwagon
Wheels Are Turnin'

THE REVIEW

Reo Speedwagon can be considered one of the many unjustly underrated bands that shone like stars for a brief period on the long and dusty road of American success. Their rock is very simple and often sweet, which over the course of the fortunate and delightful '80s became almost repetitive and tiresome. But some works are truly worthy of praise!

The band was formed in the late sixties and for several years performed in complete anonymity, playing covers of old rock 'n' roll songs, until '71, when they signed a contract with a record producer and, with their self-titled album, kicked off their long discography. The early records are quite immature and unripe but very charming because they have the essence of pure rock 'n' roll, a genre to which they will always be tied. With the addition of the wonderful voice of Kevin Cronin at the beginning of the '80s, the band's sound shifted towards A.O.R., the typical American melodic rock, and from this moment on, Reo Speedwagon was finally able to make a name for themselves in rock history alongside high-level artists such as Journey, Foreigner, Boston, and Styx.

Subsequently, the world seemed to have turned its back on this band, which nonetheless always forged ahead on its path, continuously producing new works (some truly great, others not so much) to come up to today with a new album "Find Your Own Way Home."

"Wheels Are Turnin'" is the most famous and defining album of Reo Speedwagon because it is the work following the lucky springboard "Good Trouble" and the best in terms of sound quality. It's clear that Reo loves rock 'n' roll from "I Do' Wanna Know," a great piece that honors the album's opening, with a charming guitar riff, accompanied by the organ, which also performs a respectable solo and a well-matched vocal line. The atmosphere becomes more serious with "One Lonely Night," where the singer vocalizes with his sharp and pleasant voice, playing on the edge between major and minor, creating almost a mystical sphere, which has little to do with the band in question. Much more characteristic is the following piece "Thru The Window," very melodic and damn radio-friendly! At this point, the band decides to go back in time, to point out once again from which musical vein they hail: "Rock 'n' Roll Star," and so, you won't believe it, but it's rock 'n' roll.

After "Live Every Moment," a fairly calm and very catchy piece, comes the real moment of glory and honor in Reo's entire career, the piece that is associated with the band as the most famous (a bit like saying Smoke On the Water by Deep Purple): it is "I Can't Fight This Feeling". These 4:54 minutes of song have truly made American music history, and rightly so, it can be defined as one of the cornerstones of the genre, one of those tracks that could never be missing in a melodic hard rock collection. You can confirm this success if you watch Reo Speedwagon's performance at Live Aid in 1985: you'll find an audience of thousands of people in quite a frenzy for their stupendous performance, and especially for this song.

Right after this intense piece, it transitions from "Gotta Feel More" to "Break His Spell," generally enjoyable and appreciable tracks, to come to the end of the album with the title-track. "Wheels Are Turnin'" is a very powerful piece, in which everything seems perfect, and in which the musicians really know how to assert themselves: the solos are beautiful, especially the piano one, and once again Cronin proves to be a fantastic vocalist. A special praise goes to the choruses Reo manages to strike: throughout the album, as in their entire discography, one of their great strengths lies in their ability to sing all together.

Okay, Reo is not exactly a band that brought great innovations, changed the way of making music, launched new trends, or shocked the whole world, but sometimes genius lies precisely in simplicity.