Ridin' the Storm Out

I bought this vinyl when it came out in 1973. Whatever Kevin Cronin did or didn't do, he wasn't on this album's original official vinyl release, period. Thank goodness! Michael Murphy was a very good fit for REO as a midwestern "boogie band". After 1977s You Can Tune A Piano But You Can't Tune A Fish they went way too over-produced pop ballad for my taste. This is a solid classic rock album all the way through!! Get it! You won't regret it!

If you'll notice, Kevin Cronin is NOT on this LP, but a guy named JOE WALSH is. The only way you would know this is if you had the orginal vynil. And I do. Amazing how many bands the great guitarist Joe Walsh contributed to before he bacame an Eagle......listen carfeully and you will hear and experience a pretty good band from the mid west....right up until Kevin Cronin sold them out for money and pop culture. Gary Ricrath,(their lead guitar player) left before their commerical suckcess(yes, I spelled that correctly) I saw them in Berlin in '79 and then again in the mid 80's and it was night/day. I have NO respect for Kevin Cronin as an artist at all.....

This album was first recorded with Kevin Cronin's vocals, but he had a falling out with the rest of the band and left so Mike Murphy became their new singer and they re recorded all the vocals and airbrushed Mike Murphy over Kevin on the album cover. Contrary to other review, there was never an album released with Kevin's vocals, just 2 songs: Son of A Poor Man on Decade of Rock and Roll and Ridin' The Storm out on a recent Box Set. Whiskey Nights and Find My Fortune as well as Without Expression(Don't Be The Man) are the best songs, in my opinion, but all are good. Ridin' The Storm Out with Kevin's Vocals is better but Mike's version is good. I think the version with Kevin is available on iTunes as a single. Personally I like the other two Mike Murphy albums a little more: "This Time We Mean It" and Lost In A Dream. But this one is still good. Their 1st album with Terry Luttrell is awesome and R.E.O. T.W.O. with Kevin.

Saw REO Live in Minneapolis in 74. Mike Murphy is the best. Cronin wrecked the band. Nasally and wierd voice. Never liked REO after that

This album (and A.C.'s Billion Dollar Babies) are the very first albums that I bought (same day) that I really wanted badly back in the eighth grade when they first came out. I played it so much that it seems like a greatest hits album because of each song's familiarity. I wish Rick Derringer's "All American Boy" had been available there (Western Auto, believe it or not, very small town!) as well, because R&R Hoochie Koo, No more MR. Nice guy & Ridin' the storm out we're all changing my sheltered farm boy world. All are from the great Mid-West spawning ground of rock, but REO seemed more down to Earth and unaffected by the Glam-Rock thing than the others. Not only did replacement vocalist Michael Murphy not look like a rock star or front man, he didn't have a particularly good voice (thin and nasally) either, making him a strange choice for an up and coming band on the verge of making it big, but it all seemed to work out quite well (for this release anyway, subsequent albums with the same line-up didn't fare so well). Either way, still love this whole album for the great tunes and happy memories!

Love the music and vibe, but would love to hear this album with Kevin singing. He's just plain hundreds of times better than this guy. Wish REO had kept this sound rather than whatever happened to create "One Lonely Night" and the dreck of the late 80s and beyond!

Listen to this album. It shows a great rock band before they sold out.

Back in the day my brother and I used to jam with Michael Murphy. REO was never the same afterwards. If you like good old fashioned rock, get the album. It's a part of history!

Great album with Michael Murphy. Takes you back to 1973 when this type of music was common. It's a great CD to play when in the garage or relaxing in any room. Michael did not use any effects on his voice the way Kevin used in later albums. A must have for any REO fan!

The best part of this album is, no Kevin. I heard he pulled a power play and walked out, so they hired Michael Murphy (not the Wild Fire one) to replace the vocals. That's the short of it, and this album a timeless classic.