REO Speedwagon - High Infidelity
#457
By Paul Zickler
November 21 1980
REO Speedwagon
Hi Infidelity
Genre: Asshole Rock for Jerkface Preppy Guys & Cheerleaders Who Love Them
Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Paul’s Rating
(Note: This review consists of two reviews. The first is written by my imaginary 15 year old self in early 1981. The second is written by the actual 54 year old me in 2020.)
REO Speedwagon - Hi Infidelity (Review #1)
Rating: 0
Highlights:
Don’t Let Him Go
Keep On Loving You
Take It On The Run
Tough Guys
Genre: Asshole Rock for Jerkface Preppy Guys & Cheerleaders Who Love Them
Review:
Pretty much everybody I know who likes this album is a jerk. Just listen to the first song, “Don’t Let Him Go.” It’s about some preppy asshole jock who drives a Benz. And the singer is like, “Oh, you should stay with him, girl. He’s not so bad! He’ll get better!” Meanwhile you know this guy is off banging her best friend. Who the hell would like a song like this? Jerks, that’s who. This is an album for jerks.
Like half these songs have been hits already. You can’t go anywhere without hearing this sappy “Keep On Loving You” song on the radio. And it’s another song about a jerk! “You should’ve seen” what a cool guy I am, baby, “but you didn’t listen.” But I’m gonna keep on lovin’ you cuz I’m such a stud. It sounds like his girlfriend cheated on him, but he’s gonna love her “furevvvver.” She probably got sick of him driving around in his Benz having sex with cheerleaders. Stupid jerk.
Then there’s the other one, “Take It On The Run,” the “heard it from a friend” song. “They say you got a boyfriend, you’re out late every weekend. They’re talkin’ about you and it’s bringing me down…But I don’t think it’s true babe.” I know you really love me, not that new boyfriend of yours. But I’m going to say “I don’t want you around.” Yeah, sour grapes, loser. She doesn’t love you, so you’re pouting about it. Get over yourself!
Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, they stole a bit from Spanky and Our Gang for maybe the most annoying song of all: “Tough Guys.” This is the “oh, I really actually love women” song. My baby “doesn’t like the tough guys. She says that they’ve got brains all where they sit... She thinks they’re full of shiiiii--eet.” OK, so tell me this, dude. If she doesn’t like those guys, why would she like you? Mr. “Oh, I’m so awesome I drive a Camaro and wear popped collar Izod shirts. Love me, baby! I’m so sensitive!” This album makes me so mad, I’m not even going to listen to the rest of it. Zero stars!
REO Speedwagon - Hi Infidelity (Review #2)
Rating: 4.5
Highlights:
In Your Letter
Out of Season
Someone Tonight
I Wish You Were There
Genre: Pop Rock for the Masses
Review:
Hi Infidelity sold 10 million copies and stayed in the charts for 65 weeks. Its sound represents a nearly perfect blend of crunchy guitar rock and radio-friendly pop. The production seems ready made for car stereos: bass heavy, but clear enough on the high end to resonate. Sing along choruses are featured on virtually every track, and the songs run the gamut from almost-hard rock to almost-schlocky ballad to almost-‘50’s doo wop and beyond. All the guitars are either Marshall stack distorted or Boss CE-2 chorus pedaled. There’s just enough piano to be poppy without being soft. It’s like a template of what the 12 to 25 year old demographic wanted to listen to in the early ‘80’s.
Kevin Cronin’s famously midwestern twangy voice seems like it would be an acquired taste, but he sings with such earnest energy and the vocals fit so snugly into the arrangements, he becomes a kind of everyman. Sure, Steve Perry could hit the high notes with more verve, but ya gotta root for an underdog like Kevin, right? Besides, the “corn dog in the nighyeet” song was still a few years off, and nothing here is that twangy.
The band? Really, on this album, they sound like studio pros. No wasted notes, the ability to play credible imitations of Van Halen, Toto, Foreigner - you name it. Competent is the word. These guys are ultra-competent. They are exactly what they need to be.
Which brings us to the songs. I do have to admit that my 15 year old self had a point about the misogyny and lameness of the lyrics, but damn. There are 10 songs on this album, and it’s really easy to imagine at least 7 or 8 of them as FM hits. I don’t really get why “In Your Letter” was a single on an album that includes “Out of Season” and “Someone Tonight,” but that just reinforces the point. Even the fairly boring last track, “I Wish You Were There,” arguably the only misstep, still isn’t terrible by any means. It’s an attempt at epic grandeur from a band that was just better at mundane flash. And when the “epic” clocks in at 4:27, it’s tough to complain too much.
I still don’t think there was any way I could have liked this album at 15. I was definitely not the intended audience. But I’ve come to recognize that the demographic I dwell in represents a tiny fraction of the music listening public. There’s more than enough room in my world for bands like REO. And sure enough, 1987’s “In My Dreams” ended up being one of my favorite songs ever. People can change I guess, even people who can’t stand jerkface preppy guys.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0X4ZNTZw7SYgrp5rlBQC3N?si=Yv2vmBwlQpe57RCwU_u8Ig
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