Where We Left Off:
REO rejiggered Ridin' the Storm Out on the fly after losing singer Kevin Cronin during the making of the album. Michael Murphy replaced him.
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Lost in a Dream has the distinction of being the first REO Speedwagon album to feature the same singer as the previous album. Once again helmed by producer Bill Halverson, the album came out just 10 months after its predecessor.
Murphy was fully integrated into REO now, writing or co-writing half the songs on the record. Gary Richrath wrote four more, and keyboardist Neal Doughty offered his first solo composition, the rollicking "Sky Blues." Murphy's songs integrate well with Richrath's, in some case working in the same boogie woogie blues milieu ("Do Your Best" and "You Can Fly") but in other places pushing the band toward a more groovy pop direction ("Give Me a Ride (Roller Coaster)" sounds like it could have scored a montage in a Scooby Doo episode, and that's not intended as an insult).
A couple of things stand out about the album as a whole. One is that pianist/keyboardist Neal Doughty was absolutely the MVP of the record. His playing absolutely drives more than half of the songs on the record, including the opening one-two punch of "Give Me a Ride (Roller Coaster)," and "Throw the Chains Away." The other defining quality of Lost in a Dream is the fact the whole band (except, ironically, Doughty) provided background vocals, rather than the female studio singers they'd employed on previous records. This really bolsters songs like closer "I'm Feeling Good" and the title track.
Speaking of "Lost in a Dream," that song may very well define the Michael Murphy era of REO Speedwagon. It's a song that somehow manages to jam within a tight structure, and every instrument feels integrated into a cohesive whole. It's no surprise that this tune survived into latter day REO compilations even after Murphy's departure.
"Lost in a Dream" was co-written by Murphy and an old friend from the band's Champaign days, Bruce Hall. Hall had played in the One-Eyed Jacks with Murphy, and had roomed with Richrath in his early days with REO. Of course Hall would become REO's bassist in the late 1970s just as the band was on the verge of stardom, but that's a story for later.
Richrath's playing on the album was nearly as inspired and essential as Doughty's, and his compositions were uniformly strong. "Down By the Dam" uses the same "duh-duh" riff trick as "Riding the Storm Out" leading some to call it a clone of the previous song, but that riff is really the only similarity. "Throw the Chains Away" is a rocker that showcases a fierce, growly vocal from Murphy. The lyrics are direct, telling a controlling lover, "I ain't takin' no more abuse." (Perhaps this is a spiritual follow-up to "Oh Woman" from the previous record, in which he claimed to be a lady's slave?").
As he did on "Find My Fortune" on Ridin' the Storm Out, Richrath takes over lead vocals on "Wild as the Western Wind" and sounds even more like Mick Jagger than he did on the earlier song. That tune also makes some interesting use of a synthesizer, giving the instrument a solo in an otherwise fairly traditional country rock tune.
Speaking of country rock, Richrath's "They're On the Road" is as fine an example of the genre as you might ask for, and it's also the record's requisite song-about-being-in-a-band. This one is framed within a as an ongoing conversation/argument with a woman who wants him to settle down. The chorus, however, clarifies his position: "Maybe it's because I ain't quite shy of running yet / Or maybe it's because I'm the hometown boy in the spotlight / But my roots ain't in the ground / They're on the road." It's a far cry from some of the word jumbles on the first two records, showing Richrath had come a long way as a lyricist in a short time.
*
Despite not producing a hit, this record continued REO's gradual, incremental ascent up the charts, reaching number 98 on the Billboard 200, a nice improvement on Ridin' the Storm Out's 171. More than anything this was likely evidence of the band building a following through near constant touring.
REO rejiggered Ridin' the Storm Out on the fly after losing singer Kevin Cronin during the making of the album. Michael Murphy replaced him.
*
Murphy was fully integrated into REO now, writing or co-writing half the songs on the record. Gary Richrath wrote four more, and keyboardist Neal Doughty offered his first solo composition, the rollicking "Sky Blues." Murphy's songs integrate well with Richrath's, in some case working in the same boogie woogie blues milieu ("Do Your Best" and "You Can Fly") but in other places pushing the band toward a more groovy pop direction ("Give Me a Ride (Roller Coaster)" sounds like it could have scored a montage in a Scooby Doo episode, and that's not intended as an insult).
A couple of things stand out about the album as a whole. One is that pianist/keyboardist Neal Doughty was absolutely the MVP of the record. His playing absolutely drives more than half of the songs on the record, including the opening one-two punch of "Give Me a Ride (Roller Coaster)," and "Throw the Chains Away." The other defining quality of Lost in a Dream is the fact the whole band (except, ironically, Doughty) provided background vocals, rather than the female studio singers they'd employed on previous records. This really bolsters songs like closer "I'm Feeling Good" and the title track.
Speaking of "Lost in a Dream," that song may very well define the Michael Murphy era of REO Speedwagon. It's a song that somehow manages to jam within a tight structure, and every instrument feels integrated into a cohesive whole. It's no surprise that this tune survived into latter day REO compilations even after Murphy's departure.
"Lost in a Dream" was co-written by Murphy and an old friend from the band's Champaign days, Bruce Hall. Hall had played in the One-Eyed Jacks with Murphy, and had roomed with Richrath in his early days with REO. Of course Hall would become REO's bassist in the late 1970s just as the band was on the verge of stardom, but that's a story for later.
Richrath's playing on the album was nearly as inspired and essential as Doughty's, and his compositions were uniformly strong. "Down By the Dam" uses the same "duh-duh" riff trick as "Riding the Storm Out" leading some to call it a clone of the previous song, but that riff is really the only similarity. "Throw the Chains Away" is a rocker that showcases a fierce, growly vocal from Murphy. The lyrics are direct, telling a controlling lover, "I ain't takin' no more abuse." (Perhaps this is a spiritual follow-up to "Oh Woman" from the previous record, in which he claimed to be a lady's slave?").As he did on "Find My Fortune" on Ridin' the Storm Out, Richrath takes over lead vocals on "Wild as the Western Wind" and sounds even more like Mick Jagger than he did on the earlier song. That tune also makes some interesting use of a synthesizer, giving the instrument a solo in an otherwise fairly traditional country rock tune.
Speaking of country rock, Richrath's "They're On the Road" is as fine an example of the genre as you might ask for, and it's also the record's requisite song-about-being-in-a-band. This one is framed within a as an ongoing conversation/argument with a woman who wants him to settle down. The chorus, however, clarifies his position: "Maybe it's because I ain't quite shy of running yet / Or maybe it's because I'm the hometown boy in the spotlight / But my roots ain't in the ground / They're on the road." It's a far cry from some of the word jumbles on the first two records, showing Richrath had come a long way as a lyricist in a short time.
*
Despite not producing a hit, this record continued REO's gradual, incremental ascent up the charts, reaching number 98 on the Billboard 200, a nice improvement on Ridin' the Storm Out's 171. More than anything this was likely evidence of the band building a following through near constant touring.
Comments
It was a huge record for me as a kid at 16 years old with an 8 track tape deck and a new driver's license. I still love ittoday it is the only REO I like...Gary was on fire and I believe the fact he had to tone it down and play the syrupy ballads Cronin liked contributed to Gary's downfall.RIP Gary Ricrath.....