By the dawn of the 80's, REO Speedwagon was a veteran, steady touring rock band, but still hadn't truly broken through to the masses. However, with the arrival of 1980's Hi Infidelity, all that changed for the band, thanks to the monster power ballad "Keep On Loving You," as well as "Take It on the Run," resulting in an album that stayed at the #1 spot on the Billboard Album Charts for a staggering 15 straight weeks (!), and has so close to 10 million copies over the years.
And on July 19th, a double disc "30th Anniversary Edition" of the album will be issued via Legacy/Epic. Featured is all ten of the original album's tracks, as well as a second disc of demos, as well as liner notes by both singer Kevin Cronin and guitarist Gary Richrath.
As Mr. Cronin remembered in the liner notes, "Hi Infidelity was a major life changer for all of us. On our eleventh album, we went from being the perennial Midwestern underdog, to at last hitting the global big time. Suddenly, the world was listening, and watching... But the truth is, it all still boiled down to the music, the songs, some inspired performances, and a great deal of good fortune. We were a tight knit, dedicated group of individuals, with a dream, a purpose, and no doubt that we would pull it all off."
