Arch Allies (2000)



Disc One
  1.Blue Collar Man
  2.The Grand Illusion
  3.Fooling Yourself
  4.Lady
  5.Brave New World
  6.Edge Of The Century
  7.Heavy Water
  8.Too Much Time On My Hands
  9.Renegade
 10.Blue Collar Man
 11.Roll With The Changes

Disc Two
  1.Don't Let Him Go
  2.Music Man
  3.Take It On The Run
  4.Can't Fight This Feeling
  5.Time For Me To Fly
  6.Back On The Road Again
  7.Keep On Loving You
  8.Roll With The Changes
  9.Riding The Storm Out
 10.157 Riverside Avenue
 11.Blue Collar Man
 12.Roll With The Changes


 

By the time this double CD came out, pairing REO Speedwagon with Styx, it might’ve seemed like an odd gimmick. But the idea actually made a lot of sense. Both bands came from the same Midwest breeding ground, both spent their early years churning out modest albums to modest sales, and both clawed their way to arena-level superstardom around the same time. So packaging them together under the “Arch Allies” tour banner didn’t feel like a stretch.

The two bands were, by this point in 2000, surviving on name recognition and nostalgia more than anything else. Styx was touring without Dennis DeYoung. REO had been without Gary Richrath for a while now. And while losing a lead singer often affects a band more than losing a guitarist, in this case, it’s REO that sounds more like the band fans remember. That distinctive Cronin croon is still very much intact, and even if the Richrath wall-of-guitar sound is absent, the performances here are faithful enough.

If you want to nitpick, you could point out that these live recordings don’t carry the same weight as those from The Second Decade of Rock and Roll, but it’s not by a wide margin. What helps tremendously is that they keep the set focused—very little from the post-Hi Infidelity era made the cut. This is the band delivering their best-regarded work, straight and true. And aside from a few overlong raps from Cronin in between songs (always part of the package, really), the performance is tight and committed.

Of all their live releases, this one might very well be the most consistent front to back. It’s just a shame it took fifteen years after their prime to capture this version of the band in such sharp form. Still, better late than never.





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