| Ridin' the Storm Out | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | December 21, 1973 | |||
| Recorded | Summer 1973 | |||
| Studio | Wally Heider Studios (Los Angeles) The Record Plant (Los Angeles) | |||
| Genre | Hard rock,blues rock | |||
| Length | 36:26 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Producer | Bill Halverson | |||
| REO Speedwagon chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Ridin' the Storm Out | ||||
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Ridin' the Storm Out is the thirdstudio album byREO Speedwagon, released in 1973. It peaked at number 171 on theBillboard 200 chart in 1981,[1] and reachedplatinum status in 1989. It was the first album to feature Mike Murphy on vocals. The sessions started out withKevin Cronin, but he left the band before the album was finished, due to creative differences. The title track would later become a #94 US hit for the band on their live albumLive: You Get What You Play For, after Cronin had returned to the band.[2] The song refers to the band being stuck in a harsh winter blizzard, after a show inBoulder, Colorado at a bar named Tulagi (now closed). The band had decided to prank its tour manager by intentionally getting lost, but then inadvertently became genuinely lost as a dangerous winter storm approached.[2]
The album includes a new composition byStephen Stills, "Open Up", which was never recorded by Stills himself or any of his bands, although "Know You Got to Run" fromStephen Stills 2 is essentially an embryonic version of the song. "Know You Got to Run" consists of only verses and uses a sombre acoustic folk arrangement, while "Open Up" includes a chorus and uses an up-tempo rock arrangement.
Cronin's original version of "Son of a Poor Man" is featured on the compilation albumsA Decade of Rock and Roll: 1970-1980, andThe Essential REO Speedwagon. "Son of a Poor Man" and "Ridin' the Storm Out" were featured on the live albumLive: You Get What You Play For. The studio version of "Ridin' the Storm Out" with Cronin on vocals was released on the compilation "Box Set Series" in 2014, "The Early Years 1971-1977" boxed set in 2018 and as a downloadable track in the musicvideo gameRock Band.
Record World said of the title track that it has "a good mix of hardrock guitar sounds and harmony vocals."[3]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [4] |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ridin' the Storm Out" | Gary Richrath | 4:12 |
| 2. | "Whiskey Night" | Richrath | 4:42 |
| 3. | "Oh Woman" | Richrath | 2:46 |
| 4. | "Find My Fortune" | Richrath | 2:53 |
| 5. | "Open Up" | Stephen Stills | 3:31 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Movin'" | Kevin Cronin | 3:20 |
| 7. | "Son of a Poor Man" | Richrath | 3:44 |
| 8. | "Start a New Life" | Richrath | 3:50 |
| 9. | "It's Everywhere" | Cronin | 3:26 |
| 10. | "Without Expression (Don't Be the Man)" | Terry Reid | 3:51 |
REO Speedwagon[5]
| Chart (1974) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USBillboard 200[6] | 171 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[7] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Region | Date | Title | Label | Format | Catalog # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA | December 1973 | Ridin' the Storm Out | Epic Records | StereoVinyl | E-32378 |
| USA | 1973 | Ridin' the Storm Out | Epic Records | Tape | PET-32378 |
| USA | 1973 | Ridin' the Storm Out | Epic Records | 8 TRK | E32378 |
| USA | 1986 | Ridin' the Storm Out | Epic Records | CD | EK32378 |
| UK | 2008 | Ridin' the Storm Out /Lost in a Dream | BGO Records | CD (Digitally re-mastered) | BGOCD805 |
| Japan | 2011 | Ridin' the Storm Out | Sony Music | CD (DSD-Remaster) | EICP 1482 |
