The Hits (REO Speedwagon album)

The Hits
Greatest hits album by
REO Speedwagon
ReleasedMay 31, 1988 (US)[1]
April 30, 2002 (Remastered)
RecordedJanuary 1976–April 1988
GenreRock
Length52:55
LabelEpic
Producer
REO Speedwagon chronology
Life as We Know It
(1987) 		The Hits
(1988) 		The Earth, a Small Man, His Dog and a Chicken
(1990)
Singles from The Hits
  1. "Here with Me"
    Released: June 1988
  2. "I Don't Want to Lose You"
    Released: November 1988
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Robert ChristgauC[3]

The Hits is a compilation album from REO Speedwagon. It contains hits such as "Can't Fight This Feeling" and "Keep on Loving You", as well as new tracks "Here with Me" and "I Don't Want to Lose You". "Here with Me" cracked the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.[4] and the top ten on the Adult Contemporary chart; however, it would be the last single to feature drummer Alan Gratzer and guitarist Gary Richrath, as they each left the band within the year following this album's release. The album has sold over 4 million copies in the U.S. which led it to go 4× Platinum.

A conspicuous absentee from the album is "Keep the Fire Burnin'", which reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982. The collection is one of several released by the band's label. The album was remastered and reissued in 2002. The album was also re-released in 2020 on black and white vinyl.[5]

Cash Box called "Here with Me" a "power ballad that lifts you up where you belong, a majestic and sweeping effort that has romanticism, leavened with pop sensibility."[6] Cash Box called "I Don't Want to Lose You" a "hard-driving, corporate-sounding rocker."[7]

  1. ^ "RIAA". Recording Industry Association of America.
  2. ^ Allmusic review
  3. ^ Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
  4. ^ "Billboard: Hot 100 REO Speedwagon". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  5. ^ "REO Speedwagon - The Hits (2020, Clear w/Black and White Splatter, Vinyl)". discogs. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  6. ^ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. July 2, 1988. p. 14. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
  7. ^ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. October 8, 1988. p. 12. Retrieved 2022-12-22.