# How bad was the REO Speedwagon guy on Don't Forget the Lyrics?



## Mark W (Dec 6, 2001)

Somebody please tell me you saw that show last night! Am I missing something, or did Kevin Cronin embarrass himself? How can they actually tour with him singing? I imagine they must have to wildly process his voice.

Am I missing some joke?


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## brebeans (Sep 5, 2003)

I agree.
Seems to me there have been plenty of singers on the show with voices better than his (has become, anyway).

And, for non REO Speedwagon songs, he sort of made up his own "melody" or had to sing "to his voice" since many songs barely sounded like the originals....


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## Mark W (Dec 6, 2001)

All right people, fess up. I know you're embarrassed to admit you watched that cheesy show. Somebody else must have seen it! At least brebeans had the guts to admit it.


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## writdenied (Sep 2, 2003)

brebeans said:


> And, for non REO Speedwagon songs, he sort of made up his own "melody" or had to sing "to his voice" since many songs barely sounded like the originals....


I only caught the last 5 minutes, waiting for the local news to start, but he couldn't hit most of the higher end in "Roll With the Changes," either, and they aren't particularly high notes. Either he was having a bad night, or his voice is completely shot.

Of course, the only place you're ever going to see REO Speedwagon live anymore is at the State Fair for $8, which lincludes unlimited rides on the Tilt-a-Whirl, so you really can't be too picky.


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## Anubis (Sep 4, 2002)

Yeah, he sounded bad.

But those leather pants were hawt.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

I recorded it, but didn't watch it yet.

But I still maintain that REO Speedwagon is the loudest concert I've ever seen (and I've been to some pretty loud shows). It was in 1991 shortly after their heyday, and I think they still had the equipment to play a larger arena, but I saw them in a smaller place that only held a couple thousand, so their equipment was way too much for the space. I couldn't even hear myself when I was yelling full voice to my friend right next to me.


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## rhuntington3 (May 1, 2001)

AC/DC's For Those About To Rock was the loudest concert I've ever been too. My ears rang for three days afterward.


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## Kamakzie (Jan 8, 2004)

The guy looks old as dirt now to..


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

I saw REO for the first time at our state fair just a couple years ago. They sounded great then. shrug


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## JETarpon (Jan 1, 2003)

I saw this episode. If he'd been on AI auditions, even Paula would have been making fun of him


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## IndyJones1023 (Apr 1, 2002)

Damn, I wish I would have known he was on, I would have recorded this.


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## terpfan1980 (Jan 28, 2002)

IndyJones1023 said:


> Damn, I wish I would have known he was on, I would have recorded this.


Perhaps you weren't aware that they have these things called commercials where they tease what will be coming up on a show over the next few nites 

(Seriously I saw promos for the show but didn't watch it myself. Was otherwise occupied and didn't bother to catch it. Also missed most of the finale of Celeb Apprentice though I had meant to catch that one...)


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## TIVO_GUY_HERE (Jul 10, 2000)

I saw them back in the early 80's (I think Hi Infidelity tour??) He sounded terrible, I had to borrow a buddys bionocluars to see if they had a different lead singer. His voice is all post production


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## JETarpon (Jan 1, 2003)

bdowell said:


> Perhaps you weren't aware that they have these things called commercials where they tease what will be coming up on a show over the next few nites
> 
> (Seriously I saw promos for the show but didn't watch it myself. Was otherwise occupied and didn't bother to catch it. Also missed most of the finale of Celeb Apprentice though I had meant to catch that one...)


Perhaps you weren't aware that they have these things called tivos that record programs to a hard drive so that you can watch them later.


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## mitchb2 (Sep 30, 2000)

OMG! I don't watch the show, but I had to download it after seeing this thread.
I can't believe how horrible he is! He sounds like all the teenagers that try to sing in their headsets on XBox Live.


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## brebeans (Sep 5, 2003)

.....I actually enjoy this show, that is as long as I can fast forward through the commercials and agonizing amount of time that they take to see if the lyrics are correct.

I love all kinds of music and like hearing lots of the songs, testing my knowledge (and memory!). 

The show is much better, though, when they're not doing something "gimmicky" and it's just your "average joe/jane" trying to guess and sing the lyrics.

And, what happened to the Singing Bee?


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## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

We visited friends in Michigan this weekend and they had taped this show, so we watched it. Kevin didn't sound very good. However, I have seen them a few times in the last several years and they always put on a great show.

Kevin looks like my friend's mom that lives across the street from me. I wish I could get a picture of her to post beside his.


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## pjenkins (Mar 8, 1999)

rhuntington3 said:


> AC/DC's For Those About To Rock was the loudest concert I've ever been too. My ears rang for three days afterward.


i remember that concert tour back in 81 when i was 13 lol. saw them in Chicago and man was it loud, one of my first concerts @ rosemont


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## Mark W (Dec 6, 2001)

markz said:


> We visited friends in Michigan this weekend and they had taped this show, so we watched it. Kevin didn't sound very good. However, I have seen them a few times in the last several years and they always put on a great show.
> 
> Kevin looks like my friend's mom that lives across the street from me. I wish I could get a picture of her to post beside his.


I say that "didn't sound very good" is being very generous. He sounded TERRIBLE. At first, I didn't know he was a celebrity, and I remember thinking, wow, this guy is worse than most of the other contestants I have seen. Then, when it became obvious that he was from REO Speedwagon, I was thinking that maybe he was the drummer or something. Couldn't believe it when I found out he was the lead singer.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

He did sound terrible. I guess some guys voices don't age too well. But to put himself out there with a voice as shot as his, you have to give him credit. There was one song he was singing where it was obvious he knew the lyrics, but he was so off tune, I was just wondering if maybe he wasn't hearing the band right.

I like this show a lot, loved Singing Bee better, because they don't do all the stupid things that they do on Lyrics, such as...give away what will happen prior to commercial break. Make you wait until you get the answers, things like that. This is one show I will NEVER watch live because of these things.


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## tem (Oct 6, 2003)

DevdogAZ said:


> I recorded it, but didn't watch it yet.
> 
> But I still maintain that REO Speedwagon is the loudest concert I've ever seen (and I've been to some pretty loud shows). It was in 1991 shortly after their heyday, and I think they still had the equipment to play a larger arena, but I saw them in a smaller place that only held a couple thousand, so their equipment was way too much for the space. I couldn't even hear myself when I was yelling full voice to my friend right next to me.


1991 ? "shortly after" ? try about 10 years after their heyday.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

tem said:


> 1991 ? "shortly after" ? try about 10 years after their heyday.


One of the REO Speedwagon songs they listed was mid-1980s.. I think 85 or 86.

BTW, I saw this thread title but hadn't read it before I saw the episode.

I think I am not quite as harsh as most of you people are on him. He does sound good on the REO songs. He made "Don't You Forget About Me" almost unrecognizable. He did ok on some others.

If you put red devil horns on him, he'd be a perfect Devil though.


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

Yeah......his voice certainly is suspect now......

Roll With the Changes:

1985 at Live aid: 




2000 St Louis - it's not so hot here: 




2007 hard to hear since it is a fan video, but you can tell he is changing inflection and some melody to match what he is capable of now....: 




I'll take the Live Aid version any day!

Too bad........


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## HPD (Feb 25, 2008)

Berry Berry bad - almost unlistenable.


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## footballdude (Apr 16, 2004)

TIVO_GUY_HERE said:


> His voice is all post production


In the mid 90s I saw him do a live show at a shopping mall (no, I'm not kidding) by himself with just an acoustic guitar. He played nearly two hours and his voice was perfect.

I guess it comes and goes.


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

I guess the "it comes and it goes" statement is true. This version is supposedly from a few days ago. He sounds ok. I guess the production on his voice, combined with the level compared to the rest of the music, combined with being a fan video (again) makes it sound ok. And with a beer or two in you, I guess it is not that bad.






I also found this acoustic version with Styx and Journey to be interesting.....






This version from the REO/Styx tour was pretty good. I like Tommy shaw on the vocals.......






And this one goes waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back:





Somehow I get the feeling that this thread could turn out to be the next "Leah Remini is Phat" thread......You know....the kind that keeps coming back, no matter how hard you try to avoid it......


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

I didn't see the show, but I've seen REO at least a dozen times in concert. They always managed to sound pretty good live.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

tem said:


> 1991 ? "shortly after" ? try about 10 years after their heyday.


OK, I'll grant you that it was more that "shortly after," but it's not uncommon for bands to still be popular touring acts for several years after their last big album. My point was that the sound equipment they brought to that small hall (2-3000 people) must have been enough to do an arena show, which I presume they were doing in the mid to late 80s.


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## tem (Oct 6, 2003)

DevdogAZ said:


> OK, I'll grant you that it was more that "shortly after," but it's not uncommon for bands to still be popular touring acts for several years after their last big album. My point was that the sound equipment they brought to that small hall (2-3000 people) must have been enough to do an arena show, which I presume they were doing in the mid to late 80s.


I guess it's a matter of perspective. I can't remember the last time I've seen an indoor show w/ 3000 people and some of the shows I see at 300-500 person clubs are deafeningly loud (which is why I usually wear earplugs).


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

REO was the second best concert I ever attended in my life, circa 1980. I still regularly watch some old bootleg DVD's of them- they absolutely _rocked _in the days before Cronin and his sappy ballards took over. I still consider Gary Richrath one of the most enjoyable guitarists I have ever watched perform. And their drummer/founding member Alan Gratzer is one of my drummer husbands real inspirations.

I'm glad I missed this show- Cronin always did bug me. He looks like a raptor. A teeny, hyper, nervous little hawk. Some of the stuff he did when he very first hooked up with them was good, but the more he influenced the band the worse they got.
IMO.

Interesting article about it all here:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/REO-Speedwagon-2571/REO-Kevin-Cronin-Gary.htm


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## jeff125va (Mar 15, 2001)

Don't you Forget About Me was horrible, particularly his timing. It was like he just read the entire line of words as soon as it came up, even when they should have been spaced out over several measures. I was shocked when he knew the missing words, because he "sang" it as though he'd never heard it before. 

His timing was fine on "Keep On Loving You" but it didn't sound anything like the original, which is really saying something.


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