You Can Tune A Piano, But You Can't Tuna Fish

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You Can Tune A Piano, But You Can't Tuna Fish album cover
Album Information

Total Tracks: 9   Total Length: 33:44

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REO's Best

Extol-Christ

This is the album that defines REO Speedwagon for me. You have barnstormers like "Roll With The Changes" and "Say You Love Me Or Say Goodnight" along with slower songs like "Time For Me To Fly" and "Blazin Your Own Trail Again." The big difference between this album and the future releases by the band is that the slower songs have bite to them, thanks to Gary Ritchrath's guitar playing and a more stripped down production. This is probably the only REO album, other than Hi Infidelity, that I enjoy all the way through without skipping a track. Essential for 80's arena rock fans.

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Richrath's Underrated Guitar

fontmaven

This album nearly got its mail delivered on my turntable in 1978, it spent so much time there. Whether it was due to those undeniable melodic hooks, Gary Richrath's stinging guitar ("Roll With the Changes" must have eleven separate guitar solos), those bouncy keyboard injections or Kevin Cronin's regal rock'n'roll arena howl, it's hard to say. Still a great album all these years later, though many waited until the band's "Hi InFidelity" two years later to lay their money down.

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Prog on the Prairie: Midwestern Bands Roll Over Beethoven

By Chuck Eddy, eMusic Contributor

On the back of Kansas's self-titled first album, which came roaring out of Topeka in 1974, the band looks like six long-haired farmboys, out standing in their field: Blue jeans, Daniel Boone fringe jackets - one big guy even has overalls on. The front cover is a famous portrait of insurrectionary 19th-century Bleeding Kansas abolitionist John Brown; the last track a eulogy for Mother Nature. Though released on a label run by Don Kirshner, the… more »

They Say All Music Guide

You Can Tune a Piano, But You Can’t Tuna Fish was a breakthrough album for REO Speedwagon in a sense, gelling the guitar craft of Gary Richrath and the vocals of Kevin Cronin with songs that rambled and rolled and never stopped for air. Richrath’s style finally formed some catchy hooks, and Cronin’s songwriting is solid, while his voice sounds rejuvenated and downright fiery. “Roll with the Changes” and “Time for Me to Fly” only made it to number 58 and number 56 on the charts, but the album’s sales trumped all of the chart statistics, giving REO its second platinum-selling album. Songs like “Do You Know Where Your Woman Is Tonight” and “Blazin’ Your Own Trail Again” are well groomed around the edges, sounding smoother and more established than the band’s earlier material. The harmonies on most of the songs stick to the guitar chords, and even the frantic “Unidentified Flying Tuna Trot,” a wild and flighty guitar piece, is unraveled with tornado-like power. With the guitars sounding louder, the songs running quicker, and the culmination of both being well maintained, Tuna Fish proved that the members of REO Speedwagon could play rock & roll when they had to. – Mike DeGagne

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