Ridin' the Storm Out was completed with Michael Bryan Murphy on lead vocal, and featured Neal Doughty's "wailing storm siren" entrance on the title track. Murphy stayed on for two more albums, Lost in a Dream and This Time We Mean It, before Cronin returned to the fold in January 1976 and recorded R.E.O., which was released that same year.
Cronin's return came after Greg X. Volz turned down the position for lead vocalist after becoming a born-again Christian.
In 1977, REO convinced Epic Records that their strength was in their live performances. Epic agreed to let them produce their first live album, Live: You Get What You Play For, which was eventually certified platinum. That same year, the band moved to Los Angeles, California.
In 1977, bassist Gregg Philbin left the band. Depending upon which band member is expressing an opinion, it was either because Philbin was disenchanted with the new corporate-structure REO where Cronin and Richrath got bigger slices of the pie instead of the equal credit they once shared as a "garage band", or he was asked to leave over his lifestyle issues affecting the music quality. Philbin was replaced with another Champaign, Illinois musician, Centennial High School alumnus, Bruce Hall, to record You Can Tune a Piano but You Can't Tuna Fish. The album was released in 1978 and has received FM radio airplay over the years, thanks to songs like "Roll with the Changes" and "Time for Me to Fly". The album was REO's first to make the Top 40, peaking at #29. The album went on to sell over two million copies in the US, ultimately achieving double platinum status.
In 1979, the band took a turn back to hard rock with the release of Nine Lives.
Mainstream success
On November 21, 1980, Epic released Hi Infidelity, which represented a change in sound, going from hard rock to more pop-oriented material.
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