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1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
It’s So Hard To Tell Who’s Going To Love You The Best
Karen Dalton
Transfiguration of Vincent
M. Ward
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Kinks
Christmas in the Heart
Bob Dylan
Glitter and Doom Live
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Let It Roll: The Best of George Harrison
George Harrison
Secret, Profane & Sugarcane
Elvis Costello
Playing for Change
Songs Around the World
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Bob Seger
It’s albums like this that cause me to occasionally forget how old I am. Some disks might set me back a few years, but “Face the Promise” has knocked decades off of my time-clock. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t paying close attention, but it seems like a long time since Bob Seger released a record I wanted to hear.
If you are a true-blue fan of the guy and you’ve been holding your breath waiting for his next release, then that would explain why you are blue. And dead. It’s been ten years since his last disk, and another fifteen more since he’s released a ‘classic,’ so hearing songs from a new album that sound almost exactly like vintage Bob Seger has certainly warped my perception of time.
While listening to “Face the Promise,” the moods and feelings of1979 started coming back to me. It’s incredible to hear how well Seger has preserved his sound, from his raspy tenor right on down to the female backup singers; I don’t know if they are the same girls, but they sound virtually identical to the way they did then! To paraphrase Seger, it’s “Still the Same,” but that isn’t a bad thing. The songs are instantly familiar and it’s surprising to hear how well they stand up to the work of more ‘contemporary’ artists. Hearing them is like seeing an old friend from high school who hasn’t aged much since then.
Some people just make it look so easy. This stuff might seem simple, but if it is, then why hasn’t someone else taken the reins? To put it bluntly, nobody else can do the rootsy-Americana-MOR-rocker thing as well as Bob Seger. “Wreck This Heart” and the title song are classic corn-belt rock and roll as only Seger can do it. “Wait for Me” bears a melodic resemblance to “Against the Wind,” but with a better chorus. “Real Mean Bottle” features Kid Rock on vocals, and it’s the best thing I’ve heard with Rock’s name attached in five years.
It seems that there are very few artists left who seem willing to carry the ‘classic rock’ mantle. The Eagles threaten but don’t do anything about it, the Who (who have whittled themselves down to a duo) might finally release their first new material since 1982, and Neil Young continues to follow his muse wherever it leads him, but it is usually not down the ‘classic rock’ path. Who does that leave us? With other styles taking over, rockers don’t sell many records these days anyway. In the wake of ‘new’ country and rap music, rockin’ down the highway while livin’ life in the fast lane has turned into a quiet stroll down memory lane.
It may have taken him a while, but Bob Seger has repaved the highway. He did some off-roading, but now he’s back on track. This is the disk that should have followed “Against the Wind” in 1981. Classic rock can only exist if somebody is willing and able to make new music that qualifies, and there simply weren’t enough volunteers. With “Face the Promise,” Bob Seger just raised his hand.
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