Favorite Bob Seger Album?

[OmahaBlueDog]

Poll question: Favorite Bob Seger Album?

Easily Mrs. OBDs favorite artist. I saw him live with her on the Distance, Like a Rock, and It's a Mystery tours. He's one helluva performer.

[Swede]

1. I love Bob Seger !

Wore out a few of his lp's back in the day.

[OmahaBlueDog]

2. Live Bullet was a huge part of the soundtrack of the summer of '76 and '77 for me

...and those were two great years for music.

[Dulcinea]

20. One of my all-time favorites.

"Ramblin' Gamblin' Man"
"The Fire Down Below"
"Mainstreet"
And of course, "Night Moves." It reminds me of my first love. :loveya:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. I always did like Seger...some of his songs would make my

all time favorite list.

Sunspot Baby
You'll Accompany Me
Beautiful Loser

and Turn The Page (as does Night Moves) ranks right up there (for me) with Stairway and Freebird. Too much airplay but, a damn fine tune.

Like A Rock...

He can sure turn a phrase.

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. Let me tell you about something criminal they do on radio

You're listening to "Night Moves", and Bob is singing "waited on the thunder...waited on the thunder". Anyine who has heard the song knows that the best verse is the next one -- the slow verse -- "I awoke last night to the sound of thinder/How far off I sat and wondered......."

But not on this radio station....this radio station practices time compression. So, the whole last verse gets cut, and they go from waited on the thunder to the end of the song/fade out with the girls singing "Night Moves" and Bob singing "I remember/I remember/I remember"


I say very bad words to my radio at that point.

[Iggo]

6. What is this thing you call "Radio"?

I seem to remember something by that name from my childhood in the previous century.

B-)

[abq e streeter]

5. Yeah--Sunspot Baby--not among his best known , but a great one

Fire Down Below and Hollywood Nights too----and I still love Ramblin Gamblin Man ( uh oh, showing my age again)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. Katmandu was a Fun Tune, too.

He did some fun stuff :)

[Iggo]

11. Nothing funner than Get Out Of Denver.

'Cause you look just like a commie
And you might just be a member...

[Tuesday Afternoon]

17. heehee

:thumbsup:

[Iggo]

7. Live Bullet.

I dug all his radio hits, though.

[OmahaBlueDog]

19. For my money, Live Bullet is one of the two best live albums by any band in the "classic rock" era

...the other being "Waiting for Columbus" by Little Feat

Little Feat, of course, features Pianist Bill Payne....who goes on to play with the Silver Bullet Band (while still splitting time with LF)

[Iggo]

21. UFO -- Strangers In The Night

Top to bottom one helluvan effort.

In fact, time-machine-wise, that's the one concert I'd like to go back in time to witness with my own eyes and ears.

[Magrittes Pipe]

9. A big old OTHER.

Don't like the Silver Bullet Band. At all.

I like this record:

[bif]

10. I'll second that.

I loved him before the Silver Bullet Band. He played at our high school back in about 1070.

[Zomby Woof]

13. 2+2=?

The highlight of the album (which I always said was an American version of Cream, being that they were a power trio, with the wah-wah guitar firmly in place).

One of my very favorite Seger songs:

2+2=?

Yes it's true I am a young man
but I'm old enough to kill
I don't wanna kill nobody
but I must if you so will
And if I raise my hand in question
you just say that I'm a fool
Cause I got the gall to ask you
Can you maybe change the rules
can you stand and call me upstart
Ask what answer can I find, I ain't sayin' I'm a genius
2+2 is on my mind

Well I knew a guy in high school
just an average friendly guy
And he had himself a girlfriend
and you made them say goodbye
Now he's buried in the mud
over foreign jungle land
And his girl just sits and cries
she just doesn't understand
So you say he died for freedom
well if he died to save your lies
Go ahead and call me yellow
2+2 is on my mind

All I know is that I'm young and your rules they are old
If I've got to kill to live
then there's something left untold
I'm no statesman I'm no general
I'm no kid I'll never be
It's the rules not the soldier
that I find the real enemy

I'm no prophet I'm no rebel
I'm just asking you why
I just want a simple answer
why it is I 've got to die
I'm a simple minded guy
2+2 is on my mind

[Zomby Woof]

12. Pre-Silver Bullet, it's going to be...

The third effort by the Bob Seger System, released in 1970, has hard edged blues flavor, with a bit of CCR here, and a little bit of Motown there. The System was a power trio, and Seger played guitar pretty decently (still does from time to time). This cut is about how the draft killed apathy and helped galvanize the anti-war movement, when it becamse "all about me", which is the true American vernacular:

"Leanin' On My Dream"

I was walkin to the corner drug store
and what should I happen to see
there were picket lines
and the people were a shoutin'
"Down with democracy"
as I strolled on by someone grabbed my arm and said
"buddy where do you stand"?
I said "I stand wherever I choose my friend
and you best let go of my hand"
as I walked away on a sunny day, I swear I heard him scream
"you know you're leanin' on my dream"
"Hey man you're leanin on my dream"

Got home and turned on the tv set
and sat me down to eat
and a man came on
talkin' bout the coppers
they were blockin' off another street
Seems some folks was raisin' cain
and a riot had broke out

and they flashed the camera on the guy who had stopped me
I watched him runnin' about
as the cops were draggin him away
I heard on of 'em scream
"you know you're leanin' on my dream"
"these kids are leanin' on my dream"

well I got up and turned off the tv set
and to tell you I was feelin' mean
an I thought a while
tryin to make some sense
out of everything that I have seen

I was addin' the score when there's a knock on the door
was a letter addressed to me
It read "greetings from the president, united states"
I fell down on my knees

The next day I was on the picket line
and Lord you should have heard me scream
"you know you're leanin' on my dream"
"hey man you're leanin' on my dream"




Post-System, I would agree that "Night Moves" is a landmark, but since it is well-known, I would like to plug "Seven", his debut with the Silver Bullet Band. Released in 1973, and featuring this little barb aimed right at the hypocrisy and shallowness of middle American would-be ladder climbers:

U.M.C. (Upper Middle Class)

I wanna be a lawyer
Doctor or professor
A member of the UMC

I want an air conditioner
Cottage on the river
And all the money I can see

I wanna drive a Lincoln
Spend my evenings drinking
The very best burgandy

I want a yacht for sailing
Private eye for tailing
My wife if She's a bit too free

I've been told ever since a boy
that's what one aught to be
A part of the UMC

I want a pool to swim in
Fancy suits to dress in
Some stock in GM and GE

An office in the city
Secretary pretty
Who'll take dictation on my knee

I want a paid vacation
Don't want to have to ration
A thing with anyone but me

And if there's war or famine
Promise I'll examine
The details if they're on TV

I'll pretend to be liberal
But still support the GOP,
As part of the UMC

I wanna be a lawyer
Doctor or professor
A member of the UMC




Finally, I would like to plug his most recent album, "Face The Promise", his first effort in 11 years. Released in 2006, it is musically and lyrically his best album since "The Distance" in 1982 (his most underrated album). The theme of American selfishness surfaces again, this time regarding global warming and overconsumption:

"Between"

You're old enough to know better as soon
as you can see
This world is out to get you the way it's gotten me
It starts out in the morning then moves to afternoon
By the time you reach the evenin' you're
barkin' at the moon
Between what you're told and what you've seen
You'll know that it's just another show

Everybody sells somethin' everybody's got game
We all keep believin' no one is to blame
The world keeps getting hotter, ice falls in the sea
We buy a bigger engine and say it isn't me
Between what we say and what we mean
It's clean far away from that machine

We talk on the phone because we're alone
And everyone knows it
We feel overdue, we want something new
And everyone knows it
It's time to join with the living, time to understand
We're all in this together, we've got to have a plan
We're facing an extinction every other day
There's got to be an answer, we've got to find a way
Between what is dead and what is green
We learn what to keep and what to burn
Between what is fair and what's obscene
It's clean far way from that machine

Another favorite from "Face The Promise", regarding Iraq and comparisons to the lost lessons of Vietnam:

"No More"

Are you sorry when the lights begin to fade
Are you sorry for all the promises you made
For the burden of the ones who had to fall
When you didn't read the writing on the wall

It was 30 years ago when I was young
And the jungle not the desert heard the guns
Someone said they had a secret plan
And the rest of us were told to understand

Well I don't want this
No I don't want this
I have had enough - no more

Tomorrow is the price for yesterday
A million waves won't wash the truth away
Someday you'll be ordered to explain
No one gets to walk between the rain

And I don't want this
No I don't want this
I have had enough - no more

No I don't want this
No I don't want this
I have had enough - no more

And if the aforementioned "The Distance" is his most underrated album - a gem, really - then "Against The Wind" is by far and away his most overrated. Naturally, it was a runaway hit. But truthfully, it cemented his reputation as an MOR soft rock crooner to such an extent, that some of his most ardent fans created by that album would stare at you blankly when playing the above (and probably still not liking it as much as dreck like "Fire Lake"), and as a result, his detractors have no idea about any of the good stuff that exists.

All that, and he still sings the fuck out of songs. One of the best voices in the American rock canon. Plus, 'Live' Bullet is one of the best live albums ever made.

[Zomby Woof]

14. Smokin' O.P.'s

My other post was about albums of his original material, but his covers album from 1972 is one of the very best of that kind ever done. He assembled some fantastic musicians, including sidemen from Paul Butterfield and Bobby Bland.




And speaking of 1972, I wish "Back In '72" was still in print. Talk about a lost classic...

[Jetboy]

15. My vote goes to Back in '72

I think Rosalie is his very best song. I've been searching for '72 on vinyl and it is a tough one to track down!

[Zomby Woof]

18. I cannot find it either

Of his 3 out-of-print albums, I was able to find "Brand New Morning" many years ago. It was a solo acoustic guitar and piano album from 1971. Kind of an interesting artifact.

Hope you can find it someday!

[JitterbugPerfume]

16. Against the Wind

My girlfriend Jo and I used to ride and sing his songs at the top of our lungs .We were having a ball---drinking recipe (half vodka --half Dew) and singing along with Bob .It is a wonder we survived.


Now we are old, but boy! do we have memories!

Thelma and Louise without the murder and suicide part!

[Jokerman]

22. "I used her and she used me but neither one cared, we were gettin' our share"

The theme for so many memorable teenage nights.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

23. Back in 72 is a good one

We used to take perverse pride in Bob being a regional star, not known to anyone outside Michigan in the beginning. '2+2 is on my mind'is a good protest song. Remember those? :)
Glad he finally got his payoff after all those years of 'On the road'