Canter Bridge

Ah, Bob, Bob, Bob, you do it so well.

Rock-and-roll troubadour of the male soul, there is nobody quite like Bob Seger for a night at home after some manly task has been accomplished.

How, then, to sum up the man’s gift? Bob Seger’s reportoire is one of the purest exemplars of basic, raw rock-and-roll that one can hope to hear. There’s nothing fancy. Basic bass patterns, predictable but competent drumming, the characteristic Seger-esque female background vocals, and Seger himself practically swallowing the microphone. It’s classic, and oh how it works!

The two poles of Seger’s work are exemplified by the hilariously raucous ‘Katmandu’, followed immediately by the sensitive and balladic ‘Shame on the Moon’. The latter is worth quoting:

Until you’ve been beside a man
You don’t know what he wants
You don’t know if he cries at night
You don’t know if he dont
When nothin’ comes easy
Old nightmares are real
Until you’ve been beside a man
You don’t know how he feels

Once inside a woman’s heart
A man must keep his head
Heaven opens up the door
Where angels fear to tread
Some men go crazy
Some men go slow
Some men go just where they want
Some men never go

Oh blame it on midnight
Ooh shame on the moon

Everywhere its all around
Comfort in a crowd
Strangers faces all around
Laughin right out loud
Hey watch where your goin’
Step light on old toes
Cause until youve been beside a man
You don’t know who he knows

Oh blame it on midnight
Ooh shame on the moon
Oh blame it on midnight
Ooh shame on the moon

In the hands of a lesser rock-and-roll artist, this tune would sound maudlin, even grotesque. Seger tunes it just right, so much so that even a listener damagingly intoxicated by the crude reductions of men that are too common must surely sense the genuine portrait of the masculine soul that Seger’s brush gives us here.

Other high points on this compilation include the bluesy ‘Hardest Thing I’ll Ever Do’ followed by the driving, up-tempo comin’-to-get-you ‘Shakedown’. Seger was made for this tune, which served as the theme song for the motion picture Beverly Hills Cop. Yet, for this reviewer, it is Seger’s balladesque moments that stand out. Like Eros Ramazotti and other scratchy-voiced male soloists, Seger goes down exceptionally well in duet with an expressive female voice. This anthology’s luscious paring of our man with Martina McBride on ‘Chances Are’ is a parade example.

There are sixteen tracks on this rather thick ‘best of’ album. It’s rich fare. Don’t miss Seger’s first and principle “Greatest Hits’ album, but when you’ve finished with that one, Greatest Hits 2 will keep the this thing he’s got goin’, well, goin’.