Record Review Time Machine! Bob Seger - Stranger in Town

It's been established: I love old records. I know track numbers, album chronologies, and who played what solo where and the circumstances under which they played it. I will now focus that love into writing recommendations and reviews about albums that came out when "pitchfork" was still primarily known as a tool of satan and when, in most cases, I was yet to begin taking poops and breathing air.

This week I'm recommending a classic rock gem from 1978: Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band's Stranger in Town.

First off...just dig this album "art".  Seger looks so darned huggable, more cuddly than Aslan/Jesus or any single Gummi Bear.  Even the most liberal among us feels the urge to yell "get a haircut, hippie" but he definitely doesn't look one ounce of dangerous.  It's difficult to believe that this shot would ever have seemed fashionable, even in the Super 70s.  Cover photo gets 2 out of 10...but don't let that dissuade you from the highly accessible piano rock that awaits you inside the sleeve.

Bob Seger is burned into your consciousness, whether you like it or not.  Somewhat quietly, perhaps even sinisterly, a couple of his songs have slipped in and been played on repeat in your brain. The one you most definitely have an opinion about already is "Old Time Rock and Roll" because of its association with the underwear dance scene in "Risky Business" and the overflow of parodies that followed. Despite being overplayed, it's a quality jam that I've always had a fondness for.  Simple tune, simple message, and an awesome execution.  It's actually a cover of a George Jackson song that Seger didn't think much of: he released it as the fourth single on the album, and even though he rewrote everything from the original except the chorus lyrics, he was in a hurry and didn't bother taking writing credit.  Boosh.  Not only did that mistake cost him tons of dough...but he wasn't even able to control how it was marketed and that's how it ended up burrowing so deep into your ektochrome like those Wrath of Khan bugs that zonk Paul Winfield and Walter Koenig.  So you don't want need to hear that again, nor judge this album by that track.  Forget I mentioned it.

But besides that--it's quite possible that this record passed right through you like Ghost Dad at the multiplex. Time to right this wrong, dudes. Stranger in Town starts off with "Hollywood Nights", the best driving song this side of Golden Earring's Greatest Hits.

"Hollywood Nights"

Way to lead off with a bang, Seger.  Archetypal tale of "midwestern boy goes to Hollywood and becomes disenfranchised" with lots of backup singing and "huuuhh-ing." Instant classic. Swaggertown, USA. 

Throughout the record, the Silver Bullet Band sounds tight and Seger's writing is poppy and accessible with a particular affinity for piano (think E Street Band in the Born to Run-era). For a kid raised (30+ years late) on Creedence, this was right up my alley when I discovered it earlier this year. Seger is half small town and half Detroit scuzz. Less squeaky clean than the Boss (Nebraska = exception) but just as firmly rooted in the screen doors and thunder storms that Springsteen pines over. Add to that some Michigan-area Motown influence (sweet female backup singers and nice horn arrangements) and a little extra soul from the legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm section (who play on several tracks). On top of all that he writes a hit song about California, like he's trying to cover all four american compass directions.

The other standout track is "Still the Same," a mellow but catchy ballad that follows "Hollywood Nights". The melody really snuggles in between the sideburns and sticks there indefinitely.

"Still the Same"

I guess these (three) must have all been singles in their day...so you've probably heard all of them on rock radio at some point.  This was probably the case with me, hence their seeming so damned familiar.  I picked up the vinyl (for something in the neighborhood of 4 bucks) and put on Side 1 like 50 times in the first month I had it.  The second side doesn't really kill it as hard, and there are a couple of bland tunes on it...but the good definitely outweighs the bad. Seger rocks. Just ask Metallica.

Naturally, I quite like all the records I'm going to talk about here, so instead of rating these on a standard linear system, I'll instead be likening them to the career trajectories of actors who appeared in the 1986 film Stand By Me.  By that scale, I rate Stranger in Town as a solid Corey Feldman: i.e. peaks a little too early but leaves behind a really solid body of work (the burbs, the goonies, etc...), despite being later tarnished by drug addiction and/or whoring out of his brand via reality TV, or in this case numerous Ford commercials featuring "Like a Rock"