Bob Seger - Beautiful Loser (1975) (1995)

Bob Seger - Beautiful Loser (1975) (1995)

"Beautiful Loser" was the last album Bob Seger recorded before hooking up with the Silver Bullet Band and finally breaking through to mass popularity after spending the better part of a decade laboring as a relative unknown. Five songs from this 1975 release would appear on "Live Bullet" a year later, the album that was the springboard from Seger's leap to the big time. The backing band is credited as the "Muscle Shoals Rythm Section," and they give Seger strong backing for his excellent voice on what is mostly a batch of mid-tempo rock numbers. The highlights include "Katmandu," which sounds like it should have been a classic rockabilly number from the late 50s, the ballads "Jody Girl" and "Fine Memory," as well as "Travelin' Man" and "Beautiful Loser," recorded as seperate tracks here but which would be combined so memorably on the live album. Only a couple of obvious filler songs and the album's brief length (9 tunes, just over 30 minutes) keep it out of 5 star territory. Overall, a strong set of songs from a vetrean journeyman rocker who was on the cusp of stardom when it was released...B. D. Rubendall

Beautiful Loser winds up sounding more like Back in '72 than its immediate predecessor, Seven, largely because Bob Seger threaded reflective ballads and mid-tempo laments back into his hard-driving rock. He doesn't shy away from it, either, opening with the lovely title track. And why shouldn't he? These ballads were as much a part of his success as his storming rockers, since his sentimental streak seemed all the more genuine when contrasted with the rockers. If anything, Beautiful Loser might err a little bit in favor of reflection, with much of the album devoted to introspective, confessional mid-tempo cuts. There are a couple of exceptions to the rule, of course -- "Katmandu" roars with humor, and his cover of "Nutbush City Limits" shames Tina Turner's original -- but they are the only full-throttle rockers here, with "Black Night" coming in as a funky, swaggering cousin. It's the exact opposite of Seven, in other words, and in its own way, it's just as satisfying. Occasionally, it might be a little too sentimental for some tastes, but it's all heartfelt and he's written some terrific songs here, most notably the album's heart of "Jody Girl" and "Travelin' Man." Seger had started turning inward, searching his soul in a way he hadn't since the since-disowned Brand New Morning, and in doing so, he was setting the stage for his first genuine blockbuster...S. T. Erlewine

320 @
77 MB

Tracklist:

01. Beautiful Loser 3:29
02. Black Night 3:24
03. Katmandu 6:09
04. Jody Girl 3:41
05. Travelin' Man 2:41
06. Momma 3:22
07. Nutbush City Limits 3:57
08. Sailing Nights 3:18
09. Fine Memory 2:56

Bob Seger - Night Moves (1976) (1999)

Bob Seger - Night Moves (1976) (1999)

Bob Seger recorded the bulk of Night Moves before Live Bullet brought him his first genuine success, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that it's similar in spirit to the introspective Beautiful Loser, even if it rocks harder and longer. Throughout much of the album, he's coming to grips with being on the other side of 30 and still rocking. He floats back in time, turning in high-school memories, remembering when wandering down "Mainstreet" was the highlight of an evening, covering a rockabilly favorite in "Mary Lou." Stylistically, there's not much change since Beautiful Loser, but the difference is that Seger and his Silver Bullet Band -- who turn in their first studio album here -- sound intense and ferocious, and the songs are subtly varied. Yes, this is all hard rock, but the acoustic ballads reveal the influence of Dylan and Van Morrison, filtered through a Midwestern sensibility, and the rockers reveal more of Seger's personality than ever. Seger may have been this consistent before (on Seven, for example), but the mood had never been as successfully varied, nor had his songwriting been as consistent, intimate, and personal. Thankfully, this was delivered to a mass audience eager for Seger, and it not only became a hit, but one of the universally acknowledged high points of late-'70s rock & roll. And, because of his passion and craft, it remains a thoroughly terrific record years later...S.T. Erlewine

320 @
85 MB

Tracklist:

01. Rock and Roll Never Forgets 3:52
02. Night Moves 5:25
03. The Fire Down Below 4:28
04. Sunburst 5:13
05. Sunspot Baby 4:38
06. Main Street 3:43
07. Come to Poppa 3:11
08. Ship of Fools 3:24
09. Mary Lou 2:56

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band - Nine Tonight: Live (1981)(1989)

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band - Nine Tonight: Live (1981)(1989)

Features the title-track contribution to the Urban Cowboy movie soundtrack and an effective cover of "Trying to Live My Life Without You."

When compared to Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band's 1981 powerful live album "Nine Tonight", Peter Frampton's "Frampton Comes Alive"--often considered the greatest live album of rock and roll--appears standard and uninspired.
"Nine Tonight" is an incredible, emotionally charged live set from one of rock and roll's most captivating (yet under-appreciated) performers, Bob Seger. Few times in rock music--especially in the seventies and eighties--does there come along an artist with the ability to captivate a large stadium audience, while at the same time putting on a classic rock and roll show; at the time "Nine Tonight" was released, a stereotype surrounded rock musicians like Bob Seger...that the music, no matter how great it may sound in a studio recording, would always be overshadowed by rowdy crowds filling stadiums only for the parties.
But Bob Seger, with the thundering and flawless Silver Bullet Band, broke that sterotype with an almost magical ability to connect with an audience, to speak to thousands of people in a concert arena as if he were speaking solely with each individual person in the audience. "Nine Tonight" captures that magic. With each time you listen to the album, you get a sense that Bob Seger is trying to send a message solely to you, yet you still feel the intense excitement of a live performance. Any Silver Bullet fan knows that Seger and company are some of the best rock and roll performers to experience live. But for anyone with a taste for wonderful live music, I strongly recommend "Nine Tonight." You won't be disappointed...B Sturguess

320 kB/s
170 MB

Tracklist:

01. Nine Tonight 5:14
02. Trying to Live My Life Without You 4:03
03. You'll Accomp'ny Me 4:12
04. Hollywood Nights 4:49
05. Old Time Rock & Roll 5:17

Just take those old records off the shelf
I'll sit and listen to 'em by myself.
Today's music ain't got the same soul
I like that old time rock 'n' roll

Don't try to take me to a disco
You'll never even get me out on the floor
In ten minutes I'll be late for the door
I like that old time rock 'n' roll

Still like that old time rock and roll
That kind of music just soothes the soul
I reminisce about the days of old
With that old time rock and roll

Won't go to hear them play a tango
I'd rather hear some blues or funky old soul
There's only one sure way to get me to go
Start playin' old time rock and roll

Call me a relic, call me what you will
Say I'm old-fashioned, say I'm over the hill
Today's music ain't got the same soul
I like that old time rock and roll

Still like that old time rock and roll
That kind of music just soothes the soul
I reminisce about the days of old
With that old time rock and roll

Still like that old time rock and roll, That kind of music just soothes the soul
I reminisce about the days of old
With that old time rock and roll

Still like that old time rock and roll, That kind of music just soothes the soul
I reminisce about the days of old
With that old time rock and roll

Still like that old time rock and roll
That kind of music just soothes the soul
I reminisce about the days of old
With that old time rock and roll

Still like that old time rock and roll

06. Main Street 4:12
07. Against the Wind 5:27
08. The Fire Down Below 4:47
09. Her Strut 3:57
10. Feel Like a Number 4:10
11. Fire Lake 3:51
12. Betty Lou's Gettin' out Tonight 2:59
13. We've Got Tonight 4:55
14. Night Moves 5:44
15. Rock & Roll Never Forgets 3:35
16. Let It Rock Edited for CD 6:18