This is the 17th & final studio LP from Detroit, Michigan singer/songwriter, producer & musician Bob Seger. One of the most prolific artists in the heartland rock scene, he’s dropped over a dozen albums in nearly half an entire century with Night Moves & Stranger in Town under Capitol Records respectively both being singled out as his greatest. His friend of 50 years Glenn Frey passed away merely 22 months earlier & he’s decided to follow-up Ride Out by unearthing 2 covers as well as 11 previously unreleased tracks from the archives as a parting gift.
“Gracile” kicks things off in the form of this heartland rock intro describing a woman with a slender physique & after covering “Busload of Faith” by Lou Reed, “The Highway” continues from there singing about maintaining his artistic integrity. The title track digs up an outtake from the Face the Promise sessions remembering Glenn just before “I’ll Remember You” gives us a Ride Out leftover thematically built around not letting go of an old lover.
We get some heavy Led Zeppelin vibes throughout “The Sea Inside” encouraging listeners that they can leave all the baggage in their lives behind leading into “Marie” delivering a sultry successor to the Beautiful Loser standout “Jody Girl”. The oldest song here would be “Runaway Train” since it dates all the way back to It’s a Mystery singing about driving dangerously fast under the influence of alcohol while “Something More” has to decide whether one wants to fight or flee.
“Forward into the Past” after a cover of “Democracy (is Coming to the USA)” by Leonard Cohen starts the deluxe run with a cross between “Even Now” & “American Storm” off The Distance& Like a Rock respectively depicting the decline of rural living while “Blue Ridge” can be reminiscent of “Sightseeing” from The Fire Inside at times, paying homage to Richie Hayward. The final bonus track “Glenn Song” ends I Knew You When paying 1 last tribute to Glenn Frey.
You’re obviously not gonna get anything that can hang with “2 + 2 = ?” & “Still the Same” out of I Knew You When considering a great deal of Bob Seger’s output post-Against the Wind has been predominantly lukewarm, but I do think admirers of his will appreciate this swan song for finally giving this collection of material spanning nearly a quarter of a century a chance to see the light of day & would highly recommend it above Kid Rock’s latest full-length Sweet Southern Sugar earlier this month.
Score: 3.5/5
