The band is still playing it loud and lean...5 Out Of 5 Stars
After years of kicking in the trenches, Bob Seger broke onto the national charts with his amazing "Night Moves
." He was a populist
rocker without the phony populism, a man who didn't look at rock and
roll as a fairy tale. It also made his bones as a balladeer, with the
hits "Main Street" and the title song.
"We weren't in love oh no far from it.
We weren't searching for some pie in the sky summit.
We were just young and restless and bored,
living by the sword."
That set of lyrics, in my opinion, embodies all the greatest elements of rock writing; both the search for love and the sense of disillusionment. Seger took these thoughts and translated them across this album. There's also the loneliness of Seger's life as a rocker that was still trying to catch that big break, in "Sunburst."
He still felt that rock was his best hope, as "Rock and Roll Never Forgets." At the same time, he also knew that there were lines forming on the faces of his fans (and himself). "Well, sweet sixteen is turning thirty-one," he belts. And with The Silver Bullet Band behind him, he achieved the transcendence he seeks. I am also of the mind that this is a better song the the ultimately rewritten hit version otherwise known as "Old Time Rock and Roll."
Seger was still dealing with the main themes of rock, like girls ("Sunspot Baby"), desire ("The Fire Down Below") and the time honored sense of history (covering "Mary Lou"). He was still dealing with these topics as an underdog, and that gives "Night Moves" a slight edge over its successor, "Stranger In Town
," where he started to write about
grappling with success.
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