Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band* – Greatest Hits

In the same manner as his fellow Detroit rock adherents, Bob Seger greatly appreciated the collaborative effort that went into a live show, hence his initial propensity for assisting or performing alongside various bands under many monikers apart from solely his own. In 1972, he formed the Silver Bullet Band and together they toured extensively outside of his home city before finally hitting big four years later with the concert recording "Live Bullet". It was at this point that the balance of power within the band started to change. In addition to being criticized for using session musicians as much as the Silver Bullet players, Seger was consciously moving towards sufficiently transformable melodic studio material which would then be punchily reproduced and stretched out in concert. ittedly, showing audiences old and new different sides of their personae inevitably hurt their credibility since it meant compromising their image as a hard-rocking musical unit, but such fluidity and versatility did help Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band to break into the mainstream. Without delay, Seger focused on producing increasingly radio-friendly singles to promote his consistently high-quality studio albums, and as he became more visible and popular on his own , his resolve to take back control as a solo artist and songwriter was justified.

Contrary to popular belief, despite being credited on almost every one of Seger’s records subsequent to 1972, the Silver Bullet Band was not his customary band. In actuality, he was more often than not backed by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on the bulk of his best-selling albums. In contrast to the rough-and-ready Silver Bullet Band who specialised in giving a much-needed forceful, spunky and earthy sonic wallop to acoustic and bluesy numbers, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section would accordingly vitalize and elevate Seger’s straightforward, radio-ready rockers. It was a tried-and-tested method and stylistic pattern that invariably paid dividends. Between 1976 and 1982, Seger competently maintained momentum across four of his multi-platinum-selling records, all of which were built around the same blue-collar themes and consecutively improved with tighter arrangements and higher production values, adding maturity, substance and depth to his increasingly outdated aesthetic.

A mainstay of jukeboxes and classic rock radio across three decades, Seger is also widely considered to be a national treasure, though not so as you would notice since he does not tend to be mentioned in the same breath as other high-profile heartland and roots rockers. And what credibility and accolades he has received can be attributed to several factors, namely his ionate, raspy vocals and inspired, observant lyrics, not to mention the hard-edged, blistering instrumentation of the Silver Bullet Band (or the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section). Thusly, an anthology of some sort should have been a natural progression, especially when one considers the substantial and celebrated body of work at the disposal of Capitol Records. Latterly, Seger had been far less prolific as a recording artist and the stimulus and sales generated by such a collection would have been very welcome indeed, but for reasons unknown, Capitol Records respectfully waited until Seger was ready to approve of and assemble it. Nevertheless, “Greatest Hits”, in spite of its belated release in 1994, proved to be a perfectly adequate, some might say wholly incomplete, overview of his commercial phase, containing all the durable standards you would expect - “Hollywood Nights,” “Turn the Page," "Old Time Rock & Roll," "Night Moves" - leaving ample room for the inclusion of other sizable hits - “Katmandu,” “Against the Wind,” “Shame on the Moon,” and “Shakedown” to name but a few - that possibly ran counter to the surrounding tracks and were then calculatedly held back for a predetermined second volume (released in 2003). Aside from said deficiencies and omissions, the set itself is an engaging and satisfying listen, which is enough to make this single-disc gathering of reflective mid-tempo ballads and ferocious mainstream rock & roll a concise, cohesive threshold for those seeking to apprehend Seger’s somewhat daunting legacy.

Rating: 4.5/5