Face The Promise

I don't normally buy compact discs in big box stores for one simple reason. There is no way that we could have accumulated the collection of which we am proud to own, other than some of the ones that Mrs. Zwicker brought into the marriage (yeah Michael Bolton, I'm talking to you), without doing the bulk of our shopping at used "record" stores and on e-bay. It's even rarer for me to specifically go to a store to purchase an album on its release date. If memory serves me correctly, the last time I did that was when the Hooters released "One Way Home" in 1987. I digress.

One of my favorite musical artists since I first started listening to things other than whatever oldies, show tunes or Jewish music my parents would play in the car has been Bob Seger. No matter how much my tastes have changed, expanded and, as I like to think, been refined, Seger's music has always been at the forefront. In fact, the first disc I have played in every single CD player that I have ever owned has been the classic "Strangers In Town." One of Seger's lesser known songs, "Always In My Heart," played during our wedding processional. Besides being a hometown guy who never seems to let his success go to his head, Seger's lyrics resonated in both their words and delivery. Having the excellent Silver Bullet Band certainly didn't hurt either.

Yesterday I made a point to make it to Best Buy and purchase "Face The Promise," Seger's first album since 1995's sub-Seger-standard "It's A Mystery." It normally take a few listens for me to decide how much I like almost any song or album, assuming it makes it past the initial "it sucks, I never want to hear that again" test (yes, Bolton, I'm still talking to you). I have now listened to "Face The Promise" twice and have to give it the thumbs up. It's certainly not on par with "Strangers In Town" or Seger's other seminal classic, "Night Moves," but that's a damn high bar.

I would instead rate the new album with "The Distance" or "Against The Wind." I don't know if any of "Face The Promise" songs will become as popular as the title track of "Against The Wind" but neither does the new album have something like the one Seger song to which I refuse to listen, "Her Strut," which pays homage to Hanoi Jane Fonda. "Face The Promise" instead contains a rock solid Seger performance. It starts with the classic Seger sound on "Wreck This Heart" and takes various turns through its twelve tracks, including two great duets, one a great Michigan rocker with Kid Rock, on Vince Gill's "Real Mean Bottle," and another a ballad with Patty Loveless on "The Answer's In The Question."

Bob, it's great to have you back. As soon as finish your upcoming tour, on which I hope to see you in concert more than once, get back in the studio and keep on rocking.