CHILLY TIMES – Bob Seger and AGAINST THE WIND

neilsambrook@btinternet.com March 3, 2020

Becoming partial to the work of a rock artist is very often to develop an interest in their entire career (please don’t say its only me who does this).

With such curiosity comes awareness of golden moments and missteps, along with the quirks and anomalies that comprise the whole.

In this particular instance focus falls on the bittersweet year experienced by Bob Seger in 1980 – twelve months during which he released ‘AGAINST THE WIND‘, the best-selling album (barring compilations) in his generally impressive catalogue, only for it to be savaged by critics who had previously warmed to his work.

Coming fifteen years into a recording history that had begun with the glorious ‘Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man‘ 45 (a terrific blast of mid-60s R&B), the previous five had finally brought Seger the widespread success that for so long looked set to elude him.

Recording a succession of fine Stones/Van Morrison influenced albums, which were lauded in the music press but ignored by record buyers, by 1975 Seger (born Detroit May 6, 1945) was recognised as a talent in the wilderness – often touted as ‘the next big thing‘ only for lesser lights to steal his thunder.

But everything changed with release of ‘Live Bullet‘ (Seger by now supported in concert and often on record by ‘the Silver Bullet Band‘), a brilliant double ‘live’ set recorded in front of a wildly partisan Detroit audience.

Suddenly Seger was highly regarded everywhere, his overnight arrival after ten years cemented by the well-crafted studio albums ‘Night Moves‘ (1976) and ‘Stranger in Town‘ (1978). Both contained huge hit singles, (‘Night Moves‘, ‘Hollywood Nights‘, ‘Still the Same‘), received critical acclaim and did impressive business in the marketplace.

On the strength of these two offerings his next was eagerly anticipated, likely to be successful and expected to showcase his undoubted talent as writer and performer of distinctive ballads and Springsteen-affected rock.

‘Against the Wind‘, his eleventh L.P. release, was indeed a huge commercial success, spending six weeks at Number One on the U.S. album charts. Alas, the anticipation was misplaced as Seger’s new material fell well short of the standard that had made ‘Night Moves‘ and ‘Stranger in Town‘ so memorable.

Forty-odd years on, frustration with ‘Against the Wind‘ lies not in the fact it was a failed experiment or tentative move onto new ground, more with its unimaginative, formulaic approach. Pure and simple Seger simply remade his last album only with inferior songs. Indeed, in their side one sequencing of rocker/acoustic ballad/rocker/contemplative piece/rocker, the two are identical, although ‘Stranger In Town‘ wins hands down in terms of quality.

This perhaps, is what prompted heavyweight rock critic Dave Marsh, who had previously written about Seger in glowing terms, to describe ‘Against the Wind‘ as ‘cowardly‘ in his disparaging ‘Rolling Stone‘ review.

Things at least start on a good footing. ‘The Horizontal Bop‘ is an agreeable Stones-styled workout, the guitar riffs and saxophone incursions sounding right at home, the lyrics (‘Grass is good as carpet/Any place is fine/Its time to get to rockin’/Babe it’s time to make it shine/Tell ’em we’ll be dancin’/Dancin’ till we drop/It’s time to get down and do the Horizontal Bop‘), containing just enough charm to pass muster.

Declaring it the pick of the up-tempo contributions is damning the track with faint praise as ‘Her Strut‘ is forced and charmless, the hard rock overtones as cliched as they are overdone.

Side One closer ‘Long Twin Silver Line‘ has plenty of bluster but well short of being a great ‘train’ song by any means, sounding too self-consciously like ‘Feel Like a Number‘, the track that occupied the same spot, only with far more substance, on ‘Stranger In Town‘.

But worst of all is ‘Betty Lou’s Gettin’ Out Tonight‘ which appears halfway through side two. In telling us ‘Betty Lou‘ is up for a party, Seger struggles to come up with a line worthy of recall and goes for every predictable guitar and sax line in laying on the functionality. The background cheers appear an attempt to generate spontaneity lacking in the music, the only saving grace being at less than three minutes it does not outstay its welcome.

In the same year Rod Stewart wrote the equally contrived ‘She Won’t Dance with Me‘, for his ‘Foolish Bevaviour‘ album but with tongue firmly in his cheek at least Rod managed a couple of decent lines. As a writer of credible songs, however, Seger here does himself few favours, being an artist from whom much better things were expected.

On his previous three albums production duties, often from track to track, had been shared between Seger and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. They again take turns on ‘Against the Wind‘ although four of the songs have Bill Szymczyk at the controls, his name made through stellar work with the Eagles – their presence pervading the record.

It is there on ‘Good for Me‘ a track not without similarities to ‘Take It To The Limit‘ and although Seger delivers an affecting vocal it still cannot mask the paucity of the lyric. In fairness Seger sings well throughout and if the record has a redeeming feature, it can be found in a series of excellent vocal performances.

Eagle Glenn Frey, who had sung on ‘Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man‘ all those years before, sings harmony on the ‘Against the Wind‘ title track that reveals what Seger was capable of when inspired, this fine autobiographical piece reaching the level of excellence found on his previous albums. Searching his soul in contemplating the journey he is on, against a backdrop of interlocking acoustic/electric guitars and chiming piano, Seger comes up with lines full of conviction, sounding utterly convincing when putting his already long career path into perspective:

‘Well those drifters days are past me now/I’ve got so much more to think about/Deadlines and commitments/What to leave in, what to leave out.’

Sadly there is little to redeem either ‘You’ll Accomp’ny Me‘ or ‘No Man’s Land‘. The former is a contrived acoustic guitar ballad, Seger following Van Morrison and Dan Fogelberg in evoking a ‘gypsy moon‘ which reflects its lack of originality, while the latter is simply an inferior rewrite of ‘Till it Shines‘ from ‘Stranger in Town.’ Neither are truly awful, but each falls into the category of what Marsh described as:

‘Failure proof songs that are utterly listenable and quite meaningless.’

Like the week-long holiday where it rains nearly every day, things improve just as the time comes to go home.

‘Fire Lake‘ with its galloping horses/motor cycle connotations at least has an interesting lyric, the melody driven by crisp acoustic guitars and Eagle (Frey, Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmidt) harmonies, while ‘Shinin’ Brightly‘ closes the record in positive vein, this ode to maintaining faith in a relationship, carried along by female backing singers and Van-honed sax breaks.

Indeed, forty years on the better songs, ‘Against the Wind‘, ‘Fire Lake‘, ‘Shinin’ Brightly‘ and at a push ‘The Horizontal Bop‘ have weathered better than previously remembered. Listening to the album for the first time in a decade, they deserve better than the tepid fare around them, the lesser tracks not improved one iota with the passing of time.

Thinking back to when ‘Against the Wind‘ came out is to recall an impression of the time that it bore similarity to The Kinks ‘Low Budget‘ album of the previous year. Both returned huge sales figures, but lacked the vitality found in earlier works of these two notable artists, the same conclusion arrived at today.

Seger was subsequently found in much better form on ‘The Distance‘ (1982) an album for which he wrote a number of excellent songs (including the sublime ‘Roll Me Away‘), the best parts showing a renewed sense of purpose.

It arrested any sense of decline and made ‘Against the Wind‘ an aberration – albeit a lucrative one.

BOB SEGER & THE SILVER BULLET BAND – ‘AGAINST THE WIND‘ (Released 25th February 1980);

The Horizontal Bop/You’ll Accomp’ny Me/Her Strut/No Man’s Land/Long Twin Silver Line/Against the Wind/Good for Me/Betty Lou’s Gettin’ Out Tonight/Fire Lake/Shinin’ Brightly;

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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback as an Amazon Kindle book.