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Bob Seger
(1 review sent in so far)

Stranger in Town
By Zack Taylor
April 30, 2007
Rating: 9.0

Bob Seger is an artist full of contradictions. It should be easy to slag such a sensitive guy “shining brightly” one minute and “searching for shelter” the next. Yet, as Kid Rock put it recently, Seger is one bad motherfucker, who rocked hard and paid heavy dues for years until stardom came calling in 1976 with Night Moves. Which brings us to his follow-up two years later, Stranger in Town.

This is a well produced, almost slick record, yet still manages to maintain a homegrown feel. It positively bursts out of the gate with “Hollywood Nights,” a cautionary tale of a small town innocent seduced by an LA woman – or is she LA itself? Through the mix of mid-tempo rockers, and ballads, the cryptic metaphors continue (is the protagonist of radio hit “Still the Same” a real gambler, or just an emotional one?) Stomping, sleazy covers “Old Time Rock and Roll” (a staple of oldies radio the moment it was released) and “Ain’t Got No Money” celebrate the carnal, while “Feel Like a Number,” the album’s theme song, adds a serious side to the proceedings, again at a furious tempo. “We’ve Got Tonight,” the most successful of the album’s three tender ballads, is possibly the most dignified proposition for a no-strings-attached tumble in the sack ever recorded. But your humble reviewer's personal favorite track on the album is “Till It Shines,” another mid-tempo rocker graced with a solo from former Eagles guitarist Don Felder, for the lines “Storm the walls around this prison/leave the inmates free the guards/Deal me up another future from some brand new deck of cards.” It’s got all the elements of Bob’s magic wrapped up in one: polished production, emotional intensity, cryptic metaphor – contradictions that make Seger special in the pantheon of rock and roll artists.

To listen to some soundclips from Stranger in Town or to purchase it click on: Stranger In Town - Live Nation or Stranger In Town - Buy.com or Stranger in Town - CC Music

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