The Album Review Club - Week #143 - (page 1884) - I Should Coco - Supergrass

[Kinkybyname]

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

Saw Seger in Boston right before the pandemic. Pretty good show, even though he was wearing an old guy leisure suit and what appeared to be slippers...;)

His best song is not on this album though. The best breakup song ever: "The Famous Final Scene".

I had put together my own "Greatest Hits 2" CD of his after his original one in 1994 was just missing too many songs I preferred. By then the, um, technology, allowed compilations of such things.

Some of the tracks had made it onto his official release that later came out in 2004, but some were different. The two opening live songs to "Nine Tonight" were must haves too. Non-negotiable. "Travelin' Man" and "Till It Shines" too. "Even Now" never made either version of GH he released. I mean, c'mon now!

"The Famous Final Scene" ended my CD, that I just dragged out of the CD library. ;-) Extra credit for the playlist only is below.

 

[GoatersLeftShin]

I really enjoyed this album, I thought the songs on it were solid and honestly there wasn't much weak stuff on there. Then again, there shouldn't be on a Greatest Hits album! :) I also enjoyed the fact that a lot of the songs were under 5 minutes and whilst listening to it, it moved along nicely.

I'll be honest and say I LOVE Hollywood Nights and Old Time Rock N Roll - I just think they are brilliant rock songs and he delivers the good perfectly on them. I really enjoy that 70s rock era sound, you really have to do something pretty poor for me not to like it! :)

Seger is one of them people who does his thing and I think he does his thing really well and there's no disgrace in that. There's plenty of other artists who do tread the same area a lot - AC/DC, Status Quo etc do exactly the same thing album after album and they do it well and so do Seger.

I really enjoyed it, but I have to mark it down 1 for being a Greatest Hits I'm afraid though:

8/10

 

[RadcliffeRick]

I know this may come as a surprise to some, but...

Pete Seeger is not related to Bob Seger

Did Bob invent the SEGA games console?

 

[BimboBob]

Bob Seger's Greatest Hits

Imagine my delight when this album choice turned up. I've always had a soft spot for Americana music and Mr Seger hits that spot bang in the middle singing about loners, drunks, journey's, teenage angst etc etc.

Seeing that over here none of his albums, apart from compilations, bothered the higher reaches of the chart, my knowledge of Mr Seger was limited to say the least so it was Metallica that got me into him. I loved their copy of 'Turn The Page' so much that I had to listen to the original. Which then led to Night Moves, with a young and not chubby Matt Le Blanc in the video, and onto buying a few albums. I have 7 now. And when I'm out and about if I see an album I haven't got, I buy it.
There's a lot of good songs on this compilation and a few that are missing. Where's Famous Final Scene? Or Fire Down Below? And Her Strut? That's the trouble with any compilation from someone so prolific, there's always going to be songs missed out.

And herein lies my problem.

These, apart from a choice 6, are not my favourite Bob Seger songs. Which will obviously knock the score down. What will also knock the score down is the fact that it's a compilation. Individual songs taken out of their album setting. An album that would have been crafted to tell a story or set a vibe. You could argue that most of his songs are about similar themes but for me it takes the shine off.

So...a score. With complicated maths.

7 for Bob, -1 for compilation, + 1 for Turn The Page, - 1 for no Famous Final Scene...

It's a 6.

 

[threespires]

OK, so I've had two listens to the Greatest Hits but because I accidently listened to 2+2 which I enjoyed, I have listened to all of his 1969 debut Ramblin' Gamblin' Man when he was the Bob Seger System.

My kneejerk reaction is his debut is everything his GH isn't, enjoyably low fi, a bit of grit as people in these parts like to say, simpler arrangements, better vocals, a stomp rather than a plod etc. The question in my mind now is should I go through his back catalogue in chronological order to work out how he got from such a promising debut to such a bland greatest hits album?

 

[BongoBlue]

I had put together my own "Greatest Hits 2" CD of his after his original one in 1994 was just missing too many songs I preferred. By then the, um, technology, allowed compilations of such things.

Some of the tracks had made it onto his official release that later came out in 2004, but some were different. The two opening live songs to "Nine Tonight" were must haves too. Non-negotiable. "Travelin' Man" and "Till It Shines" too. "Even Now" never made either version of GH he released. I mean, c'mon now!

"The Famous Final Scene" ended my CD, that I just dragged out of the CD library. ;-) Extra credit for the playlist only is below.

Nice work mate.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

OK, so I've had two listens to the Greatest Hits but because I accidently listened to 2+2 which I enjoyed, I have listened to all of his 1969 debut Ramblin' Gamblin' Man when he was the Bob Seger System.

My kneejerk reaction is his debut is everything his GH isn't, enjoyably low fi, a bit of grit as people in these parts like to say, simpler arrangements, better vocals, a stomp rather than a plod etc. The question in my mind now is should I go through his back catalogue in chronological order to work out how he got from such a promising debut to such a bland greatest hits album?

Check out 1978's "Stranger in Town". If that offering doesn't cut it in your appreciation of a single set of songs for that period, probably no other album will.

I was saving that note for my review, but we don't have time to wait for that.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Basically, it is the fucking foo fighters, minus the wristbands and the frowning.

Ha ha cute. Incidentally, I love Foo Fighters, but (1) I recognize it’s junk — it’s just junk that hits me where I live; (2) Dave ran out of thematic ideas after The Colour And The Shape, which is actually ABOUT something, and is far and away their best (their debut is second); and (3) each record after that has had fewer and fewer good songs, and there haven’t been any since Wasting Light. He shares a virtue with Tom Petty though, who also wrote a lot of catchy songs about nothing: he is completely in love with rock and roll.

 

[BimboBob]

OK, so I've had two listens to the Greatest Hits but because I accidently listened to 2+2 which I enjoyed, I have listened to all of his 1969 debut Ramblin' Gamblin' Man when he was the Bob Seger System.

My kneejerk reaction is his debut is everything his GH isn't, enjoyably low fi, a bit of grit as people in these parts like to say, simpler arrangements, better vocals, a stomp rather than a plod etc. The question in my mind now is should I go through his back catalogue in chronological order to work out how he got from such a promising debut to such a bland greatest hits album?

There's hints of what's to come on Ramblin' Gamblin' Man. It's also an album of it's time. Very late 60's. And enjoyable for it.
You wouldn't get future Status Quo from Pictures of Matchstick Men would you?