Customer Reviews

Fire Inside

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

His greatest hits album was/is awesome, but there are songs on it that pale in comparison to some of the songs on this compilation. "Real Love" is a great tune, as is the opening track, "Take A Chance". I love the song "Sightseeing"; this isn't your normal schmoe writing a rock song and so we get a "not your normal rock song" result. Great lyrics, great rhythm. "Real At The Time" is great. Who hasn't been in love w/someone and years later looked back and said to themselves, "Yup, it was real at the time."? "Blind Love" is maybe my favorite track on the cd. It has a strong country feel, but it's the way country ought to sound. No twang, no steel guitars. The whole cd is just a solid, solid set from a master of rock and roll.

Bob Seger's 'Fire Inside' is a characteristically conservative yet touching display of midlife musical resolve. Seger was thirty-one when he realized his rock dream with Live Bullet, from 1976, and never forgot the frustrations of the struggle. So after the commercial harvest of the subsequent Night Moves, he refined a formula that balanced the abandon of the roadhouse rocker with the control of a singer-songwriter and became that rare pontificator who could encore with a convincing Chuck Berry number.

The supporting cast of The Fire Inside mixes L.A. session aces with Bruce Hornsby, members of John Mellencamp's Indiana crew and Seger's own Silver Bullet Band. Seger followed his usual habit by recording some of the album with the soulful Barry Beckett at the board - much of the rest was recorded by Don Was - and the disc would be understood as bullishly American even if it didn't have the Statue of Liberty on the cover. Seger's nationalistic impulses, however, truly flower when he touches upon blues and country.

Seger covers his established styles with "Take a Chance" (floor-pounding rock), "The Fire Inside" (end-of-the-innocence ruminations) and "The Real Love" (earnestly romantic ballads). "The Real Love" is particularly fine, with Seger's sandy voice framed by Mike Campbell's layered guitars and a battery of background singers. "Sightseeing" evokes the rural rock of Mellencamp - and underscores the nature of artistic influences with a lyric about gaining inspiration from looking at great art.

That's why it makes perfect sense that the album's poetic heat comes from two songs by another artist: Tom Waits, one very idiosyncratic singer-songwriter. Seger presents "New Coat of Paint" as a ripe, sexy blues, with his blustery invitation ("We'll laugh at that old bloodshot moon/In that burgundy sky") lubricated by Bill Payne's rippling piano. The other Waits-penned track, "Blind Love," is tethered to the dulcet country whine of Richard Greene's violin.

"Blind Love" should have ended the album. Instead, Seger, as if to touch one last base, cranks out "She Can't Do Anything Wrong," a jailbait rocker by other writers. Two decades ago, Seger might've been forgiven for writing this song; now, sung as a cover by a middle-aged man, he sounds like a dad trying too hard to please the kids.

"She Can't Do Anything Wrong" does not befit the man who wrote "Rock and Roll Never Forgets." Seger shows he hasn't forgotten by growling through the guitars that drone on "Real at the Time" and stomp through "The Mountain." He also remembers plenty on a superb country ballad, "The Long Way Home," in which a beautiful loser shows how, when it comes to rock & roll, soul transcends style.

Some rockartists doesn`t know their roots. Bob Seger is one of the few among the socalled "modern" artist`s`who does. The opener Take a Chance isn`t realy up there in 5 stars heaven. The theme is to much repeated, and have to little variation, but you don`t have to wait long. Track 2 The Real Love kicks your`e soul in gear, (it`s also produced by Gear Publishing Co but that`s a coincidence ?), Track 3 Sightseeing Is root`s rock and roll, but nothing more sorry to
say. Track 4 Real at the time I't s much in the same style, and not a realy "earopener" when it come`s to creative listning experience. Track 5 Always In My Heart is a ballad, and it`s ok. Very simple, not to creative to listen too. It`s good too take a slow dance too, but would not lift you up with star`s in your`e eyes. Aaaah.But at last The title track Track 6 The Fire Inside. Bob Seger at his best, saved by a good melody, and Roy Bittan, (from Springsteen Estreet band with a pianoplaying which realy hit`s the mark). This is it, to make it short. Everything fit`s in a way. A melody that will lift your`e soul. Track 7 New Coat of Paint is Bob Seger singing Tom Wait`s, and has some flair, style, and a walkalong melody. Track 8 Which Way, is a good blues song, which has much weight in the melody and a good whole. Track 9 The Mouintain has Eagles member Joe Walsh on Lead guitar, that save this one. Puerly standard rock and roll. Track 10 The Long Way Home is a great ballad. Simple, but strong on lyricks which tells us much about life:- Some lose their way. They all want so much to succeed. How do you tell them apart. The best of them lead with their heart. Bob Seger The Long Way Home. This is great poetry, and something to think about for each of us.
Track 11 Blind Love is more in the "country style" and ok.
Track 12 She can`t do anything wrong, is good ol rocker in the style of his earlier hit`s like: Old Time Rock and Roll.
Some great tracks, some not, Bob Seger is anway a good traditional rock and roller who know`s his craftstrade. 3 1/2 star, nearly 4. A good buy anyway, if you can get hold of it.

I love early Seger. No one rocked harder than Seger did in the late 60's, very early 70's. Those great albums like "RG Man" and "Mongrel" are sadly locked away in Punch Andrews basement, probably forever. But this 1991 effort by Bob is every bit as great in a totally different way. Very mature, smartly written, great hooks. Maybe his best song writing ever. This is Bob at 45 years old, driving his message home with execellent piano work, fiddles, and squeeze boxes, while still giving Joe Walsh a run for his money on dueling guitars. A wonderful piece of work.

This CD has "Real Love" one of the best Bob Seger songs ever. A must have for that reason alone.

This is a great remastered reissue of Bob Seger's most underrated album, THE FIRE INSIDE. The album ranges from the Ted Nugent-Outlaws-Springsteen hybrids of "Take A Chance" and "It Was Real At The Time" to the 50s-style piano rocker title track to the romantic ballad "The Real Love." This was the first album where Seger seemed to show any sense of comfort with where he was, even if he was still keeping an eye on the dangerous elements of society which he feared could harm himself or others he cared about. Seger's strong nationalistic support for efforts to free Americans jailed in Iran and North Korea on trumped-up charges during the early part of 2009 makes this CD-R an essential purchase for both your ears AND your conscience.

For me this is Bob Seger at his best. My favourite album, full of fantastic songs, many musicial styles included. There are so many highlights on this record and Bob's voice is in top shape! Every fan of great rock music should own this!

Though the guitars dont always shine through in this song like the good ol seger tunes the piano and vocals instead take center stage. And they do it wonderfully i might add. Has any body noticed the little piano riff on the song "the fire inside" sounds like the theme of the 1812 Overture, just in a different rhythm? I thought that was interesting...

I have always been a Bob Seger fan, but this is probably his best work. It has awesome sound to it, and if you have never bought a basic Bob Seger album, this would be a good place to start. It also includes some of Seger's biggest hits such as "Fire Inside" and "New coat of Paint". You won't be sorry if you buy this.

This is one of my favorites from him and I think it's the best album he's done since the mid '70s. He branches out musically on here and it shows some diversity that isn't on some of his past efforts. Almost all of the up-tempo songs work (especially "The Fire Inside" and "The Mountain"). "Real Love" is very bland and formulaic though and he still has to throw in one country-sounding tune which brings the CD down a bit for me. Still, a good one.