Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits 2

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

After releasing a one-disc greatest hits CD in 1994 that was a pretty big insult to the man's prolific career, Bob Seger finally comes back with a second volume that attempts to corral the most sorely missing leftovers. The goal here seems to be to (1) collect all of the Top Ten hits that didn't make the first volume ("Shame On The Moon", "Fire Lake", "Tryin' To Live My Life Without You"), (2) collect a few more staples of classic rock radio, all of which get more airplay than some of the tunes on Volume One ("Rock And Roll Never Forgets", "The Fire Down Below", "Sunspot Baby", "Katmandu", "Her Strut"), (3) collect a few obscure and/or forgotten soundtrack cuts that have never before appeared on a Seger album ("Understanding", "Shakedown", "Chances Are"), (4) inexplicably throw in some obscure tunes from forgotten albums ("Manhattan", "New Coat Of Paint") as opposed to more songs that actually received airplay ("Real Love", "Lock And Load", "American Storm", "Even Now", "Hands In The Air"), and (5) throw in a couple new tunes.

Okay, Bob, this definitely helps erase the specter of that first anemic greatest hits CD, but you're not quite there yet. Here's what Volumes Three and Four should contain. Throw in a couple new tunes on each one so you'll have a nice 12 or 13 tunes per CD. Seriously, put all four volumes out and I'll pick them all up in a heartbeat, one shot.

Ramblin' Gamblin' Man
Get Out Of Denver
Travelin' Man/Beautiful Loser (live)
Come To Poppa
Til It Shines
Feel Like A Number
The Horizontal Bop
Betty Lou's Gettin' Out Tonight
Nine Tonight (from the movie "Urban Cowboy")
Even Now
Makin' Thunderbirds
American Storm
It's You
Miami
Fortunate Son (live)
Blue Monday (from the movie "Roadhouse")
The Real Love
Hands In The Air
Lock And Load

Although many, self included, liked Bob's first greatest hits collection, it overlooked so many key songs that I wondered why they did not shoot for a double CD release it the time as, unlike many other artists, Bob has huge hits and non-hit masterprices that could have made for an outstanding release.
While some key songs finally appear in this second volume, essential songs "Feel Like a Number" and "Even Now" are nowhere to be found, while there is a lot of filler that does not make for a fully satisfying purchase. My question to Capitol again would be why did they not use this opportunity to release a remastered 2CD set covering all of Bob's greatest hits (which would please those who only know Bob's hits) and some quality cuts that may not have made the charts or been released as singles?

The answer to my question is probably the almighty buck as volume one is a must, and fans will feel the need to buy the second volume to complement the missing material, maybe not knowing that key songs are still missing. The economics at work here are probably that the record company will make more money off two individual releases than releasing a 2 CD set, which are sold at much more reasonable prices these days.

If you can find this release at a reasonable price, you may want to buy it and grab the first greatest hits release to make your own hit-filled CD that may lack two (actually more as I can already think of a favorite of mine "Living Inside My Heart" from the movie "About Last Night") essential songs but at least you can bypass what I deem to be too much filler in this second release. The 2 new songs really did not do much for me and there are others that just don't cut it. I read somewhere that Bob did not include "Rambling Gambling Man" because he did not see it fitting in as part of this collection. If this is was indeed an intended omission due to flow, my thinking is that he should have worked harder on what is here as it not only lacks key releases, but it's greatest fault to me is not only the filler but the lack of cohesiveness.

This is not meant to knock Bob as I am a huge fan, and it's great to hear songs like "Beautiful Loser", "Katmandu", Shame On The Moon", "Fire Lake" again, but they missed the boat by not releasing a 2 CD set that would replace the first greatest hits, integrate what it originally overlooked, and provided some surprise gems. I am off to make my own copy.

...first of all we will all never agree on the selections. The positive thing here is, with the songs mentioned above that people claim are obviously missing, the majority of them are available in any CD store (Some have already even been remastered ie; Till it Shines). Seger has said that he tried to put on Ramblin' Gamblin' Man but it just sounded out of place with all the other songs. The great thing is this time around Understanding, and Shakedown were included. Both these tracks, along with Chances Are, are not readily available other wise and you will pay a pretty penny for them off of eBay.

The remastering job on here is killer, not to mention the sequencing of the songs. It has a great flow. Of all the remastered tracks, I wold say that Beautiful Loser and Shakedown have benfited the most. Both are now crisp. You will also hear sounds that were muffled or missing all together in the past. Great job.

Now the two new tracks - "Satisfied" -- a great bluesy number that will get in your head and just stay there. Very catchy tune. You won't be disapointed.

- "Tomorrow" -- this is proof that Bob should not be retired, and anyone that thinks he has mellowed should crank this up and give a listen... Seger plays lead guitar on this track. It is a great hard rocking song. Well worth the purchase of the CD on its' own.

My opinion, don't waste anymore time reading, just order it.

Anyone who ever turned on a rock/pop radio station during the 70's or 80's surely needs no convincing to buy (or not) music from Bob Seger. So this commentary is about the purpose of this particular CD, not the relative merits of the music it contains. With that being said, just what do we have here in this Seger compilation and how have we arrived here? Probably, in an effort to keep up sales of the individual albums on CD, a greatest hits collection for Bob Seger didn't appear until 1994. And when it did finally appear, what a letdown it was. More than half of his top-10 tunes were missing, there were a paltry 14 tracks and several non-hit songs appeared instead of the many bona-fide hits Seger had during his long tenure on the charts.

Now, along comes volume two of greatest hits which does fill in some of the gaps but still falls far short of what it should be. Three top-20 tunes are yet to be accounted for with an additional ten, incredibly, top-100 tunes not to be found while several non-charting tunes have somehow nuzzled their way into a supposedly "greatest hits" piece. How many more greatest hits volumes do we need to see and purchase before Seger's music gets compiled correctly? Giving credit where at least minimal credit is due, between these two greatest hits volumes you can gather up most of Seger's biggest tunes but for the casual collector these two pieces are sadly inadequate. For the more avid fan, there is little reason to purchase either of these if you already have the CD's of the original albums. The only real benefit is here in volume two, where a couple of tunes from soundtracks are available for the first time on a Seger CD although these tracks can be found on the soundtrack CD's themselves.

So we wait for either a comprehensive box set or a two-disc "very best"-styled compilation to get a decent overview of Seger's long run on the music charts. It doesn't look like Capital has much interest in this so maybe it'll have to be done by the likes of Rhino or some foreign label (which ironically often outdoes our domestic record companies). For now though, a frustrating and disappointing Seger compilation CD, again.

A nice companion volume to Bob Seger's original Greatest Hits album from 1994, "Greatest Hits 2" not only focuses on Seger's latter-day material, it also goes a long way towards making up for the fact that "Greatest Hits" featured more ballads and less rock n'roll than the average Bob Seger concert by including grinding rockers like "Katmandu", "Rock And Roll Never Forgets" and "The Fire Down Below".

There are ballads here too, though, and it's a good thing that there is, because the title track from Seger's "Beautiful Loser" album is one of his best slow songs.

And among the lesser-known songs are the two latter-day sides "Manhattan" and "New Coat of Paint", as well as the brand-new cuts "Satisfied" and "Tomorrow", two hard-rocking songs that are some of his best music in years.

It is a shame that "Greatest Hits 2", like its predecessor, ignores Bob Seger's early Cameo/Parkway singles and his first several LPs as well. But it is still a fine addition to "Greatest Hits", even if Seger's two live albums remain the best introduction to his music.

While this collection has done much to address the missing tracks from his first greatest hits compilations, there's still something lacking in this set. True, many of the great Seger classics left off the first album finally get some attention: "Shame on the Moon," "Fire Lake," "Shakedown" (from the Beverly Hills Cop 2 soundtrack), "Fire Down Below," Rock n' Roll Never Forgets," "Katmandu," "Beautiful Loser," and others are included here, and thus this goes far in fixing the shortcomings of the first GH collection. (Granted, I still gave Vol. One five stars, grateful as I was for any set of classic Seger songs). However, I am of the opinion that any comprehensive greatest hits collection should contain Top 40 hits, hidden gems, rare cuts, and fan-favorites. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the philosophy when this was compiled. What about Seger classics like "Nutbush City Limits," "American Thunder," or "Get out of Denver?" What about live versions of "Night Moves" or "Against the Wind?" (I have bootlegs of both, and they're SPECTACULAR). Yes, we get two unreleased tracks, "Satisfied" and "Tomorrow," but they're hardly memorable. Since this set does include many of the great songs missing from the first collection, I recommend it, though with some reluctance. (Casual Seger fans may be more forgiving than I). Maybe someday we'll have a more comprehensive collection that does justice to the career of a man who helped define American rock and roll.

There are 3 ways to put out a "Greatest Hits, Volume 2" CD.

1) The chronological: Ths simplest method - once an act has had enough material to fill a greatest hits package, put it out. If by some remote chance their career extends beyond that first greatest hits album, put out another hits package labelled Volume 2. Most sucessfully accomplished by: Elton John, John Denver, Billy Joel (who release vol 1 & 2 together, then released a later Vol 3.)

2) The sequel: Pick the very best tracks of an artist's career in a go-for-broke package. Hit the jackpot and then realize there's a market for a quick hit sequel. So take the next best set of tracks and call 'em Vol 2. Most successful: recently Elvis Presley (Elv1s/ElvIIs), Queen (Classic Queen/Greatest Hits), Rod Stewart.

3) The cynical: Put out a greatest hits package, knowing damn well it doesn't contain all the artists greatest hits. Save about, oh, say, 40% of the gems. Wait a few years, then put out a Vol 2, containing all the missed tracks from the first CD, and some filler to pad it out.

That's the path Capitol has taken with Bob Seger. Between the two CD's there's a real killer best of. But even between the two CD's there are still missing classics. A single Best-of from Seger should contain:

1. Ramblin' Gamblin Man
2. Katmandu
3. Nutbush City Limits
4. Night Moves
5. Hollywood Nights
6. Old Time Rock & Roll
7. We've Got Tonight
8. Still The Same
9. Shame On the Moon
10. Fire Lake
11. Against The Wind
12. Like A Rock
13. Rock & Roll Never Forgets
14. Shakedown
15. Understanding
16. Get Out of Denver
17. Nine Tonight

But until later, and you can be sure there will be a single "Very Best Of" later, we have to sigh and take this package.

We finally get more Seger on a greatest hits C.D. Most of these songs are his lesser known hits, with a couple of exceptions. I'm not nearly as famliar with these songs, so no individual reviews on these.

Songs like Understanding, Katmandu, Her Strut, Sunspot Baby, Fire Lake, and Rock And Roll Never Forgets have never gotten their due. They're all great songs by a great artist and it's just so nice to see them on one C.D.

Also included on this are The Fire Down Below, Beautiful Loser, Shame On The Moon, Shakedown(From Beverly Hills Cop II), and more. This includes a duet with Martina Mcbride "Chances are" from the movie Hope Floats.

He includes three new previously unreleased songs. The previously mentioned Shakedown which was originally on the soundtrack from the Eddie Murphy vehicle, Chances Are, and Understanding.

Seger, like I said in my review of the first greatest hits, sings songs that move you. He's written a lot of songs that many people can symbolize with. American hits from a Michigan artist. People seem to under-appreciate Seger. That is a shame. HE's a great artist with a great sound. Great music, lyrics, and messages. Just sit back and listen to his music and you will not be disappointed.

Well worth the money. Don't listen to the nay-sayers. Get IT!

Some great "hits" here that just could not fit on the first Greatest Hits. There are also a few "misses" and some forgotten favorites. Songs that do not belong on GH2 are: Sunspot Baby, Manhattan, New Coat of Paint and Chances Are. Songs that should have been included in GH2: The Real Love, Living Inside My Heart, Feel Like A Number, Nine Tonight and possibly even Travelin' Man or Ramblin Gamblin Man. The two new tracks are OK. I hate it when artist leave OBVIOUS HITS off of Greatest Collections! It is sooo annoying.

As with his first collection of Greatest Hits, I find myself thinking that this album just does not do Bob Seger justice. Yes, a lot of great stuff is here-but somehow the greatness of the man is missed.

Bob Seger is one of our own here in the Midwest. For years he toured extensively putting on one hell of a show; but he could not break out nationally. Then he came very close with BEAUTIFUL LOSER. Having got the scent of becoming known across the country in a big way, Seger then released LIVE BULLET and NIGHT MOVES. Suddenly Seger was the hot ticket with a deep back catalogue of records in the past. Several of those albums were cleaned up and re-released where an eager audience quickly snapped them up.

Unfortunately, Seger's last good album was LIKE A ROCK back in 1986. He released a few more albums that didn't quite hit it and then he went home to raise his children for a while. This collection seems to sew up some loose ends. Some of the remaining classic songs that were not on the first collection are presented here along with some non-album songs done for movies. Along with these are two new songs made especially for this collection.

Don't get me wrong: this is a very fine collection. If you don't know Bob Seger, then by all means get this CD along with his first GREATEST HITS. But if you want to get a better flavor of this great rock artist, I would recommend any of the following:

LIVE BULLET (1976)---Seger's first "live" album and in many regards his best.
NIGHT MOVES (1976)-The classic Bob Seger album of all time.
AGAINST THE WIND (1980)-Many overlook this album but it contains many of Seger's most memorable songs.
LIKE A ROCK (1986)-Seger's last great album. Really rocks. Remembered mostly for its title song but the rest of the album is just as good.

If you're like me, these four CDs will make you hunger for more and so you might end up getting the rest of Seger's CDs. If not, you still will have an excellent CD or two for your record collection. But maybe you're not that interested in getting that deep into the "ancient rock cannon". Short of getting an actual Bob Seger album, there is nothing wrong and everything right in getting this CD and the first GREATEST HITS. Bob will understand.