Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band - It's a Mystery Audio CD
A fair review of the Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band "It's a Mystery" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all
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Band: Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
Title: It's a Mystery
Rating: 
Release Date: 1995-10-24
Media: Audio CD
Tracks: 1: Rite of Passage 2: Lock and Load 3: By the River 4: Manhattan 5: I Wonder 6: It's a Mystery 7: Revisionism Street 8: Golden Boy 9: I Can't Save You Angelene 10: 16 Shells from a 30-6 11: West of the Moon 12: Hands in the Air
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Great Music Personally, I have never really liked typical 80's music, but I never really thought that Bob Seeger fit into that stereotype--the make-up, the tight plastic pants, the weird "do. I do not understand the negative reviews. " His music reminded me of many different things I listened to when I was young in the 60's, and I like this CD. And I do not regret owning it.
Some of the reviews speak about earlier CD's like they represent Bob's "Golden Age," but I do not see it. A few of the older CD's--in my opinion--do not hold up as well as this one, although I enjoy listening to them as well.
Again, in my opinion it is sad that the recording is no longer available.
It is well worth a listen if you can find it.
Rite of passage
He writes naturally. Worth price of admission for this track alone. Sings and plays with just the right feel. His voice suits the music perfectly!.
This Could Not Have Been Bob Seger
Yes, that's what I said, 12 years late. This review is about 12 years late. The reason being is I didn't have a computer 12 years ago, and even if I did I wouldn't have known that Amazon had such a forum for music lovers to enter a review of an album.
With that said, I am a Bob Seger fan from the beginning. You could always count on one thing when it came to Bob. When he brought out an album, you knew it would be great. Until this one. I remember bringing it home and listening and listening to it to see if it would grow on me. Now, I'm one of those people, that when I listen to new songs, the great or even good ones will pop out at me right from the first listening. With this one, I kept hoping that something would catch my ear. Here and there I heard Bob Seger. But 95% of it, I didn't hear anything remotely close to Bob Seger. This was probably the most disappointed I had ever been in hearing an artist that I love doing his new "music?".
I held onto it for about a year, never playing it. Then I decided, with part of me feeling that I was selling Bob out, to sell it to a store that re-sold used CD's. I needed money to build a collection of someone else that I loved. Before I sold it my thoughts were "It's a mystery what Bob Seger was attempting to do and say with this album. All I knew was that it wasn't the Bob Seger I knew. And I'm one of those fans that's not upset when my favorites try something new. This, for the most part was pure junk. And, it still hurts for me to say that.
Then, years went slowly past. (Don't sue me Bob, for stealing your line). Twelve to be exact. And, every once in awile I'd wander, what ever happened to Bob Seger? Where's he at, and what's he doing? No one was talking about him. Hope the heck not, but did he die and I just hadn't heard? Then, came the news of "Face The Promise". My first thoughts were that thinking the worst these past 12 years wasn't true. And, after hearing the first single, I said "Bob Seger is back!" But, I still didn't know where he was. I saw him on all the nighttime talk shows, but still no-one asked him whwere he'd been. Then, I was lucky to see him on The View, the morning show(God, bless you, it was before Rosie(I have to be the center of attention)O'Donnell was the host. Joy Bahar asked Bob, "But, Bob, where've you been? Bob said that he and his wife decided to have children. And, he thought"Hey, I've been on the road all these years and I've heard all the stories from other singers that the biggest regret they had was that they were never home to see their children grow up, take that first step, etc. ". I thought to myself, isn't that great. Here's a guy who I always felt was like most of us common guys, and he is.
Since then, I've thought about "It's A Mystery". I don't know if I'm on top of this, but this is what I think. When Bob made this album he had other things on his mind(settling down with his future family), and just didn't have his heart in the music. Because, as I said earlier, this just wasn't Bob Seger to any degree. So, if there are any Seger fans who wrote him off, sort of, like I did with "It's A Mystery", go out and buy "Face The Promise". Bob Seger is back! I'm going to sound a little two-faced, but maybe someday, I'll buy "It's A Mystery" again(used mind you), just to say to myself " Well, I have everything Bob released". That's the only reason. Thanks for indulging in my 12 year late story.
A Righteous Rocker Plows On Through The 90s In Style
) coming and going. With IT'S A MYSTERY, Bob Seger continues the good fight for traditional rock & roll values in the face of musical trends (grunge, punk, etc. On "Lock And Load", Seger speaks of the need to make amends for past shortcomings, a theme present on many episodes of TV's THE GHOST WHISPERER. Other songs take aim at the darker side of human nature, including "Manhattan", which is about a drug deal (or some other kind of pact) gone severely wrong; the lyrics of that song have inspired me to hang up pictures of pretty celebrities on my wall as a deterrent to getting myself into a bad situation that I might be unable to get out of later. Seger's support of sanctions on Indonesia in retaliation for that country's trumped-up May 2005 drug-smuggling conviction of a young Australian tourist makes this CD an essential purchase for both your ears AND your conscience.
Not true Bob, but not bad
After the unified, down-home feeling of "The Fire Inside," Seger seems to be at a loss with this album. I think "Seger fails, but this is a noble attempt" is a concise (if somewhat harsh) way to describe this CD. He tries to go everywhere musically and ends up going almost nowhere. I say "almost" because this album does have its moments. "Rite of Passage" and "It's a Mystery" are both hard-rocking (if musically uninspired) tunes, and "Revisionism Street" is a lyrically brilliant summary of the politics of entertainment. "I Can't Save You Angelene" is a wonderfully bluesy farewell to the one who's not worth pursuing--different and intriguing content for Seger. "Manhattan" pushes the envelope too; once you get past the initial quirkiness of Seger's singing style on this song (he sing-speaks it a la Shawn Mullins), it proves itself a powerful tale of a drug deal gone horribly wrong for both parties--"two more unsolved mysteries," as Seger notes. Beyond those songs, I didn't find much on this album that stood out. As other reviewers have noted, however, that doesn't mean the rest of the album isn't decent music, since it is Bob Seger. . . not the unparalleled Bob Seger of "Night Moves" and "Stranger in Town" and "Nine Tonight," but Bob Seger nonetheless. This is a good one to buy for posterity if you can find it at a bargain price.
You can see a complete list of all Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band discography, or go back to the Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.