Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
It’s a Mystery (Capitol) (star) (star)
At 50, Bob Seger’s concerns are chiefly constructed around the small frames of his young children. And that’s honorable. Yet as he surveys the chaotic debris of the ravaged America he sees his kids inheriting–drugs and violence (“Manhattan”), tabloids and political correctness (“Revisionism Street”) and moral corruptness (“Hands in the Air”)–his polemic has a self-righteous penchant for pointing fingers, taking his own share of the blame only on “Lock and Load.” Musically, “Mystery” is a mixed bag. The Silver Bullet Band has more session hands than ever but is in fine form, with Tim Campbell’s slashing guitar swathing Seger’s bleak lyrics in a dark, murky wail. Drummer Harry Stinson (Steve Earle, Kevin Welch) adds a military precision to the grim “Manhattan,” marching a merchant and a cash-hungry junkie to a fateful encounter in a crack wasteland. “Manhattan” is a compelling musical world where Bruce Springsteen meets Lou Reed, and it’s no accident that Springsteen pianist Roy Bittan is on the strongest cuts here. But when Seger misses the mark, he misses it by a mile. “It’s a Mystery” cops Tom Petty riffs from “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” “By The River” takes a dip in Seger’s own songbook (“Fire Lake”) and the R&B-flavored balladry of “I Can’t Save You Angelene” and “I Wonder” would never have made it onto previous Seger albums.
